How To Complete A Drive Cycle & Pass Emissions & Smog Test (Life Hack)

Scroll to bottom for scanners and additives to help you pass your emissions.

If you need tips on how to get ready for emissions, check out this video!

In this video I show you how to correctly complete a drive cycle and how you can get your vehicle ready to pass emissions:

Here are the steps to complete a drive cycle:

1. Ensure that the fuel tank is between 1/4 and 3/4 full
2. Start cold (below 86 F/ 30 C) and warm up until engine coolant temperature is at least 160 F (typically one to three minutes).
3. Accelerate to 40-55 MPH at 25% throttle and maintain speed for five minutes. (Coolant must reach 190 F or more).
4. Decelerate without using the brake (coast down) to 20MPH or less, then stop the vehicle. Allow the engine to idle for 10 seconds, turn key off, and wait one minute.
5. Restart and accelerate to 40-55 MPH at 25% throttle and maintain speed for two minutes.
Decelerate without using the brake (or the clutch) by coasting down to 20 MPH or less, then stop the vehicle. Allow the engine to idle for 10 seconds.
6. Turn the key off, and wait one minute to power down the PCM.

Without having a scanner that shows I/M readiness you will never know if your vehicle is ready or not to pass emissions. So the best way to get your vehicle ready is to have an OBDII scanner that measures the readiness and to complete a drive cycle or two.

⭐️⭐️⭐️Here is an amazon link for a scanner that works great for this application.

👍🏻👍🏻VERY SOLID OBD2 SCANNER

And some other things that will help you pass emissions.

⭐️⭐️⭐️OBD2 SCANNER CHEAP

⭐️⭐️⭐️CATALYTIC CONVERTER CLEANER

⭐️⭐️⭐️USE THIS TO HELP YOU PASS EMISSIONS
This stuff helps your vehicle run cleaner and actually works!!!

Here are some of the things I use daily when working on cars:

I use affiliate links to promote things that I use in my videos. I may receive commission from these links/videos if you purchase an item using a link that I provided.

[MarkJames-uott]

Smog test are really stressful on upkeep made me find a way everytime i buy a new car, this made situations hard but seems YouTube and Channel's like Stray Administration represent a stress free civilization making these fast for our purpose...💯

[thothheartmaat]

Hey you know what's great for lowering emissions? Everyone drive your car for 1000 miles for no reason because your monitors won't set...

[jlopez]

Thanks! However these MONITORS that have to set are freaking ridiculous. Drive forward for 2 mins, then turn on defroster, then drive at 55 mph for 3 mins, then go through a McDonald's freaking drive thru and order a large diet coke with 2 straws. Just INSANE!! I have a 98 Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX that passed the emissions test, but failed tbe overall test because the MONITORS are not complete after a a repair that was done at a Dealership on June 30th. My model has a problem holding these MONITORS and it is even in a CARB service bulletin. All tbe smog station attendant said was to drive the car some more. WTF!

[mansor]

My 2008 Nissan Altima failed the emission test and could not find the cause. Sparkplug, Injectors, MAF, Oxygen sensors, Catalytic converter, Piston rings everything was addressed but the problem still persisted. Finally, someone noticed that the temperature gauge was always showing a very low value. And it was because the thermostat valve was faulty and was stuck open and the ECU was sensing it as cold start condition always and the fuel air ratio was running rich. The fuel economy was much better after replacing the thermostat valve but I miss the sporty acceleration and pick-up when it was running rich.

Thought might be useful to someone going through similar dilemma.

[charlesmcgehee]

Both my 2001 Miata and 2008 Toyota Tacoma, after disconnecting the battery, needed to be driven before they were ready for a smog test. The Tacoma had a code to be cleared and I did that before disconnecting the battery. I found that just warming up the car for 10 minutes, driving across town to the freeway, driving a bit over 5 miles at a steady 60 mph, coasting to a stop and then driving a few miles across town to the smog station, fully readied the ECU for a full test. There are many ways to ready a car for a smog test of course. I found this way works as well as any. It was just quicker. 30 minutes total. Very nice simple video, well narrated and thanks very much for your time.

[DevonWayne]

TRUE LIFE HACK: Under 6 miles
Go on a highway or back-road high speed, late at night so no cars
1) Go to car
2) From cold start, wait a few minutes to warm up before moving
3) When on the hwy/road, go up to 65mph
4) Stay at 65mph for at least 5 miles, preferably 6 mi
5) Put hazards on, coast to a 10-15mph stop
(DO NOT TOUCH BRAKE DURING SLOW DOWN)
6) Once you're slow, with hazards, in the hazard lane, put on the brakes
7) Test/Diagnose button on your OBII unit, should be all good to go.

You might have to drive more or do this test multiple times to get the EVAP ready. This system has to deal with your gas tank, if the cap is loose, and how/if/when your gas evaporates into the atmosphere. If your gas does not EVAP, than you pass / OK / Complete.

Adding a fueld injector cleaner (like STP/Chevron/etc) helps a lot
Making sure your air filter is cleaner (pull it out, tap it, if anything flies around change it.)

With that being said, you should be good to go
Passed smog after fixing 4 minor check engine lights and 4 incompletes. All complete, all fixed and cleared in 24 hours.

[PlumbPitiful]

You can actually check your car's Readiness for smog without a scan tool, at least on some cars. I have a Ford Escape and if you turn on the ignition without starting the car and then wait for about 15 to 20 seconds the check engine light will flash 8 times if the monitors are not ready.

[johnmcintyre]

Look up the drive cycle for your car. Follow the directions listed. Each car is different with drive cycles. Many will set multiple sensors without doing all the cycles. Check after doing each cycle and do the cycles needed. It may take several for some cars.

[Lilmiket]

So what if you shut down the vehicle in the middle of this. Do you have to restart all over again? I've been taking my car out for 20min spurts been a couple days and all lights has turned green except the Cat. What's taking so long? It's not registered because they have a tax block on it that I've been trying to get taken off for over 2 weeks but the dmv hardly ever answer the phone anymore. I've been up there and they said I have to call the main DMV for my state which I've been trying to do for days. It's not often you have to beg to pay your taxes. To make matters worse im about to run out of gas driving it so much.

[realitynotfictionii]

I didnt have any lights on just new battery cables. Its a 2001 honda Odyssey and i failed inspection (NJ).

How long should i drive? Is it miles or idle? Both?

Thank you sir

[Breal]

The general procedures on the paperwork got my friends fusion ready in like 5 - 10 mins

[garlicbreadjenkins]

i drove 100 miles (city and highway) in my 04 galant, erg is still not ready, no cel that sucks

[patriciawikstrom]

Thank you so much Tomorrow taking car to be tested again. Yesterday I drove car 100 miles pky 55mph right after test. Bringing car back for retest. Will. Let you know results. Keeping my fingers crossed..

[lonepeak]

My 2008 Chevy 1500 w/ 6.0 L keeps getting 2 or more 'not ready' indicators. I have tried all the drive hacks but still 'not ready' keeps me from getting my emissions test done so i can sell my truck! This has been going on since June 2019!! They tell me I can't just buy new sensors to get around the 'not ready' indicators! My mechanic says the vehicle will easily PASS the emissions test but only after the indicators show 'READY'. HELP!!

[itspancha]

my acura tsx didnt pass on saturday due to catalyst not ready - tech advised I drive it for 50 miles so it could be ready. Idid that and using my bluetooth obdII, it still wasnt ready. Not sure if my reader is just bad. I researched my drive cycle and tried it twice already. Still not ready. No check engine light ever and no fault codes. Have driven almost 100 miles - thinking I may need to do more?

[YuGiOhDuelChannel]

250 miles evap finally went green, still waiting on OH....🤦‍♂️

[gregmattera]

I drive my kia sorento from Los Angeles to Vegas and the O2 sensor monitor is still not ready

[sammarri]

Hi, I go crazy. I am driving and driving, but I can't pass the inspection. They say my car is not ready. Can I use, as you do, a Diagnostic Code reader while driving? Anyone works? Thank you.

[gregorydixon]

1200 miles in a 2004 chevy astro van and still evap and cat not ready. Tried your way 10 times. Made no difference. Last time I had to deal with this it took 6 1/2 months to go off. Was just going to drive until the police took it. Will let you know if I find a way to trick this one.

[zachcooler]

Any tricks other than 1/4-3/4 tank for evap system to get ready? Put about 200 miles and evap still not ready. No codes or anything, just won't get ready