check engine light

[bikernut]

on my daughters 2001 GMC Yukon XL with 5.3 engine she went in for the annual state inspection and just before getting there the check engine light started glowing. of course it failed the inspection and they gave here a temporary one for 2 extra months. well being a single mother she couldn't afford to do this right away so after 4 months she finally could afford it and had it done. now the question is she was told she had to put 100 miles on it to cancel out the code as just clearing it wouldn't work. if she drives in now with an expired inspection ticket she get fined for driving an uninspected vehicle. now is there a way to get the code canceled out with out driving it for 100 miles and risking a ticket. thanks

[homemade87]

That's a load of crap . Any shop that has the capability can clear the code . Apparently that shop does not . They just told her that because they could not do it .

That being said if a problem has been solved ( I hope they did fix it )after so many key cycles the code will clear ( this is there reason for the 100 miles ) . This is in place in case a temporary problem show up . It will clear itself .

One solution to your problem is take it to one of your local auto chain stores . They will read your code for you but will not clear it . They will hand you the reader for you to clear . Liability reasons . You may want to go with her to get this done .

[greasemonkey]

Code readers can be had on the cheap, I think I used a discount and got one at Advance for $50 or so. Handy little thing. It reads and clears codes. I find it hard to believe that a shop with the ability to fix a car would not have a basic code reader. How would they even know if it was fixed and the code wasn't still active?
Assuming the problem has actually been fixed, you can pull the negative battery cable to clear the code too. I used to do this after getting a code read and fixed but didn't have a scanner. Stores here won't let you clear it with their scanner, maybe you would have better luck.

[95 S_Trucker]

She has to drive it to set readiness monitors.

Readiness monitors are the self tests the car does as it drives down the the road(Cat, EVAP, EGR, AIR, O2 sensor/heater).

When the codes are cleared, the readiness monitors are also cleared.

In states that have OBD emission testing, A car will not pass if a certain amount of the readiness monitors aren't set(depends on vehicle year and state)

It's hard to say if the shop is at fault for using bad terminolgy, or if it got lost in translation(she said he said). But the car will need driven a minimum of 30 miles before most of the readiness monitors are set. A little but of stop and go, and a little bit of cruising at 55(drive it like an old man, no sudden starts or stops).

I own a PA inspection/emission station.

[greasemonkey]

That is great info. Should the shop have cleared the code and told her to drive the 100 miles, or does it make sense to leave the code and let it clear itself?