Hi everyone,

I drive a 1998 Saab 900. I went to have an emissions test done so that I could register my vehicle. I was told to drive forward and an attendant would talk to me. He first asked me if I had disconnected or changed my battery lately, which I had approx. 2 months ago. He told me that the drive cycle needed to be set to pass emissions and I needed to call a dealer to find out how. I asked him, knowing how expensive Saabs are, if it would be expensive. I was told that he could probably tell me by phone and that it may be something as simple as a fuse. Well, I called the service dept. talked to the service manager and was told that this normally happens to a 1996 and that there is nothing that they could do for me. I told him that my wife had downloaded info on how to reset it. The directions were written for the car being hooked up to diagnostics I would assume. The first direction was to drive the car at 70 mph, keeping the rpms, for 3 to 5 minutes, then check the diagnostics and the directions continued, changing the speed and time. Anyone had this problem, know if I take the car out, follow the directions of speed and time, if it possibly will work? Anyone have any other suggestions? I guess I need to just try it and then try emissions again. Thanks for your help in advance.

Yes, it could work. One of the parts of any driving cycle is a steady speed for an amount of time, say on an interstate. If all you do is stop and go driving, there is a possibility that it won't set.

I believe this is close to what you need to do.


The fuel tank should be between 1/4 and 3/4 full.
Start cold (below 86°F /30°C) and warm up until engine coolant temperature is at normal (typically requires at least one minute; up to 3 minutes).
Accelerate to 40-55 MPH at 25% throttle and maintain speed for five minutes.
Decelerate without using the brake (coast down) to 20 MPH or less, then stop the vehicle. Allow the engine to idle for 10 seconds, turn the key off, and wait one minute.
Restart and accelerate to 40-55 MPH at 25% throttle and maintain speed for two minutes.
Decelerate with using the brake [or the clutch!] by coasting down to 20 MPH or less, then stop the vehicle. Allow the engine to idle for 10 seconds, turn the key off, and wait one minute.