What? It failed the MOT?!

[Tinonline]

Bit annoyed really as I’m not convinced the car had been properly warmed up for the test.

My Lexus yr 2000 mileage 89532 all servicing up to date.

Fast idle

CO.      0.01 Pass

HC        8 Pass

             1.010 Pass

but natural idle test failed:

CO        0.71 Fail

Any ideas? 😢

 

[The-Acre]

2 minutes ago, Tinonline said:

Bit annoyed really as I’m not convinced the car had been properly warmed up for the test.

My Lexus yr 2000 mileage 89532 all servicing up to date.

Fast idle

CO.      0.01 Pass

HC        8 Pass

             1.010 Pass

but natural idle test failed:

CO        0.71 Fail

Any ideas? 😢

 

My LS400 once failed in the same way.  The tester asked if I'd been using supermarket fuel, which I had. He told me to go and get some Texaco fuel from up the road and give it a hard drive back, then it passed.  Just a thought.

[runsgrateasanut]

When did you last put in injector cleaner? I always use some and drive a good distance the week before going to a test centre. Then only turn up when Car has had a run round the block five miles. 

Too late now for you, but maybe if you put some in as per instructions and run the car up to temp without going any distance then you may clear any clogging.  Of course this may not be a recommended course of action as it states in the Manual not to warm the engine before moving off. Difficult.    

[royoftherovers]

As Phil.

Fill tank with Shell V pOWER/Optima or similar,then give it an Italian Tune Up before arriving at MOT station.

[scudney]

Always advantageous to have the car up to warm and operating temperature before the test. Emissions are usually higher if not up to operating temperature. 

[Tinonline]

Yep thanks for all your replies...it runs on Tesco unleaded most of the time although a dose of shell went in a bit ago...

Think I’ll bang some quality fuel in with a cat cleaner and exercise the motorway tarmac a bit...👍😉

[scudney]

Ran my IS200 which I owned for 8 yes on momentum 99(using same in my IS250 f sport,have occasionally used shell v power too).Never once failed its mot/ emissions test 

[steve2006]

The engine temperature on testing is normally recorded on the paper work.

[Cotswold Pete]

I would suggest never running all the time on supermarket fuel, it is in spec, but does tned to be dirtier as the supermarkets just buy the cheapest they can on the 'spot' market.

I recall a few years back Morrisons diesel was the cleanest diesel you could get, but things change in the fuel industry all the time.

I only use supermarket petrol about in in every 10 or so refuels.

I also try and make sure before an MOT the car has a motorway blast before hand.

Hope you get it sorted

[Tinonline]

44 minutes ago, Cotswold Pete said:

I would suggest never running all the time on supermarket fuel, it is in spec, but does tned to be dirtier as the supermarkets just buy the cheapest they can on the 'spot' market.

I recall a few years back Morrisons diesel was the cleanest diesel you could get, but things change in the fuel industry all the time.

I only use supermarket petrol about in in every 10 or so refuels.

I also try and make sure before an MOT the car has a motorway blast before hand.

Hope you get it sorted

Thanks Pete 

Given the miles I do (not many) I don’t need to worry so much about fuel costs.

To my shame I realised my air filter is nearly 3 years old and has done just shy of 10k miles.

I’ll fit a new one this evening. Time goes so quickly I thought it was younger than that.

I’ve also got some MAF cleaner on order in addition to cat/emission cleaner.

[Malc]

28 minutes ago, Tinonline said:

my air filter is nearly 3 years old and has done just shy of 10k miles.

in olden times when the air was cleaner the air filter was good for about 20k miles, say two years BUT I have noticed over say, the past 7/8 years that the air filter needs changing every service / year , say 10/12/15k miles ..  it's not the quality of the air filter it's the poor quality of the air we're driving through sadly

Malc

[ambermarine]

My last MOT came in at ,(see file) as you can see zeros all round and I use Morrisons fuel I have no issues with air filters because when I purchased the car I fitted a K&N for life.

I know wear on the engine contributes to these readings and my engine is not run in yet but it does show a benchmark  to compare with.

2018 mot emissions .pdf

[brendangeorge]

I am not sure what dirty supermarket fuel is or the effect it will have - your car has a fuel filter.  There may be more ethanol in cheaper - the max is 5%.  More expensive fuels have additives that can be demonstrated to improve fuel consumption.

You should never MoT a car that is not at normal operating temperature - when you book a lot of garages remind you of this and tell you to warm it up before you arrive.

You should always make sure you take care of the basics before the test.  Somebody made a comment about the air being dirty these days - they were not alive in the 1950s when people dropped like flies in the smog caused by coal fires - the clear air acts have taken care of the problem.  The air is clean these days but could be a lot cleaner - all you DERV drivers.

None of my Lexus ever failed (an MoT or got close - I am on no 7) - LPG will give you good emission results, if you have a conversion.  Warm the car up and leave it on auto - they have to test the car as it turns up.

They are brilliant machines but not magic so be nice to them 🙂

Good luck

Bren

[Malc]

8 minutes ago, brendangeorge said:

Somebody made a comment about the air being dirty these days

that was me ................  and I'm simply stating why I think the air filters ( mine anyway ) these days seem to need changing more often than in the past

and yes, I sure was alive all through the 1950's too, and in London full of smog and whatever at certain times of the year ......  I have no idea how air filters were used on cars in those times tbh ......  all I know for certain is my experiences now with my Lexus air filters

Malc

[BigBoomer]

Modern filters are MUCH finer than the old ones and capture a lot more dirt.
That said, a CO figure of 0.71 is VERY high and may be due to a dead/clogged CAT.
If it still shows high after decent fuel and a good motorway blast, you'll need to check the CAT and the sensors.

[Silversalmon]

I think our disappearing fly and insect life is down to environmental reasons, I reckon  the air in some parents of the country is more toxic than it was 60 or more years ago. Filters will be working much harder

 

[Cotswold Pete]

16 hours ago, Silversalmon said:

I think our disappearing fly and insect life is down to environmental reasons,

 

Agree something going on, I recall the days of driving down the M4 from london, and every day would need to wash windscreen.  Drove 550 miles the other day dwon from Pitlochry and the screen as clean as when I left.  Not right, sure our 4 litre monsters are doing their bit to change the environment, but the cost of rail travel to Pitlochry made the LS seem cheap to fuel up.

[runsgrateasanut]

Difficulty is, that if the Car fails its MOT its not supposed to be driven. Or does this only apply to mechanical failure?  Uninsured if driving after a fail is risky, but necessary to clean the engine. Couple of MOT's ago, the Garage told me that they had to drive the car all morning to get the emissions down.  Don't know the truth of that, but since I've made sure I use Injector cleaner and do a five miles drive to the Garage for its testing.  My Garage doesn't give me the results of the Exhaust test, and to be honest if they say its passed I just want to scram before they change their mind.   Old Filters used to be mesh didn't they?  Got a Mesh filter in my Mercedes Penta boat engine that dates back to the fifities for both Air and oil. Have substituted a more modern Air filter.    

[Malc]

9 minutes ago, runsgrateasanut said:

My Garage doesn't give me the results of the Exhaust test,

aren't these the printed figures on the sheet with the MOT certificate  ( that I always have anyway ! )

Malc

[runsgrateasanut]

Malc, my memory failed me.  In the past they have not given me a Test Result sheet.  However I did get one in July 18 and can't really understand what counts for pass and what for fail.

The results  are

Fast Idle - FAIL  Engine speed 2500-3000 not checked. 

CO Limit 0.30 and Actual 2.09 FAIL

HC Limit 200 Actual 209 FAIL 

^ LIMIT 1.03  Actual 0.959 FAIL  (Don't understand this) ?

Second Fast Idle:  Speed not checked  -  PASS  all within range

Natural idle Test  - Speed not checked

  CO Limit 0.50 Actual  0.19    PASS

OVERALL EMISSIONS TEST  -  PASSED

                                                                                   So is it the best out of three or what??

[ColinBarber]

If you fail the fast idle test it will be repeated, which in your case passed at the second attempt. The second test is done to help get the engine and cats up to temperature.

Then the standard idle test must pass for the vehicle to complete the emission test.

[Tinonline]

Well the air filter certainly needs replacing.

I did think of the Cats but then the results for other test points are a Pass albeit with high readings.

[Tinonline]

😀 Ok so a quiet day at the office...

Picked up a new air filter and a bottle of Wynn’s  lower emission additive. Rang ATS and booked a retest so after fitting the filter and chucking in the fluid to my just over 1/4 full tank I had just under 1.5hours to Italian tune.

Damn...M4 has roadworks for miles at the junction nearest the centre. There are some good straights in the business parks and they were deserted so I thrashed about trying to burn as much fuel as possible.

Drove in 2nd for a spell, hard accelerating and braking. Do I put some good fuel in now or let the additive work with what’s in the tank...keep as is. Clock ticking and I pull up for the test and let the car idle for 5 minutes and Rev it a bit before switching off.

The test started a few minutes after I’d arrived.

Result: Pass

Take a look at the results (attached) 👍🙂

Now what sort of dumb idea is it to just thrash the car, burn fuel expelling all the rubbish to the atmosphere then run a system that will clog again in traffic?

Air filter though will be an annual event from now on. I will use this additive again, I do use Redex once a year...will use premium fuel more often if not all of the time.

[The-Acre]

There you go, a good lesson learned, one that we all need to remember. 👍 When you see so many diesels pumping out filth you have to wonder how they pass.

[Malc]

at least we can all rest assured that the climate change will be forever improved upon with all these wonderful 000's of demonstrators choking the streets in London running all electric cars now and in the future ......  guess they don't need air filters for their non-combustible engines 

Malc

I'm non political and support as much as I can Friends of the Earth type stuff but would never demonstrate, stopping buses and DLR etc from transporting pax around in fug free transport