failed MOT !

zafman

had the test on monday and the emissions failed badly on tickover and slightly at 3000rpm 🙁
i took the car home and checked everything over,nothing different from last year other than the
fpr mod,so i changed it back to the inlet position.When i took it back the figures were better
but still a fail.He says it has been running rich and the cat is now buggered! :shock: i've
ordered a new one from cobra (£130) which comes wednesday.
Do we suspect a problem with the fpr mod? notsure.gif

JohnnyN

Bugger mate! That's bad news. Hope the new cat sorts the problem.

;-)

zafman

well i'm hoping the new one will be better as it's from a different supplier.
i just hope it wasn't the fpr mod that has caused the engine to run rich,suprised the warning light
didn't come on notsure.gif

philip1

how far is the MOT test location from you? if the CEL didn't come on then the cat is probably OK. I would set the FPR back to the standard location and then have a drive get that cat hot and then take her in. MOT guys are like the emmission guys here in the US I bet ........ they don't know a ton but they can put the test pipe in the tailpipe (OOh that doesn't sound right)

zafman

well i tried to drive as much as i could after moving the pipe back but was only about 30 miles. the tester
guy said the engine is running fine now but the cat wont take the bad stuff out anymore

vocky

the mixture lambda is fooked :roll:

probably why you were so down on power at the rolling road day 🙁

ps: the fpr mod lowers the fuel pressure at tickover

zafman

well if it is the lambda then a new cat isn't going to make it pass :roll:

vocky

a couple of z22se owners have had a similar problem recently, notably luna_s who's car failed with massive emissions and cured by a new lambda 🙂

luna_s

yeah appears lots of bad running on these cars can be attributed to the lambdas,
mine were stuck on .2 volts (lean) causing the car to run excessively rich,
I'd say even from myself avoid universal lambdas too - even thi i use them cos i'm cheap :lol:
but they can be handy being cheap for testing purposes. (15 quid ish)
Incidently when i asked the MOT man what could be causing the problem, he said it couldn't just be the lambda :roll:

i thought rich couldn't damage cats ? - just lean ?

JohnnyN

If an engine is running rich it can be sending unburnt fuel down into the cat and getting burnt off at the cat.

Lightning_Coupe

All lambda sensors have a limmited service life that degrades with age, The genral rule is 30,000 to 50,000 miles or around 500 hours. If its older than that your on borrowed time and probably not working too well. I changed mine after 40,000 miles to try and solve a different problem I had and it made a big diference to the fuel consumption. I couldnt idle at less than 0.4 gallons per hour before but after I replaced it (genuine one £50 deliveded from vaux parts) it was back down to 0.2 gallons per hour and I was geting much better mpg too.

Europa_Blue_SE1

Never knew that Lightning so I'd be better changing both my lambda sensors then mate? Only thing I'm thinking is I'm going to get one of those Air Fuel meters with that bosch lambda sensor but not sure what one to go for how much are two lambda sensors from VXL and would I be best changing both till I get the bosch wide range one?
Thanks
Alan

Lightning_Coupe

I got mine from AutoVaux. Cheapest place for a genine one at the time, Fronts £52 and the rears £68. As the rear one is only checking that the cat works and not doing anything with the fuel trim, I'd just change the front one if you have no light up. I dont see that a universal one would be any less effective if your good with a soldering iron, and a little cheaper, But thats your call. I went with the hastle free £52 quid one! lol. heres a link: - http://www.autovaux.co.uk/LoadPortal.aspx?cnum=85&tabid=5&vnum=128

Europa_Blue_SE1

Thanks mate I'll get the first one then wait till I'm getting the kit but I do have an EML but 🙁 but the last time it was on the diagnostics my mechanic said it was because of the sports catt the second lambda couldn't get a proper reading due to the gasses flowing so quickly past it so it can't get a proper reading that's why I'm gonna get the bosch wide range one with the air fuel kit but I might just invest in the sensor when I get the front one thanks for the link Lightning you're running a 200 cell also aint you? still not had an EML mate when I reset the ECU the light goes off can stay of for up to like anything between 30-300miles but the second I floor it bang the EML comes back on I've got the coolant light on at the moment also so due a trip to the garage for a diagnostics to find out what's causing the coolant light to come on got a rough idea but wan't to make sure...
Alan

Daz

Europa Blue SE1 said:
reset the ECU the light goes off can stay of for up to like anything between 30-300miles but the second I floor it bang the EML comes back on
Alan

That exactly the same as mine alan...

zafman

well it's been a bad week,when i got the car home the fuel tank was leaking badly on my drive :cry: turns
out the exhaust has been pushing the heat shield against the tank and caused a hole..arse!
the guy who made it up fixed it saying i must have nocked it going over a bump notsure.gif
anyhoo MOT sorted now aswell,the new cat sorted the emissions and its driving better than ever woohoo.gif
i'm sat in tyre centre at the moment getting 4 new 225/40/18's cos the side walls are cracked badly on old ones,
also my ebc front disks are badly grooved and pitted.....but hey whats money for

vocky

at least you had some good news, but a rather expensive week for you :cry:

a blocked cat will be why you were down on power :roll:

zafman

yea i wanted to inspect the old one but they lobbed it out before i could see it :roll:

vocky

lobbed it out = £30 at the scrappy :shock:

ask for it back dunno..

Europa_Blue_SE1

Daz said:

Europa Blue SE1 said:
reset the ECU the light goes off can stay of for up to like anything between 30-300miles but the second I floor it bang the EML comes back on
Alan

That exactly the same as mine alan...

Yea it's a pain in the a*** mate I think the only way to get the EML to stay off will be getting one of those air/fuel things that you can set the parameters yourself on... :roll: