Thanks mate. Will sort something out.
M.O.T. emissions - FAIL?
- Thread starter t-tony
- Start date
Since I retired and only use the Zed for pleasure, I always use Shell V-power nitro+ but when I was using it as a Daily driver, I used supermarket 98. The Shell may be better but I have not seen any difference yet. The emissions have hardly varied.
So here's today's offering and strangely it's an 18 year old BMW 328i E36 with 106,000 miles. I think this will be running the same engine as in @Grumpy Z3. It was warm when I had finished inspecting the car but when I came to do the emissions test it failed the Bet test miserably.
Now I was facing doing a full Cat test, so popped in the oil temp. probe and ran the engine till it said "oil temp. satisfactory" at 60 deg. ONLY 60 deg. not 80 deg as more modern cars need to be.
After putting the sample probe into the left hand tail pipe (the right hand one has the "flap" in it) and raising to fast idle speed (2,250 - 2,750) the readings soon came down to the pass levels as shown below.
You will notice that the fast idle speed has altered from 2,500 - 3,000 down to 2,250 - 2,750 rpm and that the natural idle speed has also altered and is now 575 - 875 rpm. Subtle differences which give an older car a fair chance of passing the emissions test. VERY FEW testing stations bother to use this, preferring to just fail your car after the BET test. You should always ask for the test to completed properly and insist that they do so if they refuse. It is your right to have it done correctly especially on the older cars as it puts less stress and strain on your engine.
Tony.
Now I was facing doing a full Cat test, so popped in the oil temp. probe and ran the engine till it said "oil temp. satisfactory" at 60 deg. ONLY 60 deg. not 80 deg as more modern cars need to be.
After putting the sample probe into the left hand tail pipe (the right hand one has the "flap" in it) and raising to fast idle speed (2,250 - 2,750) the readings soon came down to the pass levels as shown below.
You will notice that the fast idle speed has altered from 2,500 - 3,000 down to 2,250 - 2,750 rpm and that the natural idle speed has also altered and is now 575 - 875 rpm. Subtle differences which give an older car a fair chance of passing the emissions test. VERY FEW testing stations bother to use this, preferring to just fail your car after the BET test. You should always ask for the test to completed properly and insist that they do so if they refuse. It is your right to have it done correctly especially on the older cars as it puts less stress and strain on your engine.
Tony.
Nice one Tony. Not had an issue with my emissions thus far though I can't find the paperwork at the mo. I'll keep that in mind.
No worries Andy, hope you're feeling better mate.
Tony.
Tony.
Had my first hot meal since Saturday today mateNo worries Andy, hope you're feeling better mate.
Tony.
- Joined
- Feb 18, 2016
- Points
- 231
- Model of Z
- Z3M Imola and Z4 (e89)
That's interesting Tony, I dig mine out for the 2,8 if I can find it and post it because I asked at the MOT and was told it was spot on, but TBH I was a little concerned as she always smelt petrolly on start up, not sure if that's common but the ///M does too. Here's hoping when its MOT time next year.
Erm interesting read Tony. Yep same engine as mine. Be good to see what happens with mine next Saturday. Here's hoping! 
Stop mucking about with all them sheep up there, could be foot and mouth.....Had my first hot meal since Saturday today mate
- Joined
- Apr 1, 2016
- Points
- 218
- Location
- Maybole , South Ayrshire
- Model of Z
- Z3 Individual Dakar / Orinoco Individual
This is my m43 1.9 print passed fine on the bet test full cat test not required.
Here is the readings info sheet from my 2.2:
My 98 M44 1.9 failed on:
Carbon monoxide content after 2nd fast idle excessive.
Lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits.
The guy mentioned there was a leak on top of the back box. Now I've removed it there are a regular series of holes on top of the box leaking gasses. Maybe holding internal baffles in place.
Do we think a 'gun gum' fix will plug the leaks and sort the emissions? The box looks in reasonable condition otherwise.
Cheers
Carbon monoxide content after 2nd fast idle excessive.
Lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits.
The guy mentioned there was a leak on top of the back box. Now I've removed it there are a regular series of holes on top of the box leaking gasses. Maybe holding internal baffles in place.
Do we think a 'gun gum' fix will plug the leaks and sort the emissions? The box looks in reasonable condition otherwise.
Cheers
Our testing centers are run both by the state of New Jersey and licensed private businesses (eg. gas stations, repair shops). They used to test for many things such as emissions, lights, brakes, shocks, rust etc... There were always long lines at the state facilities because they were free and they had no interest or facility for repair, only testing. A private concern had to follow the rules and had licensed and inspected testing equipment that was tied into the state's computer system. Things like brakes and shocks are more judgmental and you are always worried about a profit motive creeping in. For that reason, most people go the the state inspection station. You always had a LONG wait, especially towards the end of the month as inspection stickers run by the month and year. It used to be that if you had a number 7 inspection sticker, you had to get your car inspected by the last day of July for that year. Things got so backed up that you sometimes had to wait for 3 or 4 hours in line if you waited to the last few days of the month. No inspection sticker or an out of date one is a heavy fine. If you fail, a failing sticker would be applied to your windshield and you had 30 days to correct the problem or if you got stopped by the police, you got a ticket ($100 plus). To ease the absurd long lines, the inspection stickers went to a 2 year sticker, thus if my sticker was a 7 2016 and passed inspection, the new sticker applied was 7 2018. Now added to this was the economic downturn in 2008. Now the state had to cut as many things from the budget that they could and cut corners where ever they could. Now the inspection only consists of emissions where they connect into your OBD 1 OR 11 outlet. As long as your check engine light is not on or was not recently erased, you've PASSED. You just have to worry about all those other things on your own. Leaving these things to the general public can be a dangerous thing.
Now I'm REALLY going to hurt all of you. As of this year, if your car is 20 years old or older, you no longer need inspection. While this probably won't have an impact on guys like us as we are always on top of the safety and condition of our cars, who knows WHAT will be driving down the streets now.
When I used to work on the cruise ship for Caesars, you could always tell the economic state of a country you were visiting immediately, when you got to shore by looking at the condition and kind of cars running down the road. Russia was the worst. Frankie
A blow on the exhaust will effect the lambda reading only not the CO. Please can you post a picture of the emission test failure printout.
Tony.
Hopefully this works
Attachments
@t-tony
here is mine, failed today on the emissions again (also has a crack in the windscreen, quite big and the horn wasn't working, it was working yesterday when the tit in the golf nearly got hit in the ar** when he decided to swap lanes without looking or indicating)
I seem to recall it was co fail before.
here is mine, failed today on the emissions again (also has a crack in the windscreen, quite big and the horn wasn't working, it was working yesterday when the tit in the golf nearly got hit in the ar** when he decided to swap lanes without looking or indicating)
I seem to recall it was co fail before.
I would go back with the car HOT and insist that they test the oil temperature before doing the cat test. Many cars fail the BET test and pass if the correct procedure is followed. This is the only way to know if you've improved anything because you're testing the emissions at a known temperature, otherwise it's pure guess work.
Tony.
Tony.
Mine fails on the co2 every year Jason, slightly higher reading than yours.
Jason, am I right in thinking your car is a 1.9? Have a look online for the VOSA In Service Exhaust Emission Standars for Road Vehicles. If it has an engine code of 19 4S1 the C.O. Failure level rises to 0.5 % at which your car would have passed?
Tony.
Tony.
will check that out tony, thanks
yes it is a 1.9
yes it is a 1.9