Evaporative monitor won't clear

[jzbeaver]

I have a 1998 3.8, and recently failed inspection twice because 3 monitors were not ready. After over 200 miles of city & highway driving, two of them reset, but the Evaporative emissions monitor won't reset, even after carefully following the detailed4-step OBD II drive cycle in the Ford EVTM manual (P. 07-01A-41). During all of this driving, the SES light did not come on-- no faults.

Possible related issue: just prior to this, I had fault codes P1537 and 1538-- the well documented IMRC problems. One of the actuators was stuck, and the the clips on the other were gone. The scanner manufacturer-- Actron-- told me that a fault might prevent some monitors from resetting. I freed up the stuck unit, and rigged a clip that secured the rod, and the SES light went away, and I cleared the codes. (After that, the other 2 monitors that were not ready--Catalyst and EGR--then reset).

When I completed the 4-step driving cycle, although the SES light did not come on, a "pending" P 1537 registered, and when I checked the IMRC units, they were both stuck open, and there was no vacuum at all while idling. I then shut the engine and restarted, and the activators worked normally. So I am wondering if the reappearance of the IMRC issue somehow prevented the Evaporative monitor from clearing.

Any help would be appreciated-- I have 3 days left to pass the emissions inspection.