Emissions fail! Any ideas?

[catman]

Hi all. A friend's 106 1.1 has just failed it's MOT on the emissions test.

It failed last year on the same thing, but then had a new catalytic converter fitted, and passed the re-test.

Since then, it hasn't had much use, so I was wondering if it just needed an italian tune-up. Any other suggestions would be appreciated!

The tester's comment was that "the engine is knackered, so there's nothing we can do!"

In fact, the car still drives very well, so I don't know why he said that, as he didn't suggest fitting any parts to the car.

Cheers

Tim

[jagracer]

Need more info on what it failed on.

[markCSC]

could be one of many things. What part did it fail on? CO reading?

[mcdjl]

You never know he might be right...my car failed its MOT on emissions as I suspect it had a slightly leaky head gasket (some injector cleaner and a drive apparently cured it) two years on the trot. All the time it still pulled fine and did a few thousand miles. I then got the gasket changed when the water got to the oil and the emissions sorted themselves out... with not a lot of change in how it drove either.

[cheadle hulme]

New oil and plugs plus a right good thrashing got my 96 Felicia through last month. It doesn't get much regular use either.

[voicey]

Take the air filter out - used to work for me back in the day.

[Eggman]

catman said:

"the engine is knackered, so there's nothing we can do!"

Sounds like the HC reading might be too high. Try undoing the oil filler cap to see if there's any pressure there or excessive fumes coming out, which would be symptomatic of a well worn engine. If there is, you might try removing the crankcase ventilation pipe from the airfilter and putting it into a catch can - a tin of STP oil treatment might help too by making the oil a bit gloopier. A new air filter and regapping the plugs wouldn't hurt either.

[catman]

Thanks all, will pass these ideas on, and will try to find out what the problem is.

I don't think that it's that long since it had a service, but hasn't been used much recently.

Cheers

Tim

[jbi]

first thing I would try is a good thrashing.

Try putting some upper engine cleaner through the brake booster, which might help de-coke the engine

[catman]

Hi, it was the (1 year old!) cat that had failed! The company (yes, that one) replaced it under warrenty, and it now has a new mot certificate!

Thanks to all who helped!

Regards

Tim