1989 740t failed Calif Smog because of Indicator Light
qsn...@my-deja.com
miles and it is a California car, I'am the 2nd owner - have had the car
for 2+ years and it is in good running condition. This year I had to
take the car in to get its bi-annual California smog check but this
time it needed to go to a "Test-Only" smog testing center. These
target high mileage and older cars and supposedly do more in depth
testing, ie run the car on a dynometer at varying speeds, I live in a
enhanced area where they have higher levels of smog content.
Now here is the problem, I passed all of the Emission Control Systems
checks EXCEPT for the "Malfunction of Indicator Light" which was the
only thing that did fail the test. All of the Emission measured
results had very good marks much lower than the Averages. The person
that did the inspection told me that what failed was the fact that
the "Service Engine" warning light did not display during the initial
turn of the ignition key switched to the intermediate position. All of
the warning lights on the dash should turn on alltogether to test the
function of the bulbs to see if they are in working condition. The guy
basically told me they have to fail the car because that light might
have to do with the emissions system, which really pisses me off
because everything else passed and all the measured emission levels
passed with flying colors.
All of the warning lights come on in this intermediate ignition
position EXCEPT for the "Service Engine" light on the far right-hand
side. I have taken the instrument panel/cluster out to see if it was a
burnt bulb but cannot find the problem, tried switching bulbs with a
working one and still cannot get the "Service Engine" light to ever
light up like all the rest do light up in intermediate ignition
position.
I need some assistance as to what I should check next - be it the
grounds on the back of the instrument panel, fuses, could it be the
wire that connects the Oxygen Sensor somewhere? The only thing that
I'am thinking of checking at this point is to see if the correct
voltage is going to that particular bulb socket with a voltmeter.
Other than that I don't have any idea right now as to what this could
be.
Do you think this would be an easy thing for a volvo independant repair
shop or dealer to know how to fix or would you lean towards an
expensive thing to repair such as replacing the entire instrument panel.
(on that note I was thinking of looking at getting a instrument panel
from a 1989 Volvo non-turbo from ebay and I could probably hook that up
after disconnecting my original panel and just using that temporarily
to get the light working and pass emissions, then put the original
panel back in afterwards).
Thank you for your help.
Email address is qsn...@my-deja.com
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Mike F
You should check your testing station. There is nothing wrong with your
car. Only the non turbos had the check engine light in 1989, the turbos
didn't get that "feature" until 1990. Good luck convincing them. There
may be something in your owners manual that mentions this though.
--
Mike F.
Thornhill (near Toronto), Ont.
1998 V70 T5, 63,000 km
1984 244 Turbo, 216,000 km
Change cant to ca and remove parentheses to email me directly.
qsn...@my-deja.com
dealer where the car was originally purchased and have them give me
something to proove that there was no "Check Engine" light on 1988.5-
1989 740 Turbo's. Get them to give me something in writing or call the
station that did my smog test. I'am sure glad I don't have
that "feature" as you say on my car, what a nightmare. (I checked
my '89 Manual and it does not say anything about that light not being
on Turbo models, guess that was an oversight.)
And to think today I was going to go out to the car and pull the
instrument panel all the way, bring it inside and check for grounds and
bad wires. I tested the voltage after I posted the original message to
that supposed "Check Engine" socket and it was not getting any voltage
like the others were reporting.
Thanks again Mike.
- Jon F.
Ventura, California
gins...@catskill.net
dollar joke delivery system, along comes Mike with yet another golden
bit of info. Thank you. My 89 740 turbowagon also never had a working
check engine light. I even got as far as the computer before giving
up. One would think Volvo would have masked it off better, or at least
mentioned it in the owners book. I'm about to do my 200,000 mile
service, the car is running beautifully. David Ginsberg
David Ginsberg
James Sweet
light, like the oil pressure warning, then it'll come on and go out just
like they expect it to. That test sounds ridiculous, I like my car to
pass the emissions, but something as stupid as that I would definitly
try and get around.
El Oso del Barba Rojo
> All of the warning lights come on in this intermediate ignition
> position EXCEPT for the "Service Engine" light on the far right-hand
> side.
As others have mentioned, it's not meant to light up. Just TRY convincing
a smog tech he's wrong, though!
When I was working for ABC-TV Investigative News in Denver, we had a lady
with an '80 Cadillac that got flunked on Denver's emissions test for the
same reason, and with the same explanation. The smog tech's book said
there was supposed to be a light, the car had never had a light. The
state was UNWILLING to read the service manual, UNWILLING to accept a
certified letter from Cadillac's department of emissions compliance
engineers, etc.
In the end, a "CHECK ENGINE" light was robbed from a junkyard vehicle and
tapped into the oil pressure warning light circuit, and they issued the
car a smog certificate.
Morons.
--Daniel
"Television is a medium.
It is a medium because it is neither rare, nor well-done."
--
NBCS b6f+wg++rp
--
Mike F
>
> Well thanks to the people who responded to my cry for help about the
> smog check on '89 740 Turbo. I passed the re-check today following all
> the advice about that darned check engine light not coming on. Had to
> do some calling around to all the local Volvo dealers to get their
> response on if the car had the check engine light enabled and most said
> it was not for my particular model. Had the owner of the smog check
> place call around as well and eventually she got through to the state
> agency and got the answer we were looking for and passed the car after.
> What a unneeded pain in the a**. Now I have a piece of paper to carry
> around in the glovebox that has a letter and phone number of the state
> agency for when I have to do another smog check down the years.. they
> said I'm definately going to have this problem arise again.. goodie.
>
> Thanks again, I dunno what I would have done without you guys.
>
> - Jon Ferraez
> '89 Volvo 740 Turbo, 182,000 miles. Ventura, California.
>
The most impressive part of this is how you managed to move the
bureaucracy in less than a week. I didn't think that would be possible!
Jim McDonald
>
>Well thanks to the people who responded to my cry for help about the
>smog check on '89 740 Turbo. I passed the re-check today following all
>the advice about that darned check engine light not coming on. Had to
>do some calling around to all the local Volvo dealers to get their
>response on if the car had the check engine light enabled and most said
>it was not for my particular model. Had the owner of the smog check
>place call around as well and eventually she got through to the state
>agency and got the answer we were looking for and passed the car after.
>What a unneeded pain in the a**. Now I have a piece of paper to carry
>around in the glovebox that has a letter and phone number of the state
>agency for when I have to do another smog check down the years.. they
>said I'm definately going to have this problem arise again.. goodie.
>
Funny thing; I took my '87 744T in for a smog check with the
"check engine" light ON and it was noted on the test results as "failed,
your car's polution control system has a defect(or some such nonsense)",
but the test was passed!
The light in this case is set every 5K miles by the odometer to let you
know it's time to change oil.
Jim McDonald