Exhaust CO level too high

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sleepy0905
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Exhaust CO level too high

Post by sleepy0905 »

Hi can enyone help what is the best way to reduce the exhause CO level as mine is too high it should be less than 3.50 and mine is 3.91 I have changed the oil and cleaned and regapped the plugs anyone got any other sugestions the restest is tomorrow afternoon.?

P.S. it is on my 1.9TZS Auto Carb variety not injection.
2017 Seat Leon ST FR 2.0 150Bhp
jeremy
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Post by jeremy »

Worth thrashing it on the way to the test to try and get the silencers burnt out - especially if it has been running and not getting driven.

I suppose if everything is in good order setting the idle mixture to the weak side may help BUT any misfiring will only make things worse.

I agree that a Gunsons or similar tester could well help - as could a colourtune. The problem with the colourtune is getting the colour right - and while I haven't seen the instructions of the new ones I should imagine that they aren't calibrated in % HC or whatever the measurements are.
ellevie
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Post by ellevie »

Mine failed as well on the CO emission test on its recent MOT. I had to bite the bullet and let them adjust it themselves for about £12. They also decided that the accumulator was leaking so I let them change that as well just to get the ticket. I'm pretty sure the a/c was ok because there was no fast ticking but I managed to get the old one back off them and I'll put it in my other 19TRS which is clicking like a set of castanets.

This new MOT regulation where you can't take it away and get it fixed yourself without a full restest strikes me as a right good earner for the motor trade. If they find £100 worth of faults and If you take it away and fix it yourself for £30, you have to add another £45 for the retest and then run the risk of them finding another fault on the full retest. Makes you wonder how they got this new legislation past the Competition Commission.
David

BX19TRS 118K E Reg 1992-2008
BX19TRS auto abs 96k F Reg
BX19TXD 150k K Reg
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Way2go
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Post by Way2go »

ellevie wrote:This new MOT regulation where you can't take it away and get it fixed yourself without a full restest strikes me as a right good earner for the motor trade. If they find £100 worth of faults and If you take it away and fix it yourself for £30, you have to add another £45 for the retest and then run the risk of them finding another fault on the full retest. Makes you wonder how they got this new legislation past the Competition Commission.
You can still get a free retest within 7 days at Motest.

http://www.motest.co.uk/index.asp?pgid=22

No locations in Southampton or the North but presumably there will be other organisations offering this too. :?:
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ellevie
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Post by ellevie »

Thanks for this useful tip Way2go. Actually, looking at their locations, there is one only about a mile away from me in Boyatt Wood, Eastleigh. I will keep this in mind when I eventually put my second BX up for MOT.
David

BX19TRS 118K E Reg 1992-2008
BX19TRS auto abs 96k F Reg
BX19TXD 150k K Reg
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cavmad
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Post by cavmad »

I`m told by some local garages that I know that the re-test fee is actually discretionary. I have had two MOT`s done under the new system, both had free re-tests though one said they MIGHT start charging a nominal fee (£10?) in the future. I`d suggest asking a garage first if they do free re-tests and if they don`t find someone that does.
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pitman
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Post by pitman »

My local garage for MOT does only mounting tyres and nothing else.

They don't work together with another garage but instead always insist on telling you "That can be done easily by yourself". :shock:

Since I'm with them, my bills for MOT dropped significantly. The only thing they're eager to let fail are tyres. :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Hope they'll be long around here. :)
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ellevie
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Post by ellevie »

I think the nub of the thing is that there is a list of about 20 fairly trivial items for which a free partial retest is given if the car is brought back within 24 hours, otherwise a full retest must be carried out.

Interestingly the CO emission is on this list. I have been using lead replacement additive for some time since I couldn’t find LRP petrol anymore; I wonder if this is what caused the emission failure. Perhaps I should have timed it so that I had a tank of petrol without the additive before I put her in for the test.

List of free retest items (within 24 hours):-

BRAKE PEDAL ANTI-SLIP DEVICES
DIRECTION INDICATORS/ HAZARD WARNING
DOORS, DROPSIDES, EXHAUST EMISSIONS
FUEL FILLER CAP, HEADLAMP AIM, HORN
LAMPS, LOADING DOOR, MIRRORS
REAR REFLECTORS, REGISTRATION PLATES
SEAT BELTS (BUT NOT ANCHORAGES)
SEATS, STEERING WHEEL, TAILBOARD
TAILGATE, V. I. N., BOOT LID
WINDSCREEN, WINDSCREEN WIPERS/ WASHERS
WHEELS AND TYRES (Class III, IV and VII only)
David

BX19TRS 118K E Reg 1992-2008
BX19TRS auto abs 96k F Reg
BX19TXD 150k K Reg
tim leech

Post by tim leech »

Sleepy when I put it throught for the MOT the emmissions were fine, maybe a damn good thrash would be useful as its only done small journeys since then and the autochoke takes a while to come off?
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Post by jeremy »

Incidentally its well worth looking up the reasons for failure in the MOT tester's handbook and tracing exactly what the reason for failure applies to.

As an example my brother presented me with the list for his land Rover which includes: Intermediate drop arm insecure. I thought that this was a ball joint not being tight but on reference to the manual it tells me that in fact the steering relay is loose. The vehicle also has spring shackle/bush problems and the handbook tells me that there is a permissible tolerance!

http://www.motuk.co.uk/welcome.htm
under 'Tester's Manual'

Diagrams for headlamp alignment are also given.
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cavmad
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Post by cavmad »

pitman wrote:My local garage for MOT does only mounting tyres and nothing else.

They don't work together with another garage but instead always insist on telling you "That can be done easily by yourself". :shock:

Since I'm with them, my bills for MOT dropped significantly. The only thing they're eager to let fail are tyres. :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Hope they'll be long around here. :)
One of the reasons I use ATS. They`re only `interested` in items such as shocks, tyres and exhausts all of which are pretty easly to see or tell are faulty. Most `normal` garages want to find loads of things wrong so you ask them to do the work for you. I`ve said before (I think) that if ever I`ve taken a car for an MOT and it`s failed on loads of work I always take it somewhere else to get the repairs done and it`s amazing how much wok didn`t actually need doing in most cases.
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pitman
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Post by pitman »

cavmad wrote:They`re only `interested` in items such as shocks,
Apropos shocks ... :wink:

The garage I was before, having also "tyres" in their name (or was it "tired" :?: :lol: ), but doing or pretending to do everything, tried to list the suspension consecutively one year after another without leaving a year out.

They changed every year the 4 suspension spheres, telling me they were using used ones, charging £ 100 for the whole set. :shock:

One year, I was coming earlier for MOT and claimed the 1-year-warranty they gave me on those spheres. So, I saved £ 100.

Unfortunately, I wasn't very interested in everything about the BX or cars in general at that time, I have to admit to my shame. :oops:

When I had finally enough from them, changed the garage and bought myself a Haynes manual and digged out the tools I have left for years or decades :lol:, I saw that they never changed the accumulator sphere for example. That thing was of brownish black or blackish brown colour that I had problems to identify it in the engine compartment. :lol:

If they have ever the suspension spheres against used ones, hard to tell. I should have make some hidden markers on it. :(

Then after that, never changed those 4 used spheres ever again, and passed 3 MOTs with them. :D
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ellevie
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Post by ellevie »

I've been fairly lucky on the whole with MOTs over the years. I've nearly always used the same place and like cavmad I have always taken it away to have any work done unless it has been something really trivial. I really don't like the idea of being tied to the testers for the work.

I phoned motest.co.uk (tip from Way2Go) today to see if they are still doing the 7 day retest and they confirmed that they will still be doing it up until about October. He reckons that most garages will be going over to a half price retest scheme eventually. Combined with a £10 discount on the first test fee which my usual garage is now offering, this doesn't seem too bad.
David

BX19TRS 118K E Reg 1992-2008
BX19TRS auto abs 96k F Reg
BX19TXD 150k K Reg
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Barnsley BXer
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Post by Barnsley BXer »

Just paid £40 for the test :evil: The re-test was advertised at £20 but luckily my burgundy beauty passed anyway :D :D :D
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