2004 Mercury Grand Marquis:
Car recently would not pass emissions inspection. Catalyst and EVAP show as "not ready".

This happened also about 4 years ago. Prior to that emissions inspection failure (8 months earlier) my alternator was bad along with the battery. They were both changed (new ford alternator). Eight months later emissions inspection failed with "not ready" indication. Wound up spending over 650$ trying to repair it without success. New York State law provided a waiver for 1 year which I took advantage of. During that time car emissions corrected and things looked good. One experienced mechanic said he never heard of that (emissions monitor correcting by itself). I did take it to a dealership, service said they recycled the computer. Have no idea what that means.

Well my emissions failed again earlier last month. A few weeks later I could not start my car, a battery terminal corroded. That could have weakened my battery charge (did that contribute to this problem)? After making the repair, tried driving it on the highway for extended periods, 13 miles at 50 MPH. No change. I've put a couple of hundred miles on it easily.

Car rides well, will take advantage of the waiver again but after 1 year that's it. BTW, car has 93k on it. A lot of life left in this yet.

Any advice? Thanking you in advance.

 

Hello, Bobba, and welcome to the Mercury Forums --
From your description, it's a hard nut to crack because we don't have enough information.
When you failed the emissions test, what were the CODE NUMBERS found on the "Check Engine" computer/scanner ??
On which machine did you get a "Not Ready" indicator ?? What is the Code Number for "Not Ready" ??
Searched the Factory Shop Manual and the Actron Scanner Booklet -- can't find a "Not Ready", or a solution for a "Not Ready".
Many electrical problems can be eliminated or reduced through proper care and maintenance of the BATTERY.
When doing ANY KIND of "electrical work", ALWAYS disconnect the car's Battery -- NEGATIVE cable disconnected FIRST, connected LAST.
For maximum battery life, use DISTILLED WATER ONLY to fill the cells.
Fill battery to the BOTTOM of the Fill Holes before charging. DO NOT OVER-FILL your battery !
Charge filled battery, using a SLOW CHARGE of 10 Amps/hr. MAXIMUM. A too-rapid charge can destroy your battery's internals by "cooking" the lead paste out of the battery's plates.
To prevent such damage and prolong battery life, I use a 6-Amp Automatic Charger that reduces the amount of charge as the battery gets stronger, with a Red Indicator Lite that shows when the battery is fully charged.
Before re-installing your battery, clean the Battery Posts and Cable Ends with a Post/Terminal Brush, and dip the cable ends into a water/baking-soda solution ( 1 tablespoon Baking Soda/ 1 quart Water) to stop any un-seen corrosion that may be INSIDE of the cable connection.
Spray terminals with WD-40 before re-installing, and you're good to go !
In case you're wondering -- The above info is derived from the "Ford/Lincoln/Mercury Service Manual" and my years of experience at EXIDE Battery (ESB,Inc.).

95 MERC Engine Bay

 

Should have posted this a month ago. My computer has successfully recycled. It came down to going through the drive cycle. I was lucky enough to get the drive cycle instructions from the Department of Motor Vehicles. Explained what I was going through to them and they forwarded the drive cycle instructions for the two monitors that were "not ready". Two weeks later I was good to go.

Many thanks to them.

 

hi bobba,
i'm having the same issue, my own odb2 scanner says cat and evap not ready.
what were the instructions?
i had previous codes i repaired and have gone away.
so just waiting for pc to be ready for emissions test as this is a new car for me.
thanks

 

Don't know if I can help, but my experience may. Did you disconnect your battery or did it go dead? Either situation will require you to re-cycle your car's computer.

That's exactly what happened to me. Had to have my battery replaced. The shop that did this took the battery out and replaced it (they did not keep the engine running while replacing it). Subsequently went in for a car inspection, they found issues which were in reality false messages ("not ready" - cat and evap were the the conditions that cropped up). Never experienced this before. Ford dealership was completely useless (with a significant recommended repair bill). Other Mechanics told me (not Ford) to keep on driving the car. Reality is both were wrong. The car needed to be driven in a specific pattern which would re-cycle the computer.

I stumbled on to the solution when calling NYS DMV. They had a department that was very familiar with this. Funny that Ford wasn't (or were they). In any event let me know if this applies to you, if it does, I'll track down the email they sent.

 

hi bobba,
thanks for the reply.
I pin pointed my issue, it was the battery, it was too weak and was not holding the results. so i did that, but now i have new issues, figures.
throttle body assembly, shift solenoid #1 and shift solenoid B during hard acceleration and the car stalled on the highway, crazy, had to re start to get going.
so one problem fixed, maybe 3 more, hopefully its just the throttle body and the rest will go away.
I do need to change the trans fluid, so may change out the solenoids anyway when i drop the pan.
any tips would be appreciated. thanks again for the replay

 

Your issues are outside my experience base. Anything I would suggest would set you back, not help. Keep on digging.