MOT tomorrow (wish me luck!)

[RichardW]

I've not had an advisory on obscured pipes.... There is a picture in the Visa Haynes manual thought that makes me laugh - picture of the inboard end of the 2-cylinder drive shaft with the caption "Engine removed for clarity"

[Old-Guy]

No advisories at all this time.

Last year there were advisories for minor exhaust leak and handbrake cable out of adjustment, both of which have been fixed since, however there was also an advisory for "minor cracking" of front brake flexi hoses, but no mention of it this year and I've not touched them... it goes to show how arbitrary some of these marginal calls are...

I'm a bit surprised and disappointed that I didn't get an emissions test print out this time, given the dramas with intermittent misfires, dodgy oxygen sensor, concern about the well being of the cat, etc...it would have been nice to see the exact figures and compare them to last years test...

Is an emissions printout something optional you have to ask for ? I got one without asking last year so just assumed that you normally get them. Can I look it up online or do I need to phone them to get a copy posted out ?

Great news!

For the last 2 MoTs the green one had similar advisories on the front hoses (still not done and I too can't see what the warning was for). I think whether you get an emissions print depends on whether the tester bothers to print one out (bearing in mind the machine is linked to DVLA). No idea if you can look it up - I would "let sleeping dogs lie" just in case the tester entered the equivalent of "N/A" for the emissions test.

[Mandrake]

I think whether you get an emissions print depends on whether the tester bothers to print one out (bearing in mind the machine is linked to DVLA). No idea if you can look it up - I would "let sleeping dogs lie" just in case the tester entered the equivalent of "N/A" for the emissions test.

Too late to let sleeping dogs lie, they're posting me a copy.

[DHallworth]

Simon,

Do you know who served you at Glasgow Citroen? I only found out the other day that a girl I've known for years from another dealership has started working there.

What did the main agent charge you for an MOT if you don't mind me asking?

David.

[Mandrake]

Excellent news Simon...

Did you get an emissions printout per chance?

I'd like to see it

Well I've received a copy of the emissions report Jim, and I kind of wish I hadn't. It barely scraped through by a hair, when it flew through with flying colours last year.

Here are the figures last year versus this test:

Fast Idle:

CO - last time 0.039%, this time 0.27%, Limit 0.3%
HC - last time 15 ppm, this time 47 ppm, Limit 200 ppm
Lambda - last time 1.020, this time 1.01, Limits 0.97 - 1.03

Natural Idle:

CO - last time 0.035%, this time 0.49%, Limit 0.5%.

Not good at all In fact I have to say the CO reading looks like they either tried a few times to get it to pass or fiddled it slightly...(not that I'm pointing fingers, but it does look odd )

Obviously the question foremost on my mind is whether the cat has been destroyed from running with a misfire for a while last year, or could a currently occurring (during the test) ignition misfire also give high CO readings ? (Eg if the cat was being overwhelmed with a cylinders worth of un-burnt fuel and oxygen could that result in both high CO and high HC without the cat necessarily being faulty ?)

There are definite symptoms of an intermittent ignition misfire in the last 6 weeks or so, ever since the new coil pack failed, I put the old one back which was better but not 100%, which is why I'm getting a coil-pack from the car KP is breaking...

[Mandrake]

Simon,

Do you know who served you at Glasgow Citroen? I only found out the other day that a girl I've known for years from another dealership has started working there.

What did the main agent charge you for an MOT if you don't mind me asking?

David.

PM sent.

[CitroJim]

Got through that one by the skin of your teeth Simon!!!

Your cat is very tired and near the end of its ninth life...

Lambda's good so there's nothing fundamentally wrong with mixture control

Those figures are also typical of a kitten so don't fit one of those...

Have a natter with Will (KP) about retrieving the cat from his scrapper...

Basically a good ES9 with the original cat in good order should return infinitesimal figures for CO and HC... Without a cat they're a tad on the mucky side..

[addo]

There's a Magnaflow weld-in cat which is remarkably close in size and quality to the original. Not sure that our man would consider it affordable.

[CitroJim]

I'm sure Will's will be cheaper Adam...

[Mandrake]

Thanks for the suggestion Jim, but we have absolutely no idea whether the cat on KP's breaker is any good...remember it failed the MOT on multiple points.

I'm pretty gutted but I won't be throwing any money at a cat just now, it's next years problem...

There's also no point in changing the cat when the engine is still not running properly as a misfire or something similar will be what killed the cat in the first place, if it is indeed faulty.

Let me try to sort out the running problems first, if I can get the engine back to normal performance then I'll get the emissions retested and consider my options from there.

[Stempy]

Without a cat they're a tad on the mucky side..

But they don't half sound nice

[Hell Razor5543]

Simon, if the cat is available from KPs' car I would grab it. At worst you have something taking up space, while you might end up with a useable cat that is the right one for your car and keeps her on the road for a few years to come.

[CitroJim]

James, I quite concur...

[addo]

I'd make it a decat test pipe. For the price of a gasket kit and two clamps you could run it for a few days to see how the car goes.

[CitroJim]

I'd make it a decat test pipe. For the price of a gasket kit and two clamps you could run it for a few days to see how the car goes.

Or run it between MOT tests...