emissions too high HELP!

emissions too high HELP!

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TigraPete

Original Poster:

55 posts

157 months

Friday 29th April 2011
quotequote all
Carrot said:
On my x14xe engine, cts was attached to the thermostat, guessing you have the x16xe which I believe is the same location
Im not that good with cars, so, the Coolant temperature Sensor, where is that located? (iv'e added the picture of my engine bay above)

TigraPete

Original Poster:

55 posts

157 months

Friday 29th April 2011
quotequote all
bazking69 said:
ECT would be my initial guess. It has a habit of throwing the emissions well out amongst other things if it duff. £15ish and a simple job.
Isnt that the sensor i just changed? :s

I called it a thermostat but i think it was the ETC i changed. i added a picture above. the problem im having atm it that when i connect the loose wire (ground) to a decent ground the gauge moves to this position even when the engine is cold and off:


but if i don't connect it at all no matter how hot the car gets it sits here:


Edited by TigraPete on Friday 29th April 17:45

Defcon5

6,185 posts

192 months

Friday 29th April 2011
quotequote all
Is that with the new temp sensor in?

TigraPete

Original Poster:

55 posts

157 months

Friday 29th April 2011
quotequote all
yep but it was doing this before i believe, and stopped when at some point the ground became disconnected i assume.

skeggysteve

5,724 posts

218 months

Friday 29th April 2011
quotequote all
I'm not very good with modern cars but I'd say that this photos:

http://i.imgur.com/s1Ox8.jpg

Is the temp sensor.

If it is then the I very much doubt that the loose wire has anything to do with it.
But it could be a wire for the old engine temp sensor so when you ground it the temp gauge goes to 'full' hot.
If this is the case then it could be your problem.

TigraPete

Original Poster:

55 posts

157 months

Friday 29th April 2011
quotequote all
maybe, i just revved the car up for 5mins with it grounded and the needle lowered back down to 0 (guessing cos the engine was hot)but when i switched it off and on again it when back up to "full"

TigraPete

Original Poster:

55 posts

157 months

Friday 29th April 2011
quotequote all
skeggysteve said:
I'm not very good with modern cars but I'd say that this photos:

http://i.imgur.com/s1Ox8.jpg

Is the temp sensor.
I am sure its the coolant sensor as when i unscrew it the radiator starts draining through the hole where it used to be. (unless the coolant sensor is the temp sensor) :S

The trouble is, when I don't have the wire connected it doesn't tell me when its overheating (the MOT garage blew up the old radiator on it by not switching the fan on and it not telling them it was overheating)

TigraPete

Original Poster:

55 posts

157 months

Friday 29th April 2011
quotequote all
skeggysteve said:
I'm not very good with modern cars but I'd say that this photos:

http://i.imgur.com/s1Ox8.jpg

Is the temp sensor.
Is this a better photo (including the old sensor)

skeggysteve

5,724 posts

218 months

Friday 29th April 2011
quotequote all
TigraPete said:
I am sure its the coolant sensor as when i unscrew it the radiator starts draining through the hole where it used to be. (unless the coolant sensor is the temp sensor) :S

The trouble is, when I don't have the wire connected it doesn't tell me when its overheating (the MOT garage blew up the old radiator on it by not switching the fan on and it not telling them it was overheating)
Sorry Pete, When I said temp sensor I meant coolant temp sensor.

On older cars the coolant temp sensor just 'run' the temp gauge.

On modern stuff the sensor will 'run' the temp gauge and the ECU (engine control unit), if the sensor sends the wrong info to the ECU the ECU will miss fuel etc.

Defcon5

6,185 posts

192 months

Friday 29th April 2011
quotequote all
Yes thats the Coolant temp sensor. I have no idea about the wiring issues, electrics arent my thing!

TigraPete

Original Poster:

55 posts

157 months

Friday 29th April 2011
quotequote all
That's why I think its failing its MOT on emissions, so I changed the Coolant Temperature Sensor and when I did I found I have been having the issues with the needle. it was doing this before whenever the earth cable thing touched anything metal whilst I drove, it would say its over heating. well now I am deliberately grounding it, its giving me the same issue, but im hoping maybe its working and will pass its MOT just leaving it connected.

skeggysteve

5,724 posts

218 months

Friday 29th April 2011
quotequote all
TigraPete said:
That's why I think its failing its MOT on emissions, so I changed the Coolant Temperature Sensor and when I did I found I have been having the issues with the needle. it was doing this before whenever the earth cable thing touched anything metal whilst I drove, it would say its over heating. well now I am deliberately grounding it, its giving me the same issue, but im hoping maybe its working and will pass its MOT just leaving it connected.
From that description it does sound like the spare wire is the temp gauge wire.
But the temp sensor you have on the new engine has a different connector.
As long as the new connector is the right one and is hooked up to the ECU via the correct loom you should be OK. But as I said I'm no expert on modern cars!

Good luck!

white90

2,004 posts

185 months

Friday 29th April 2011
quotequote all
High lambda on a Golf GTI I had in
caused by leak allowing air in
check exhaust for any leaks
block exhaust with rag around Prob to intensify exhaust gases
if you have twin exhaust pipes block one
all of the above got the golf through

TigraPete

Original Poster:

55 posts

157 months

Friday 29th April 2011
quotequote all
i just grounded that wire and tried to drive the car, it bunny hopped like crazy (thinking wrong fuel to air mixture) but it runs fine idling?!?!?!?!

thewhooshparrot

130 posts

179 months

Friday 29th April 2011
quotequote all
The earth wire you are taling about id guess has a spade on the end,this should slide over a nipple type connection or possibly another spade connector,this will do the gauge,the cts(blue) controls fuelling dependant on engine coolant temp,the new lambda seems to have made it worse so I would guess its an aftermarket and would probably refit the old if it were me.

The dbilas powerboxes are renowned for leaking,which could upset fuelling,the lambda controls fuelling as soon as the throttle is pressed until full throttle is reached at which point the maf sensor takes over,I would also try cleaning the maf sensor(between throttle body and air filter cone)with some brake cleaner sparay and allow it to dry naturally,assuming it has one,failing that,check all pipes on the box and around it,as one loose could upset it,purging the cat pre test(the 5k rpm run) normally warms the cat right up to make it more efficient,but as it hasnt worked,i would guess its already hot when tested,is it an original cat,or aftermarket?

The air filter cone could be clogged and again cause high co,the hc(hydrocarbons or unburnt fuel content) is ok really,the lambda is a measurement of how the sensor is working,and is effected by exhaust leaks,this agin looks ok,so its literally a case that the engine is burning too much fuel,does the car sort of 'hop' when on partial throttle say maintaining 30mph?
This commonly indicates a clogged egr valve,(pig job down the back of the engine below the inlet dbilas box)these can be reused by removing and giving it a good clean,or replaced for around £70,You could also try unplugging it ,although this will trigger a light it will probably drive better if this is the problem.

http://www.google.co.uk/search?tbm=isch&hl=en&...

Hope this helps.

TigraPete

Original Poster:

55 posts

157 months

Friday 29th April 2011
quotequote all
thewhooshparrot said:
The earth wire you are taling about id guess has a spade on the end,this should slide over a nipple type connection or possibly another spade connector,this will do the gauge,the cts(blue) controls fuelling dependant on engine coolant temp,the new lambda seems to have made it worse so I would guess its an aftermarket and would probably refit the old if it were me.
the earth wire i was talking about is what i think is an earth because of the thickness, its the one with the connector on the end in the close up of the coolant sensor.

thewhooshparrot said:
The dbilas powerboxes are renowned for leaking,which could upset fuelling,the lambda controls fuelling as soon as the throttle is pressed until full throttle is reached at which point the maf sensor takes over,I would also try cleaning the maf sensor(between throttle body and air filter cone)with some brake cleaner sparay and allow it to dry naturally,assuming it has one,failing that,check all pipes on the box and around it,as one loose could upset it,purging the cat pre test(the 5k rpm run) normally warms the cat right up to make it more efficient,but as it hasnt worked,i would guess its already hot when tested,is it an original cat,or aftermarket?
Its an after-market Cat, I am just about to clean the sensor and cone (maybe even remove it for the mot test as they just going to check emissions and not look under bonnet, the power box isn't leaking (checked by spraying it all with brake cleaner and looking for bubbles)

thewhooshparrot said:
The air filter cone could be clogged and again cause high co,the hc(hydrocarbons or unburnt fuel content) is ok really,the lambda is a measurement of how the sensor is working,and is effected by exhaust leaks,this agin looks ok,so its literally a case that the engine is burning too much fuel,does the car sort of 'hop' when on partial throttle say maintaining 30mph?
This commonly indicates a clogged egr valve,(pig job down the back of the engine below the inlet dbilas box)these can be reused by removing and giving it a good clean,or replaced for around £70,You could also try unplugging it ,although this will trigger a light it will probably drive better if this is the problem.
The car 'hops' when i connect the big wire to a ground, its fine idiling but as soon as i try to drive in more than 1st gear it 'hops' so i have un-connected that! lol

Thanks for all the advice its been really helpful, i hope that the responses i gave. help.

http://www.google.co.uk/search?tbm=isch&hl=en&...

Hope this helps.

TigraPete

Original Poster:

55 posts

157 months

Friday 29th April 2011
quotequote all
thewhooshparrot said:
The earth wire you are taling about id guess has a spade on the end,this should slide over a nipple type connection or possibly another spade connector,this will do the gauge,the cts(blue) controls fuelling dependant on engine coolant temp
Are you suggesting it should fit onto another wire and not just a ground as I cannot see anything it could connect to.

eliot

11,439 posts

255 months

Friday 29th April 2011
quotequote all
why are people saying the car is running rich when the lamba value is greater than 1.0 ? A rich engine would return a lambda read of less than 1.0 ,such as .90

rigga

8,732 posts

202 months

Friday 29th April 2011
quotequote all
Get it stinking hot and i mean HOT for the mot,and get the guy to do the emissions test first,might just be enough to get it through

deveng

3,917 posts

181 months

Friday 29th April 2011
quotequote all
white90 said:
High lambda on a Golf GTI I had in
caused by leak allowing air in
check exhaust for any leaks
block exhaust with rag around Prob to intensify exhaust gases
if you have twin exhaust pipes block one
all of the above got the golf through
air leak pushes lambda up but CO and HC down, so not really the case here.