I feel like an idiot.

Purchased a 2003 Dodge Ram van and briefly looked at the carfax, mostly paying attention at the accidents, etc.. Now that I'm about to put it on the road, I see that it has several failed emissions tests.

What should I do before I bring it to the mechanics? Is there anything I can do by myself? I have a few tools but very little car experience. The van has been sitting in my sister's driveway for a year while I've been camperizing, thinking that there shouldn't be many problems on a 54,000 miles motor.

So I guess my questions are:
What could be the cause of so many failed tests on such a low mile motor?
And how much is it going to cost me?

 

Sitting around in a driveway for a year comes to mind.

 

The van failed the emissions tests before sitting around for a year.

 

Is the van running? Is there a check engine light? Did the van pass the last emissions test?
For your own peace of mind you can buy a reasonably low cost code reader at most any parts house or do even better on Amazon, this way you can pull the codes and google/research, read and ask questions regarding a specific code and how you might troubleshoot a problem.

Some parts stores will pull codes for free, call and ask one of your local autozones or oreillys, or if you have a friend who might loan or show you how to use his.

 

what has or hasn't been done? what were your readings? did you take it in with the engine HOT? do you have a check engine light? was the battery recently reset? it is possible that it hadn't cleared it's test cycles that show it is ok.....

also, for a 2003, they wouldn't run it on a dyno, just would make sure all the systems are there, and hook it up to a computer and basically let it run for a bit

 

Harbor Freight often has sales on their scan tools for reading and resetting codes... look up on their web site and see what they currently will run you... having a scan tool is invaluable in a situation like yours... running to the auto parts store every time you need a code pulled will work once or twice, but you will need to do that too often to get this sorted out...

start looking at the basics and posting some details like the motor size
what codes you have pulled now
then reset the codes, drive it around for a few days, air it out on the freeway for some miles then read the codes again
maybe change the oil, take out and/or change some spark plugs and wires
get a brass cap (not aluminum) for the distributor
dress the wires to the plugs if you get misfire codes or change them out for new

engines don't like to sit for long periods of time... out in the weather especially

search all you can on this forum for recommendations on plugs, wires, caps and O2 sensors as all that info is on this forum...

look for write-up on cleaning the IAC on your engine which can cause rough running

check out rockauto.com and peruse their parts catalog for prices... sometimes you can find some deals

are you going to do the work yourself?

I have 193,000 on my 5.2L 2001 van and have zero emissions issues... but have taken care of the engine, doing all of my suggestions since I bought it with 130,000 on it 5 years ago

 

I will not be doing the work myself anymore. I took it to a mechanic, the check engine light was on, he took care of that and I drove it around for a bit, took it back an it failed again. Mechanic doesn't know why. Gonna drive it around some more and bring it back in a couple of days.

Thanks for the suggestions though. I was going to do the work myself but it just got too close to the date when I'm supposed to leave on a road trip. I will buy that code scanner though to have for future references.