gavinp Posted May 7, 2004 Share Posted May 7, 2004 1998 SLR, VHPD, standard engine and ECU. Failed its emissions with a CAT on (I don't know which/spec). Not sure what else to try. 2nd fail in 2 days. gavin Superlight R #41 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonstevens Posted May 7, 2004 Share Posted May 7, 2004 your mot tester should be able to help! what exactly did it fail on? i.e, what was too high? roller barrells or single throttle body? lambda? how long was car out before the test, eg was the cat warm enough? this can make quite a difference for the emmissions, by fiding the exact problem you can solve the problem relatively easily, its like goin to the doc and just saying that your ill, hes got no chance! but hey, what do i know? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke Beaumont Posted May 7, 2004 Share Posted May 7, 2004 What bit of the emissions did it fail on do you know? The way I'm thinking here is that if it was HC, then maybe there's a way to reduce the fuel pressure to lean it up a bit, just for the test? Or maybe someone with an Emerald or similar could loan you their ECU with a lean map in it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke Beaumont Posted May 7, 2004 Share Posted May 7, 2004 Dang, itchy trigger finger managed to double click the post button. Edited by - Luke Beaumont on 7 May 2004 19:46:42 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gavinp Posted May 7, 2004 Author Share Posted May 7, 2004 Hmmm, it was the garage that took it down to get it tested, but the MOT station is just over the road so the cat would be nowhere near warm. Might be it - does this make that much difference? They tried a loaner ECU but the engine was having none of it and wouldn't start. They are going to try a new lamda probe tomorrow. Swan neck TB's (oldie stylie!) The failure was emissions "just over what was needed". g Superlight R #41 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nifty Posted May 7, 2004 Share Posted May 7, 2004 I had my truck MOTed this evening and the chap doing it put a temp sensor in the place of the dipstick. He told me that he could not do the test unless the engine was up to temp. Presumably this applies to cat. too. Keep off the straight and narrow 😬 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonstevens Posted May 7, 2004 Share Posted May 7, 2004 the cat being hot can make a hefty difference!try the lambda sensor as these can get broken wires from being within inches of the hot manifold. remember, these engines were picked with emmissions in mind to make it easier for sva and theres not enough age on it to be that worn im sure! we use to run mot failures on the gas analyser to solve the problem, this saves 30 odd quid a time for the retest! has the garage got its own machine? if it does then be careful, it wont be set to the same as the mot testers so just because it passes on your machine, doesent mean it will on his, but before and after levels between changing components etc can at least let you know if your on to a winner or if the change was pointless! get that cat fookin hot too! you want it to be too hot to touch and then some more for luck! (the biggest arguments against cats are the fact that they barely effect cars that only do short trips as they dont filter properly until they are hot!) but hey, what do i know? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Piper Posted May 7, 2004 Share Posted May 7, 2004 Gavin ISTR you're a Ratrace man - can't you get Mark to get it MOTd or Rob to play around with it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V7 SLR Posted May 7, 2004 Share Posted May 7, 2004 By the time my SLR came up for MoT it had been changed quite dramatically and consequently failed on emissions. I had to advance the ignition some 15 to 18 degrees at the required revs to get all 4 measurements on the emissions machine to light up green. Fortunately the MoT station I go to acknowledge that they only need to see a pass and it's not for them to judge if you immediately change it back again. He even told me that the inspectors from wherever MoT inspectors come from admitted they know this sort of thing goes on. So, I'd say borrow an Emerald and I can provide you with a map for a standard SLR engine which you could use to start with. Then just keep buggering about with it until the machine accepts your emissions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gavinp Posted May 8, 2004 Author Share Posted May 8, 2004 Mark I am a Ratrace man! Rob's on it! Steve's on it! and Mark is away! They are having another go today - 3rd time lucky. g Superlight R #41 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myles Posted May 8, 2004 Share Posted May 8, 2004 And if that fails, come to rainy Stratford-upon-Avon where the emissions test is visual smoke only... (regardless of age, SVA etc. - they do VS for *all* kit cars)... Keep BC free and open for ALL. Membership No. 43xx Alcester Racing 7's Equipe - 🙆🏻™ Alcester-Racing-Sevens.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul jacobs Posted May 8, 2004 Share Posted May 8, 2004 I don't suppose the car was ever built from a kit was it? I seem to recall that kit built cars are exempt from all that stuff, as long as there is no visible smoke it will get through. 😬 Paul J. - With a working Seven, now through SVA, awaiting registration. Does this process never end :-(( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irrelevant Posted May 8, 2004 Share Posted May 8, 2004 Only old engines(forgotten how old though) - e.g. Crossflows, Twincams, etc. are smoke only. It's worth a try though if the inspector doesn't know his stuff. J351 TPE - In one piece Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myles Posted May 8, 2004 Share Posted May 8, 2004 Adam - I questioned my MOT man after my test about the emissions - and another local went into even more detail and was shown all of the DOT MOT updates to prove that they were up-to-date with the regs. Either there is a loophole/grey area there, or you just need to shop around. My MOT man wasn't letting me through on a wink - and his outfit is not some oily little den... He categorically said that all kit cars are visible smoke only - i.e. regardless of age, make or home/factory build status. Yay for him ... ...and he ain't the only one out there either. Keep BC free and open for ALL. Membership No. 43xx Alcester Racing 7's Equipe - 🙆🏻™ Alcester-Racing-Sevens.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gavinp Posted May 8, 2004 Author Share Posted May 8, 2004 Ratrace are saying, and I think this is clearly the case with my tin top, that the MOT guy needs a print out from the machine with a pass on it and that is that. Sounds as thought things may have become stricter this year, though I am not so sure. Trouble is that I have a standard ECU (MEMS) and Rob can't tinker with it. I was planning an ECU upgrade at some point but since I bought the car in Jan I haven't stopped spending on it and I want to put an SLR cage on next week, a pricey job but safety first and all that. So the ECU was down the priority list. I am going to post separatley re. the Emerald vs MBE debate to get an up to date view from the team...but if there are any views here they would be welcome. (p.s. don't live anywhere near Emerald so I would not want to be dependent on them, if that is the case re. rolling road tinkering.) g Superlight R #41 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irrelevant Posted May 8, 2004 Share Posted May 8, 2004 Myles: He's wrong then. See here. It depends on the age of the engine/car, whichever is oldest. Before 1979(car or engine) is a smoke test only. Just found this that explains it better - i.e. all kit cars do get a smoke test, but some also get proper tests. This obviously includes Caterhams.... J351 TPE - In one piece Edited by - AdamHay on 8 May 2004 15:27:19 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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