Am I missing something in DTC/Emissions monitors status?

[Mojo88]

I am in Rhode Island, where most vehicles need Inspection/Emission test every two years. As you can see from the quote captured below, RI allows for one monitor to be "Not Ready" and still pass.

RI DMV Monitors.jpg

So here is a screen capture from VCM Scanner and it shows two of my monitors as "Incomplete". This is from a brand new HPTuners Dodge PCM that I installed into my truck (2019 RAM 1500 5.7L) and it should just need a little more time to complete drive cycling.

incomplete dtc.jpg

If I went for an Inspection right now, the vehicle would, of course, fail because of these two "Incomplete" monitors.

But in the past, I have failed numerous times because of ONE "incomplete". So what am I missing here? Actual Rhode Island emission testing apparently allows ZERO monitors to be "Incomplete", but the written law (copied above) says they will allow ONE to be "Not Ready". Will the monitors actually read "Not Ready" at some point in the drive cycling process? Or is there a way to use VCM Scanner to see if a monitor is "Ready" versus "Not Ready" versus "Incomplete"?

Thanks

[chevota]

I too had an uncooperative O2 monitor before smog. I tried preheating the O2 by turning the key on for like 30 seconds before starting and problem solved, so maybe try that?

I'm in California and the Evap is the only one you can have not ready. My thought was maybe your state changed the rules from one allowed, to only Evap, and didn't bother to tell anyone?
My state will also catch any mods on it, HP or other, via the checksum, aka CVN. At least on my car they will.

My smog guy also let me precheck the car, like a dry run, which is nice because it won't send any alerts to smog headquarters. I've had that happen twice, and it was ugly. This last smog I actually failed four times before I figured out how to get it to pass. He charged $20 per precheck. Regular check is $50. Fyi

[Mojo88]

I too had an uncooperative O2 monitor before smog. I tried preheating the O2 by turning the key on for like 30 seconds before starting and problem solved, so maybe try that?

I'm in California and the Evap is the only one you can have not ready. My thought was maybe your state changed the rules from one allowed, to only Evap, and didn't bother to tell anyone?
My state will also catch any mods on it, HP or other, via the checksum, aka CVN. At least on my car they will.

My smog guy also let me precheck the car, like a dry run, which is nice because it won't send any alerts to smog headquarters. I've had that happen twice, and it was ugly. This last smog I actually failed four times before I figured out how to get it to pass. He charged $20 per precheck. Regular check is $50. Fyi

I think RI is as bad as CA with regards to being over-regulated and over-taxed. In my state, they think of every clever little scheme to extract money from my pocket.

I've failed numerous times for one monitor "Incomplete" even though my state law says they allow one monitor to be "Not Ready". It drives me crazy. But the pre-check idea is good. If worse comes to worse, I would swap in the stock tune and drive cycle until all monitors reset. However, I am NOT disabling any of the emissions nor am I trying to evade any of the emissions requirements. I'm really just trying to understand WTH is up.

Thanks

[chevota]

I would run the oem tune just in case they decide to use the equipment they use in CA. I heard rumors they were looking for tunes, but nobody I knew had been caught, and even my smog guy said he'd never caught anyone. That was until I showed up... See pix.

Can't help with what is up, but I can tell you how I can get my monitors to clear instantly, and imo you should do the same for future use. This is also how I got mine to pass smog, btw. Tuning is a bit risky, but a lot more so with a Mercedes using HP Tuners. The reason is you have to load a patch for HP to work, and sometimes that will brick the ECU. If you're not prepared you're looking at thousands and likely weeks before your car runs again.
So before I did anything I bought a KESS unit on aliexpress, which cost ~$60. With that you can make a copy of the data on the ECU, including all the secret security stuff. If the ECU bricks you can try loading that back on. If that fails you can load it onto a junkyard ECU and off you go. I bought a junkyard ECU anyway, just to play with, which cost me $200.

Back to the smog and monitors: When I copied the data, the car had no codes and all monitors cleared. So after my fails at smog time, most of which were codes, it dawned on me that I had that clean copy. So I loaded it and instantly I had no codes and monitors are cleared! Fyi
So even if you don't need a spare ECU, you may find yourself in need of a clean ECU.

fail.jpg

[Mojo88]

I would run the oem tune just in case they decide to use the equipment they use in CA. I heard rumors they were looking for tunes, but nobody I knew had been caught, and even my smog guy said he'd never caught anyone. That was until I showed up... See pix.

Can't help with what is up, but I can tell you how I can get my monitors to clear instantly, and imo you should do the same for future use. This is also how I got mine to pass smog, btw. Tuning is a bit risky, but a lot more so with a Mercedes using HP Tuners. The reason is you have to load a patch for HP to work, and sometimes that will brick the ECU. If you're not prepared you're looking at thousands and likely weeks before your car runs again.
So before I did anything I bought a KESS unit on aliexpress, which cost ~$60. With that you can make a copy of the data on the ECU, including all the secret security stuff. If the ECU bricks you can try loading that back on. If that fails you can load it onto a junkyard ECU and off you go. I bought a junkyard ECU anyway, just to play with, which cost me $200.

Back to the smog and monitors: When I copied the data, the car had no codes and all monitors cleared. So after my fails at smog time, most of which were codes, it dawned on me that I had that clean copy. So I loaded it and instantly I had no codes and monitors are cleared! Fyi
So even if you don't need a spare ECU, you may find yourself in need of a clean ECU.

fail.jpg

Wow, that's an amazing story, and it seems like an extreme reaction from State Emissions. However, in CA, I would expect nothing less.

I am not going to touch any of the emissions settings on my RAM 1500. I want to be able to Pass, and heck, I don't want to be a 'polluter' either, haha. But for me, I will likely be doing a 'practice' run of some sort to see if this modded unlocked PCM from HPTuners will Pass. If worse comes to worse, I can always just swap in the OEM PCM, drive cycle it to clear the monitors, and then I know it'll Pass. But I'm hoping it'll Pass with the unlocked PCM, as I am leaving all emissions in place. If anything, I may actually try doing a few things which will increase gas mileage, thus reducing pollutants.

[LilSick]

I don't want to be a 'polluter' either

install a eflex pro II and your truck will pretty much breath out the same ingredients that you do

carbon dioxide and oxygen/hydrogen (the stuff that makes water, and makes plants grow : )

it will do so when you are running a high ethanol percentage..

on 90 octane gasoline it will still be all bad