OK, I'm stumped. I haven't been able to access readiness codes lately.

I've tried VWTOOL and VAGCOM shareware version on 3 different 12V cars, using every combination of 2 different laptops, 2 different cables, and running vs non-running. All configurations will read the control modules, but none will read readiness codes...not even on my daily driver that hasn't had any DTCs read or reset for weeks.

The dongles I'm using are the cheap Autonostics cable and an $80 OBDTOOL dongle.

Any other ideas? What am I missing.

I asked about this a while ago, and 4Driver4 mentioned that he can read readiness on his C5 with the same version of vag-com that I have. Maybe it is missing from the VAG protocol in the C4. It is there in the OBD2 protocol on the C4, since I have had both positive and negative readiness read from my A6 during emissions testing.

I read in a couple posts that the 1996 and 1997 Hitachi ECUs can be a bit 'troublesome' wrt reading readiness codes. So I rounded up the keys for the 2 1999 A4's we have and checked them out. Both VAGCOM and VWTOOL, and both dongles worked fine to view the readiness codes on those 2 cars. Worked fine with the ignition on, car running and not running. It gave me the 'not ready' codes I expected after I cleared the DTCs...even though there were none.

So....it appears that the 1996 and 1997 12V's are a bit strange when it comes to readiness codes. Ironically, the 2 cars I tested in my original post were a 1996 12V A4 and 2 1997 A6 12V's.

My next step is to find a generic code reader and see what it will do.

I'd sure be interested in hearing more first hand experiences.