need SMOG but check engine light is on

do you know someone who can fix it up for cheap? it's an old car (97 isuzu rodeo) but lots of sentimental values and outfitted for climbing trips so i'd hate to lose it!! please help! i'm in San Diego. 

It would be worth a shot to get some CRC Emissions System Cleaner and see if that works for you. There seems to be a bunch of different methods in how to use it that both worked and did not work. Google will be your friend for that.

https://www.amazon.com/CRC-05063-Guaranteed-Emissions-Formula/dp/B000CIPUR8

Not the best video on it, but the proportion is right. Drive it down the road versus blowing it out and clouding yourself out in your yard. It may be a Cherokee, but the idea is the same all around.https://youtu.be/H9ijpfHavlk
Don’t bring it up at your SMOG check btw

Have you looked at your car's user manual to see the list of causes that prompt the engine light to come on? When my car's gas cap is not screwed back on tightly after I fill up, the engine light comes on. So just having your engine light on might have be indicative of a costly exhaust issue; and you could still pass SMOG.

Get the code read for free at an auto parts store, then decide what to do.

If it’s passed smog in California before there is a program that will help you up to $800 if you’re strapped. Call the dmv and they will get you connected. 

CA might be different, but in UT one could theoretically find a sketchy body shop on State St. and pay $80 cash for a fraudulent safety and emissions inspection.

Perhaps, disconnect the negative battery terminal for 10 minutes and reconnect.  Often this resets the check engine light.  Be ready to get your smog cert right away before it comes back on.  Here in UT, If the light is on you fail. If it is off you pass.

Thanks everyone for your help! I took out the EGR valve and gave it a good manual cleaning and then dumped a bottle of that CRC emission cleaning fluid in the gas, reset the computer by disconnecting the battery and then drove the car around for about 50 miles now and the check engine light has stayed off (the previous time the light would come back on after about 20 miles). SMOG stations have told me that I need to drive it for about ~40 miles before the computer data is sufficiently collected so I guess tomorrow I will take it for a check and hopefully pass! Thanks again! Maybe this info can help someone else with a vintage climbing vehicle in the future! By the way the reason I took out the EGR valve was because the code reading was P0401.

bus driver wrote: Perhaps, disconnect the negative battery terminal for 10 minutes and reconnect.  Often this resets the check engine light.  Be ready to get your smog cert right away before it comes back on.  Here in UT, If the light is on you fail. If it is off you pass.

This doesn't necessarily work in CA. When you disconnect to battery, the light goes off because the sensors don't have a valid reading yet. In CA, they connect to car via OBD, you can only pass smog if the sensors have a valid reading.  If not, you'll need to drive your car and its not just any driving, there is a specific types like above X mph for Y minutes in order for some sensors to become valid.

What code is your ECM throwing? Without knowing that everything you do is a guess.

You need to get a code reader and manually reset the CEL. Then you need to drive the truck around until the readiness monitors show complete  On a 97 and older vehicle you can have one incomplete readiness monitor and still pass smog. Just went through this today with my 97 LR Discovery. Did a tune up with new plugs, wires and an oil change on Friday night. Drove around and waited for the monitors to complete When I only had one incomplete monitor I drove straight to the smog shop and did the test. Passed with flying colors.

I use a bluetooth code reader called OBDLink LX and it works with an android app called Torque. Allows you to see all your engine parameters in real time, check and clear codes and see the status of the readiness monitors. 

Seafoam

psykokid wrote: You need to get a code reader and manually reset the CEL. Then you need to drive the truck around until the readiness monitors show complete  On a 97 and older vehicle you can have one incomplete readiness monitor and still pass smog. Just went through this today with my 97 LR Discovery. Did a tune up with new plugs, wires and an oil change on Friday night. Drove around and waited for the monitors to complete When I only had one incomplete monitor I drove straight to the smog shop and did the test. Passed with flying colors.

I use a bluetooth code reader called OBDLink LX and it works with an android app called Torque. Allows you to see all your engine parameters in real time, check and clear codes and see the status of the readiness monitors. 

FYI - don't use one of these on a 2006 Land Rover LR3 - the dash lit up like a Christmas Tree when the ECM decided to turn every CEL warning on and shut down the vehicle. Took me an hour to clear all of the codes using my "traditional" plugin OBD tool.

You need a code reader and to fix whatever is tripping the light. Just turning off the light or resetting the code won't help in CA. 

C Archibolt wrote: CA might be different, but in UT one could theoretically find a sketchy body shop on State St. and pay $80 cash for a fraudulent safety and emissions inspection.

It's $200 cash in California.

lol thanks for all the sound and "sound" advices. I pulled P0401 code and managed to fix it myself pretty quick with just a scrub of the EGR valve and some CRC emission cleaning fluid. 

Fan Yang wrote: lol thanks for all the sound and "sound" advices. I pulled P0401 code and managed to fix it myself pretty quick with just a scrub of the EGR valve and some CRC emission cleaning fluid. 

Good job!

Fan Yang wrote: lol thanks for all the sound and "sound" advices. I pulled P0401 code and managed to fix it myself pretty quick with just a scrub of the EGR valve and some CRC emission cleaning fluid. 

It's more fun to pull the dash cover off and put a piece of black electrical tape over the light, but cool for you

Have you tried removing the bolts that weren't established up by the first ascent party?