The Saga of the Emissions Test...

In many Utah counties, when it is time to renew your vehicle license plate stickers, you have to take said vehicle into a licensed shop for a safety and emissions test before being granted the privilege of paying for new stickers and driving on the roads without incurring the ire of the state’s law enforcement tax collectors. And my truck was due for renewal last month…

 

Well, I didn’t get everything done. And the DMV isn’t open on Friday’s thanks to Governor Huntsman’s plan to reduce the costs of heating and cooling government buildings so getting everything accomplished- the letter I need from the Tax Assessor’s office, the inspections and the DMV trip. Last Thursday I did take the truck into the same inspection station I always use and to my surprise, the truck didn’t pass the emissions test! Actually, it didn’t fail the test, the shop couldn’t test the truck because the computer said my O2 sensor was “not ready”. Not “the O2 sensor has failed” but “not ready.”

 

So I headed down the street to my neighborhood Firestone store where they assured me that with their $99 diagnostic test they would be able to pinpoint the trouble and get it fixed post-haste. I told them to go to work and they did, coming back with a diagnosis of a bad thermostat causing the computer to not recognize the O2 sensor. It sounded fishy to me but they are the experts and I paid them to change the thermostat. And the next day, after work, I drove straight to the inspection station where they had the exact same computer printout that related that my O2 sensor was, “not ready.”

 

Crap.

 

Saturday I took the truck back to the Firestone guys, explained that the symptoms were the same as before and I was somewhat dissatisfied with their diagnostic skills. And they went back to work on the truck, performing a drive cycle test and futzing about until they decided that further research involving a voltmeter would be required on numerous sensors and could I leave the truck with them on Monday.

 

Which I did. They had the truck all day yesterday and when I went in on the way home from work- in a borrowed car- (thanks Carol!), the manager told me they had been unable to correct the fault in my truck and politely refunded the cost of the diagnostic service from last week.

 

Today the truck was waiting for Westland Ford’s service bay to open when they arrived, with a key and the paperwork detailing the Firestone stores attempts. Before lunch time today the service writer called to say my truck was ready for pick up, with a fresh emissions certificate, ready for me to carry it to the DMV so I can be legal. The Ford dealer couldn’t find any fault with my truck! I was told they hooked it up, checked the computer and didn’t find any faults then ran it through the emissions test with no trouble at all.

 

Weird. But I don’t care, cause I have the paperwork I need and the truck is good for another year!

 

Carol, you’ll get your Purple Nurple back tomorrow night!