Failed MOT - Emissions (De-Catted)

[Ganglandboss]

Hi all!

My car has failed it's MOT on a ball joint and on emissions. The ball joint is easily sorted though, my problem is the emissions.

As I said in the title, the car is de-catted. There is a Magnex dack-box and an EliseParts stainless steel front-pipe which I fitted 6 months back when I noticed the flexi section had corroded. The exhaust system is tip-top.

The engine and induction are standard (to the best of my knowledge) and it runs beautifully without smoke. There are 36,500 miles on the clock.

The car is a standard Series 1 Elise.

[Silent1]

Of course it'll fail without a catalytic converter

[The Walrus]

You could still pass emissions very unlikely but possible, but regardless with the year of your car it is a legal requirement emissions or not.

Please tell me you are taking the piss ?

[Gad-Westy]

Erm, what were you expecting?

If you need a new cat, this place seems cheap.

http://www.cats4less.co.uk/

[Ganglandboss]

I have read testimonies of people claiming to have still passed without it. I wasn't sure whether that was down to a sympathetic/bent garage or it just scraping through.

[Ganglandboss]

Gad-Westy said:

Erm, what were you expecting?

If you need a new cat, this place seems cheap.

http://www.cats4less.co.uk/

£53.30? That's cheap - EliseParts want £229.13 for an OEM spec cat.

[Vesuvius 996]

You're moaning because your decatted illegal car failed its MOT on emissions?


Is it the school holidays?

[Gad-Westy]

Ganglandboss said:

Gad-Westy said:

Erm, what were you expecting?

If you need a new cat, this place seems cheap.

http://www.cats4less.co.uk/

£53.30? That's cheap - EliseParts want £229.13 for an OEM spec cat.

Indeed, got the link from SELOC a while ago and need to order one myself as my MOT is due soon. FWIW I've only ever heard of one Elise passing an MOT with no Cat and I can only assume that either the test gear wasn't working or the car was running very lean for some reason.

[Scuffers]

Gad-Westy said:

Ganglandboss said:

Gad-Westy said:

Erm, what were you expecting?

If you need a new cat, this place seems cheap.

http://www.cats4less.co.uk/

£53.30? That's cheap - EliseParts want £229.13 for an OEM spec cat.

Indeed, got the link from SELOC a while ago and need to order one myself as my MOT is due soon. FWIW I've only ever heard of one Elise passing an MOT with no Cat and I can only assume that either the test gear wasn't working or the car was running very lean for some reason.

exactly,

this had been bulstted around for years, fact of the matter is that it's impossible to achive the emmission targets without a CAT fitted and working.

[TTwiggy]

Vesuvius 996 said:

You're moaning because your decatted illegal car failed its MOT on emissions?


Is it the school holidays?

it's not illegal to run a car decatted - it's only a legal requirement for the manufacturer to fit one. Whether or not it passes emissions is a seperate issue...

[Ganglandboss]

TTwiggy said:

Vesuvius 996 said:

You're moaning because your decatted illegal car failed its MOT on emissions?


Is it the school holidays?

it's not illegal to run a car decatted - it's only a legal requirement for the manufacturer to fit one. Whether or not it passes emissions is a seperate issue...

That's what I thought. There was a thread about this a while back which also went into insurance companies' requirements. Mine are happy to insure me without it, as are all the others I rang (other than those who said they won't insure modified cars).

---

Soovy, I'm not moaning - I simply mentioned it had failed with the hope that someone could throw some light on the matter. As Scuffers said, this has been bullstted around for a long time - at least I now know the definitive answer. Having to fit a cat is not a problem, I'll order it tomorrow, fit it next week and present it for a free re-test.

[Thorburn]

Could always go for a sports cat if you don't mind paying a bit more and want something a little louder but still legal.

[The Walrus]

TTwiggy said:

Vesuvius 996 said:

You're moaning because your decatted illegal car failed its MOT on emissions?


Is it the school holidays?

it's not illegal to run a car decatted - it's only a legal requirement for the manufacturer to fit one. Whether or not it passes emissions is a seperate issue...

Really so why does it state in the MOT data that any car manufactured after 1993 must be fitted with a CAT, I can not see a statement saying that if you take it off as long as your car passes emissions tests it will pass. I was of the opinion that regardless of your car meeting emissions it had to be fitted ???

[TTwiggy]

The Walrus said:

TTwiggy said:

Vesuvius 996 said:

You're moaning because your decatted illegal car failed its MOT on emissions?


Is it the school holidays?

it's not illegal to run a car decatted - it's only a legal requirement for the manufacturer to fit one. Whether or not it passes emissions is a seperate issue...

Really so why does it state in the MOT data that any car manufactured after 1993 must be fitted with a CAT, I can not see a statement saying that if you take it off as long as your car passes emissions tests it will pass. I was of the opinion that regardless of your car meeting emissions it had to be fitted ???

I never said it would pass an MOT, I simply said it was not a legal requirement to have one fitted. My car won't require an MOT until 2010, so I could drive it around until then decatted if I wanted to. If I needed to fit a cat to pass emissions after 2010, then that's a seperate matter.

MOTs are hardly an indicator of vehicle legality: 'Bald spare tyre sir? That'll be a fail'... 'No spare tyre sir? Pass'...

edited to add: An MOT tester will not crawl around your car looking for the CAT. They will simply plug in the emissions tester and see if it passes...

Edited by TTwiggy on Thursday 28th August 15:44

[Ganglandboss]

TTwiggy said:

The Walrus said:

TTwiggy said:

Vesuvius 996 said:

You're moaning because your decatted illegal car failed its MOT on emissions?


Is it the school holidays?

it's not illegal to run a car decatted - it's only a legal requirement for the manufacturer to fit one. Whether or not it passes emissions is a seperate issue...

Really so why does it state in the MOT data that any car manufactured after 1993 must be fitted with a CAT, I can not see a statement saying that if you take it off as long as your car passes emissions tests it will pass. I was of the opinion that regardless of your car meeting emissions it had to be fitted ???

I never said it would pass an MOT, I simply said it was not a legal requirement to have one fitted. My car won't require an MOT until 2010, so I could drive it around until then decatted if I wanted to. If I needed to fit a cat to pass emissions after 2010, then that's a seperate matter.

MOTs are hardly an indicator of vehicle legality: 'Bald spare tyre sir? That'll be a fail'... 'No spare tyre sir? Pass'...

An MOT station would not know it didn't have a cat anyway if it wasn't for the increased emissions - the cat is concealed by panels which they are not allowed to remove.

[The Walrus]

Fair enough I love MOT's !! As I also used to run a de-cat on my 1.8 turbo Golf until the downpipe cracked, does it give much benefit apart from noise ?

[TTwiggy]

The Walrus said:

Fair enough I love MOT's !! As I also used to run a de-cat on my 1.8 turbo Golf until the downpipe cracked, does it give much benefit apart from noise ?

it probably varies from car model to car model, but as it essentially restricts air flow, the engine must breath better without one... I'm no expert though, so I have no idea of the actual power gains (if any)...

[Ganglandboss]

The Walrus said:

Fair enough I love MOT's !! As I also used to run a de-cat on my 1.8 turbo Golf until the downpipe cracked, does it give much benefit apart from noise ?

It is claimed that they do, but not on the VVC K-Series as they need a greater back-pressure.

[jamiebae]

Gad-Westy said:

Ganglandboss said:

Gad-Westy said:

Erm, what were you expecting?

If you need a new cat, this place seems cheap.

http://www.cats4less.co.uk/

£53.30? That's cheap - EliseParts want £229.13 for an OEM spec cat.

Indeed, got the link from SELOC a while ago and need to order one myself as my MOT is due soon. FWIW I've only ever heard of one Elise passing an MOT with no Cat and I can only assume that either the test gear wasn't working or the car was running very lean for some reason.

Mine passed the last-but-one MoT without a cat, but I think the garage accidentally put the probe in the exhaust of a different car

Last MoT had a proper emissions test, I put a cat on it and it still failed due to a duff lambda sensor!