[Gorzaloon]

vehicle won't pass emissions tests in NY. Not because it's polluting. But because it has a 'check engine' light on, which means the state automatically fails it when hooking it up to their machine. And fixing it would cost about what the car is worth

I had a vacuum leak in the filler pipe that set a code. Changing the filler looked to be a nuisance.

Code reader on EBay, $50.

Cleared the code a couple of times, got the sticker, and fixed the filler when the weather was nicer.

It's easy.

My BIL was down last week. SAME CODE!

He has borrowed the code reader.

[Dan Nunn]

Not bad points regarding a code reader, but I’d be curious if you know anyone who has used it successfully in NY. From what I remember, the car would usually have to drive around for 50-100 miles to totally ‘clear’ the code before it could pass emissions.

[steve86]

The last couple of years I’ve been using a CAN BUS OBD II code reader that is actually just an interface cable that runs with software on the laptop. I see them as low as $11 now. Some people don’t want to bother with the laptop, but the displays and memory are much better.