[tabijan]

I have a dilemma. A parasitic drain results in a dead battery after 2-3 days. It's due for a smog check so I have to complete the cycle and have it tested without letting it sit for more than a couple of days. I park in the street so a battery tender isn't practical.

1) What is the driving cycle after the battery is reconnected to make it ready for California smog check?

2) I have access to SDS. How do I confirm test readiness?

3) Will hooking up SDS or a trickle charger mess with test readiness?

Sixto
98 E320s sedan and wagon

 

[Kajtek1]

Hooking up the scanner will not reset readiness, but clearing any code will.
If you have couple of days just drive the car normally and one morning let it idle for few minutes.
Don't think German SD will show California readiness, but my $12 Bluetooth scanner does.

 

[mrboca]

Mine took about a week, after I reset the ECU (I wanted a re-adaptation, there were no faults). The catalyst test too the longest. All tests except that were completed within 60 miles of driving. Catalyst test requires driving at a steady speed for at least 3 minutes or so, which caused the delay due to stop/go traffic. Mine was completed at about 160 miles or so.

A cheap OBD2 scanner and associated software should give you emission readiness information. (BAFX and Torque for example). I do not know if SDS will provide this.

As long as you do not reset the ECU, the SDS or OBD2 connection should not impact the test.

If you cannot use a battery tender, you could use the OBD2 port to trickle charge your system. You cannot use the cig. lighter socket because the power to it comes with the ignition switch inserted.

You can use a battery booster (the one with a small battery inside) and connect one of the outputs (mine has a cig. lighter socket) to boost the charge of the car through the OBD2 port connector (with proper adapter to power (circuit 30 and ground).

I believe I posted a document regarding the driving cycle for MB cars less than a month ago.

 

[mrboca]

Here is the document

 

[yeldogt]

I had a real time with mine a few years ago in NJ -- the thing would not go through the cycle. Took about a month and almost 600 miles.

 

[Kajtek1]

When I had the issue, all it took was to "finally" read what it takes.
I never idle my cars, while the procedure require cold engine idling.
So after reading I start the engine on my driveway and 5 minutes later it was ready.