Hi guys
I've got a 2000 SPI SEI Sporting 62000 miles.
It failed it's MOT this morning (excessive CO content) during the emissions test.

Now then, a few weeks back my exhaust packed in whilst I was some miles from home and a local National Tyres place sorted it out.
It had a full exhaust including a new CAT fitted...

I trust the local guy who does my MOT and he thinks it a bit strange that the very first time my car has failed its emission test is just after having had a complete new exhaust..
He said it looks OK and is fitted properly...

Anyhoo, he's going to swap the lambda sensor, the air filter and spark plugs, then he's going to re run the emission test.

If it fails after that, any ideas what else it might be?

Thanks for any help....

Philip

How long did he try to get the Cat properly hot?

David C said:

How long did he try to get the Cat properly hot?

Click to expand...

Quite a while he said....
He's a decent guy and I'm sure he will have tried all he could to get it through.
He said the CO reading was nearly of the scale...

Wondering if the new CAT is wrong or duff but then I can't really go back to the folk who fitted it till I've ruled out any other possible cause.....


Thanks for the response

Forgot to include the emission readout numbers.....

Fast idle test:

C0: 0.59%vol Fail
HC: 70ppmvol Pass
(funny symbol) : 1.021 Pass

2nd fast idle test

C0: 0.55%vol Fail
HC: 60ppm vol Pass
(funny symbol) : 1.019 Pass

Natural idle test

C0: 0.30%vol Pass

Overaul Result: Failed


Car runs sweet
Nice smooth tick over, no misfires....very lively in fact..

The "funny symbol" is Lambda. "1" is the ideal target.

I'm still wondering if it is cold-Cat syndrome.
I changed my Cat when my exhaust went too and I'm sure it takes longer to get through emissions than it did with the original old one.
It needs to be held at very high revs for a long time (and I really do mean a long time!) to get it hot, at which point you can see the reading start to drop and you click the button to start the test.

Cheers David....
Yes, it seems odd...
Anyhoo, it's going in on Monday to have the sensor/plugs/air filter fitted and a re test
so I'll ask him to really gun it hot....

Can't do any of this my self nowadays as I'm not able to bend very much do to major back problems. Still, I do trust this local guy which is something I suppose..

Fingers crossed

Philip

Take it for a nice long run before you take it in, make sure it's as hot as possible before you get there

:yeahthat: as he is a decent chap just tell him you want to take it round the block to get the CAT really hot. And properly give it some, hard acceleration and hold high revs for few miles. And then straight onto the tester when you get back.
At the very least it needs to be left idling til upto full operating temp (until the rad fan is cycling) then hold the revs right up at 4.5-5k for a few mins.

looks like a fueling issue
dont these have the map on a long hose? probably bunged up

Cheers guys.....

g4jvf said:

Forgot to include the emission readout numbers.....

Fast idle test:

C0: 0.59%vol Fail
HC: 70ppmvol Pass
(funny symbol) : 1.021 Pass

2nd fast idle test

C0: 0.55%vol Fail
HC: 60ppm vol Pass
(funny symbol) : 1.019 Pass

Natural idle test

C0: 0.30%vol Pass

Overaul Result: Failed


Car runs sweet
Nice smooth tick over, no misfires....very lively in fact..

Click to expand...

As a tester myself I have seen much much worse readings than that. Looks like it needs a good ol Italian tune up and a revving session whilst on the machine.
9/10 the co being too high is condensation in the exhaust from pottering about/lack of use or it's not hot enough which is the likely case with the old fiat engines

i thought that, its not that far off a pre'1992 car pass really.

I fitted my 1st cat in ages the other day and noticed it had a run in procedure sticker on it, you had to run it to full temp at 2000 RPM on very light load or it could damage/affect the function/warranty/longevity of the unit, wonder if they did this?

Yes, they do need a lot of warming up, the construction is not optimal, the cat is very far from the engine and takes ages to heat up. After similar incidents in the past myself I never ever go to MOT without kicking the hell out of my car first for 15 minutes or so.

Update on this:

The Sei has now passed it's emissions test.
It was the Lambda sensor according to the garage bloke...

Anyhoo, the Sei lives to fight another day

I'm a bit of a car numpty and can't really contribute much to the forum
but rest assured I value your responses to me over this and to many
other folk you help...:worship:

Philip