Silver Z0

I'm having trouble getting my car to pas emissions. It's 100% smog legal but I can't seem to get the catalyst control monitor to reset. Even my tuner is telling me to just tune it so it says 'ready' but he won't do it for me out of liability. My smog is almost a year late so I need to get this fixed one way or another, and I think at this point the simplest path is to use HP Tuners to tune the monitor to be 'ready,'

I have some confusion on what exactly I need to do this however. I spoke directly to HP Tuners today and the man I spoke with said they removed this feature from their software. He says it doesn't matter if I buy the old MPVI system or the new MPVI2, because the software they connect to has been updated to not allow this feature. I've done some reading and it seems like maybe Version 2.24 would allow me to do this, but then I've also read that there's some correlation between software and hardware where if I got an HP Tuner, it would have to match a certain software version or it would be locked and useless. I'm guessing I at least need the original MPVI and not the 2nd version, right? And then I need to find a way to get the old software because it's not hosted on HP Tuners website.. Is that what the little flash drive is that comes with these kits? The software file? (been looking on eBay)

My plan is to buy an HP Tuner, get the 2 credits I need for the C5, and tune this monitor so it's always ready. My car doesn't pollute, has brand new CA-legal cats, new o2 sensors etc. It's absurd I have to do this but I need your guys' help because apparently I need to teach myself to tune my own car, or at least mark this sensor 'ready.' Can anyone give advice on what I need, or what software, or anything of that nature? I'm honestly fine spending the $300 for a new system, plus another $100 for 2 credits, because my car is just a useless hunk of metal without a smog sticker. I just don't want to screw up and spend a lot of money on some incompatible stuff, or the wrong software version, etc. because I'm not exactly rich right now. I had no issues with my A&A kit but recently it seems that as soon as I think my headaches have passed, something new crops up.

I'll also be trying the drive cycle, over and over and over again, but if it's been almost a year and I've already done it at least 3-4 times so I'm kind of losing hope with that route. Plus the GM drive cycle is nearly impossible to do unless it's 4am and the roads are empty.

Please help me guys, I've owned and loved the car since 2012, it's got almost 170k miles and I've been a Corvette fanatic since childhood, but right now I'm desperate and will kiss any asses I need to to figure this out. It's very frustrating feeling like a criminal when my car is fully smog legal. I'm sorry for the long post, any assistance would essentially be priceless to me.

Big_George_S

I feel your pain,
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...ting-help.html

I have the same issue but have the advantage of having a second address in CA that does not require smog. I'd like to get this fixed though so if you do figure out what to do or find someone that can help us please let me know. If I need to buy an HP tuner I will, but like you I don't want to spend the money if it does not have the options necessary.
I'll follow this post and feel free to PM me if you would like to take this off line.

Silver Z0

I guess the issue has been solved in my original thread.. https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...en-a-year.html

I ordered my HP Tuners kit yesterday so I'm looking forward to seeing how it works. If you want to buy it from me when I'm done, it'll be for sale!

TurboLX

Setting the cat monitor should actually be REALLY easy for the ECM *IF* you do the following:

1) Car is equipped with four working O2 sensors and can go closed loop without large trims learned.
2) Car has an OEM (or equivalent) catalyst with the appropriate amount of precious metal loading, installed in the right location such that it stays warm enough to have high conversion efficiency while driving
3) No other failures or codes present (many of these are prerequisites for running the Cat Monitor)

The cat monitor is basically looking for a difference between the upstream and downstream sensors' activity, with the downstream being more stable. This means that the leftover "odds and ends" of rich an lean are being smoothed out by the catalyst. It should be doing this all the time it's closed loop, so there's plenty of opportunity for the ECU to check during a normal drive.

Aftermarket (even "green") Catalysts often either don't have enough precious metal or are placed too far back to stay warm, reducing their actual conversion efficiency. When the upstream and downstream sensor signals look too similar, the ECU determines that the catalyst isn't really doing enough conversion and sets the P0420/P0430 code.

Big_George_S

I agree that if I need to change out the Cats I'll use OEM, have followed that through many threads here.

Thanks.

Pekka_Perkeles

It has four (according to shop manual). Two before cats and two after. Unless someone removed two of them.

Big_George_S

I stand corrected. Did not see the picture with the forward sensors. Was looking at the pics for the Catalytic Converter replacement. The odd thing about them is that they are not listed in the Index in the back of the book.

Thanks for the reply.

sgt1372

Sorry to post the following in this old thread but for some reason I couldn't create a new thread.

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HP Tuner – Smog – OBDII Monitors – Not Ready

Ive got a common problem. I cannot get my 2014 Z51 7MT smogged because several OBDII monitors are "not ready."

I read in the following threads (which are over 2 years old) that an HP Tuner could be used to "fix" this problem:

HP Tuners Software Questions
Cataylst Control Monitor Not Ready, Been a Year

Can anyone tell me if the current version of the HP Tuner (hardware and software) can still be used to "fix" this problem?

Please advise, thanks!

Big_George_S

Check out the following post that I started. Someone replied in 2/02/22 that needed to do the same and it worked for him. I'd suggest you PM him to get the specs on what he has from HP.

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...-a-year-2.html

I have not addressed the problem directly. If you read my post you will see that I registered the car in a California county that is Smog exempt. If I ever sell the house I'll need to address the issue. I have the software from 2019 and the tuner still in the box. So should be good to go if I decide to give it a try.

RonSSNova

Current SW will not allow those changes to be made.
You would have to find someone with 4.8.7 or earlier that can do it. I doubt any CA shop will.

Supposedly CA can tell if the tune has been messed with. Not sure if that is actually happening.

Caveboy

In CA, they compare the checksum of the obd2 output with the oem file output and will fail you if they are different unless you have a supercharger with a CARB E0. Number registered with them.