Other Cars Technical Chat

[flutered]

i am a not so proud owner of one of these, i took it for its nct 3 weeks ago, mechanically very little wrong with it, the big prob is the emissions, the tester claimed it was smoking so bad that he did not bother to do them, it seems that it has rubber seals under the valves, which harden and allow oil through which then enters the chamber and end up burning out the cat, the cat is inside the exaust, toyota claim that the price of one is so high that it is not worth doing, i have a small indy who will fit a universal cat on the exaust pipe, will this be enough, does it have something similar to the erg on the diesel engines which can be blanked off, i need it to pass the nct so as i can sell it and get some of my money which it has eaten in the last two months back, 2 crankshaft seals, 1 timing belt (toyota), 4 plug leads (toyota) 1 water heater sensor, i full service, 4 new tyres, 2 front brake hoses and a tie rod as well as the emmisions done to pass, + the 500 lids i paid for it last feb, no wonder i am nearly bald and the little have i have is grey, btw when questioned the supervisor at the nct claimed that an addative called forte would help the valve seals, it should arrive this week, also the fuel consumpsion is just bloody awful, 30 miles for a tenners worth of petrol, thanks in advance for you help.

[ADarbon]

i was going to suggest an addative too the oil when you service also run injector cleaner for the fuel check the condition of the spark plugs poor spark can lead to poor fuel consumption. Dont know much about cats but if he can fit a uni one it should be fine. not sure about the egr i have heard of people blanking the on petrol engines

[flutered]

new spark plugs and  leads from toyota, the universal cat should be fitted on thursday, hopefully the additive should have arrived by then so i will drive it for a couple of days then get an emmisions test done, fingers toes legs everything crossed, if i get it passed before the end of the month i will have it tested until december 2012, if it takes longer i will only have a test until next dec.

[ADarbon]

take it for a hard drive before you go to the mot center

[flutered]

i got it back today with the universal cat put on, btw the cat cost 90 euro from the motor factors, it is running grand no smoke, i will half fill it tomorrow and add the additive i got at the motor factors, i am still awaiting the addative for the engine oil from the uk, i paid them on the 14th of april, hopefully it will arrive on tuesday next.

[ADarbon]

sounds like the old cat had definitely had it. glad things are on the up

[flutered]

yesterday i gave it a shot of injector cleaner, another shot on sunday, today i mixed a bottle of wynns stop smoke oil supplement with the engine oil, it will get another 1/2 a bottle on monday, the test is tuesday morning 8.05 am. the test over here takes place in centres scattered around each county, that is all they do, it is quite stringent, they have all this different machines and gadgets to rattle and shake your car to death with, the most unusual thing about the workforce is this, if ones vehicle fails one has 28 days in which to get a retest on the failures only, the retest costs 29 euro, the tester recieves 10% of this paid twice a year june and christmas, your comments on the last bit please.

[mr mince]

Odd system,like the 28 days grace, not so sure on the fee for it though. Good to have the test centres independent from the garages keeps the test impartial

[half-pint]

seems it is in the testers favour to fail on something if he gets a share of the fee!

[ADarbon]

yes in there favour for sure. they may as well just ask for the extra money up front. we only get 7 days for a retest but then at a lot of garages its free.

[mr mince]

yes in there favour for sure. they may as well just ask for the extra money up front. we only get 7 days for a retest but then at a lot of garages its free.

Aye true but at least you don't have kwik-*it failing it's MOT on things that were only changed the week before while telling you that
"while we were in there we noticed that the flux capacitor's gone, these imports it's the parts you know. You're looking at £300+" etc etc etc etc wafle blah blblah....company's interest free rip off card...........zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Ooops I may have gone off on one about a certain tyre and exhaust robbery centre

[flutered]

the test lasts for two years over here but its about to change, from the 1st of june cars over a certain age will have to be tested each year, i am ok on that one as my new bowely (estima)  has a two year test. but then i am well known for changing my bowley every 10 months or so, an old time mechanic who knows me well says i always buy an exotic yoke, also i am never happy with a car that starts first thing each and every day, he claims i need the thrill of uncertainty, ie i wonder will it start in the morning, will it keep going, what will go next on it etc, etc.

[flutered]

it failed miserlebly on the emmisions, more details later on, everything else is perfect, the next time it is to be tested must be a full test 50 euro, i have to keep trying as there is just too much dosh tied up in it to crush it.

[ADarbon]

could be the cat and the sensors that are not working. some one else failed with a petrol estima emmisions because of it.

[flutered]

it has a new cat installed, it may be the lambas i will take it to a local ford dealership i know the techie there, let him connectect it to the laptop and see what happenes.

[ADarbon]

thats right you got a universal one fitted. lambada that the one i was thinking of

[flutered]

hi folks i am back again, the opiates seem to have done their trick for the time being, i have enclosed the two nct test reports for you amusement, i am looking forward to your comments


   http://s967.photobucket.com/albums/ae151/FLUTERED/nct%20pics/

[ADarbon]

only a little bit of work needed on the second docket

[flutered]

can you advise me please, after the first one i did the following,
got a universal cat
used cleaner for the injectors etc
used an oil additive to help with the smoke
thanks in advance.

[rune]

You could block the EGR pipe. This was faulty on my old bus and it produced great puffs of black smoke (wasnt closing properly = unburnt fuel pushed through exhaust) every time I accelerated.

A blanking plate stopped the gases recirculating when they shouldn't and no more smoke, emissions at almost 0 and better mpg.

[flutered]

You could block the EGR pipe. This was faulty on my old bus and it produced great puffs of black smoke (wasnt closing properly = unburnt fuel pushed through exhaust) every time I accelerated.

A blanking plate stopped the gases recirculating when they shouldn't and no more smoke, emissions at almost 0 and better mpg.

thank you, i did not think a petrol engine had one, i will look later on my daughter is driving it at the moment.

[rune]

Ah sorry, it was on the deisel Lucida...

But I did the same on my petrol Vectra. Never affected the MOT - in fact it never failed on emissions the 3 years I had it.

Try eBay for the plates. Think the Vectra on cost 15 quid, Lucida one was free but I burnt out 4 drill bits on the stailess.

This link may be of use... http://www.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=108172

[flutered]

thank you kind sir