I have read a bunch of scary accounts about failing the new emission test that some states are conducting these days using the OBDII port in the car instead of the dyno. I heard that many of the S/V70s and possibly some 850s (do not recall what model years are effected) are unable to pass the test because of some status bit inside the OBDII memory not being in the state that allows the rest of the test to proceed. I am not certain of details, only that this is a problem with some combinations of test+car, car being various models including Volvo. In order to pass such a test a dealer has to drive the car in a certain way for a certain amount of time (and the moon must be blue on the following Tuesday, I believe) to set the bit such that it is acceptable to the test equipment. My question is: does anyone know what's the status of this issue? I realize that car manufacturers pass the buck to the test equipment manufacturers and test equipment manufacturers, naturally, pass the buck to the car manufacturers in a lovely vicious circle with us, the consumer, in the middle of it. I am wondering this because my '98 S70 is due for one of these next year (this year it was just "Kick-The-Tires" inspection and last year the OBDII was not yet available in Massachusetts and my car was actually dynoed and passed). If I am facing the this nonsense, I will have to plan accordingly, since I do not wish to be inside the vicious circle.

Thanks.
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Vladimir. '98 S70. Base, 5-speed manual. And the now the new arrival - '91 240 sedan automatic.

I'm not sure what you have in Mass, but Maine requires that the OBD codes be read. No codes, you pass. If it shows a code you may not pass. I had my 01 inspected at the corner service station with no problem.

If the OBDII system has not been reset recently and the battery has
not been disconnected then I would suspect you are ok. An exception
seems to be model year 96 where (from TSB 2334):

When interrogated using a generic OBD II scan tool, the MY 1996 Volvo 850, equipped with Bosch Motronic 4.3 Engine Management System, may experience all of the Readiness Codes changing from COMPLETE to INCOMPLETE when the ignition key is cycled.

Ouch.

Volvo has TSBs with the reset procedure and customer interview questions
to ask after an OBDII test rejecttion -- there are several TSBs at
www.alldatadiy.com. They do seem to indicate this issue applies to
96, 97 and 98 model years.

I note the TSBs say help the dealer provides is a warranty item under
the 8 year/80K emission warranty. Don't forget, emissions have longer
warranty then the base warranty. Some states may require longer warranties.

my 1998s70glt passed the our Missouri test but it still uses the dynomometer with the exhaust probe.

supposedly OBDIII will monitor your car as it goes down the highway and if you pass then no problem but if your car fails then supposedly they notify you by mail to get it fixed within 30-60days and if they catch you again then come out and confisgate your car.this is all hear say from my mechanic.dont know where he got it, probably another mechanic or publication.

believe me, its going to get worse before it gets better.now they are cracking down on trucks and i think they have 5-10yrs to comply and improve their mpg.
big brother is watching...