readiness monitors

Asked by Mark Jan 28, 2009 at 09:28 AM about the 2003 Dodge RAM 1500 SLT Quad Cab 4WD

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

Have an '03 1500 4x4. Sat for about a year. Replaced batt for inspection. Readiness monitors won't reset. Drove about a month, daily, close to 700mi. Anyway around this? Running out of time.

8 Answers

2,925

I do not remember exactly what the "drive cycle" is for that model, but the drive cycle must be completed for the monitors to run. MOST vehicles require a mix of highway and city driving. A pretty good generic drive cycle goes like this: First make sure that the fuel level is between 15% and 85%. If the tank is all the way full or close to empty, the evaporative emissions monitor wont run. Let the truck cool off completely (overnight is best). Start the truck in the morning and let idle for 15 minutes to warm up and run the evaporative emissions test. After idling for 15 minutes, drive to the nearest interstate highway. You will need 10-15 minutes of steady state cruising at 55-65 mph to run the oxygen sensor test. Cruise control works well for this. Do not exceed 65 mph or drop below 55 mph if at all possible during this portion of the drive cycle. After 15 minutes of highway driving, pull off on the shoulder of the road and let the truck idle IN DRIVE (neutral for manual trans only) with your foot on the brake for 2 minutes. This will trigger the catalytic converter test. After the 2 minutes of idling in drive, all the tests should be complete. If this still does not work, it is possible that your replacement battery is weak. Dodge and Chrysler products are especially sensitive to losing computer memory with a weak (or undersize, or cheap) battery. If the voltage drops below 10 volts when the starter is engaged, the memory in the computer will "dump" and you will have to start the drive cycle all over again. If you suspect that this is the case, do the drive cycle procedure, drive to the inspection station, and LEAVE THE ENGINE RUNNING. This will prevent computer memory loss during start-up. I hope this helps. Seth (ASE Certified Master Auto Technician)

39 people found this helpful.
525

i would disconnect the neg battery cable for about 10 minutes...that rests computer and it will relearn the motor....if it don't straighten out after that, than there is a problem

9 people found this helpful.
60

I have a '98 Intrepid that sat for 2 months with dead batt. Jump started & drove probably 200 miles (city & highway). When inspected for tag renewal, it failed. Is the reset procedure the same?

6 people found this helpful.
895

Forget all the drive cycles you guys. Just go 55-65 for five minutes NOT TOUCHING THE BREAK AT ALL and not more then 65 not less then 55. After five minutes pull over leaving it in drive and slowly pull your emergency break till you stop completely. Wait five seconds or so and then you should of cleared all of them. Some cars reset after you shut off the ignition. Ps many cars are on a exempt list from the epa website. You can google that list easy ok. But id just do this because many smog places dont want to do exempt cars because of some kinda loss of point bs if they do which makes no sense. Good luck,hope i helped many...

20 people found this helpful.
160

I have a dodge durango 99, i just move to California. Today i went to get my smog test and it fail. The guy said it wasnt reading all the codes. That if i had change the battery or the computer? Yes i did change the battery for a new one. He said i can try doing a drive cycle and by doing that, it might pass. My question is. Can someone please let me know, on how to do a drive cycle on a dodge durango 99??? This is my email adress. Anyel1090@gmail.com

16 people found this helpful.
40

How come my neutral switch is underneath the Cadillac converter in my 2005dodge ram automatic four-wheel-drive

4 people found this helpful.

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