Hyundai Repair: 2002 OBD reset, computer resets, jiffy lube

Question
Hi!
I am trying to get my emissions completed by December 17th. I took my Santa Fe to Jiffy Lube for an oil change and to have it tested and it passed everything except for the OBD reading. The guy at the desk told me that the computer resets if the battery dies and it needs time to readjust and to contact the dealer for the reset specifications. (I had some corrosion on my battery terminals which had caused it to die about 1.5 weeks earlier.) So I contacted the dealership and they advised to drive it for 200 miles and that should take care of it...so I did. I have now taken it back to Jiffy Lube for the retest and it is still failing the OBD reading. So now what do I do?  

Answer
Hi, Michelle.  If I understand you correctly, the issue is that your vehicle's computer hasn't yet retested all the things it needs to verify are operating properly for you to pass the emissions test.  

Some of the tests require different types of driving to be completed, some take longer than others to complete, and some are dependent on the completion of other tests before they can be run.  Your dealer was trying to give you simple advice that could be easily followed, but unfortunately, that won't cause all the tests to run in all the cases.  Hyundai actually publishes a "drive cycle" which should cause all the tests to run, but you'd probably wreck the car trying to accomplish the whole cycle.

I had a case similar to yours where the owner apparently only did city driving, and the catalyst and I think one other test did not complete.  What I did was to drive the vehicle home and back to work overnight with the scan tool hooked up to the vehicle so I could see when the test was completed.  For the final tests to run, I had to do some highway driving for about 5 to 10 miles.  

If you don't do highway driving, you might try doing that, both when the car is cold and when it's at normal operating temperature and have someone recheck the results if you can.  My only other suggestion would be to call the dealer and ask if they'd consider driving the vehicle until the test ran, with the technician driving the vehicle overnight if necessary to run the car long enough for the tests to run.  The idea behind this idea is that the dealer will have a scan tool with which they can monitor the tests and tell when they've completed, something you cannot do.