mazda 323 emissions

gustafo

Hi

i have a 00 mazda 323 and the nct is due to be done this month so i brought it to a garage to have it checked and the guy told me it wont pass as the emissions are very high when the car is ticking over, now he was on about some part which could cost 2-300 and it still may not work,

my friend was telling me that there is some stuff out there that can be put into the petrol tank and that if you give the car a good driving before doing the test that it could pass any ideas what this is and could it work?

i only bought the car in november and the test was done just before i bought it in october so i thought that there cant be much wrong with it but thats the joys of buying old cars i suppose,

Any ideas.

Cheers.

Ronnie Beck

Do you a printout of the emmisions test?

renomick

Hi gustafo.

The guy was probably on about the catalytic converter. can be very expensive to replace. The stuff you put in the tank is a petrol additive. it will only work if the emissions are slightly high.

gustafo

Ronnie Beck wrote: »

Do you a printout of the emmisions test?

No i don't the mechanic is just a local guy i brought the car to.

gustafo

renomick wrote: »

Hi gustafo.

The guy was probably on about the catalytic converter. can be very expensive to replace. The stuff you put in the tank is a petrol additive. it will only work if the emissions are slightly high.

i don't think it was cat converter, i think he said it was some sort of censor but i cant think of name of it, he said that a mazda part would be over 300 euro but he could try a toyota part which is a lot cheaper and it might work.

renomick

gustafo wrote: »

i don't think it was cat converter, i think he said it was some sort of censor but i cant think of name of it, he said that a mazda part would be over 300 euro but he could try a toyota part which is a lot cheaper and it might work.

probable the lambda sensor or 02 sensor . not sure if there one or two on that. id say one seen as its 00. wouldnt think a toyota part would work. If its the 02 sensor you could probably try a universal one. personally i wouldnt.

gustafo

renomick wrote: »

probable the lambda sensor or 02 sensor . not sure if there one or two on that. id say one seen as its 00. wouldnt think a toyota part would work. If its the 02 sensor you could probably try a universal one. personally i wouldnt.

Thanks for the info lad, if it is a sensor or the cat i suppose the part is going to have to be bought new so its going to cost either way, just kind of thinking is the car worth even though that seems to be the only problem to get it passed for the nct, anyway cheers ill call into the mechanic tommorow and find out more.

renomick

gustafo wrote: »

Thanks for the info lad, if it is a sensor or the cat i suppose the part is going to have to be bought new so its going to cost either way, just kind of thinking is the car worth even though that seems to be the only problem to get it passed for the nct, anyway cheers ill call into the mechanic tommorow and find out more.

no bother. get a print out of the emissions if you can

Wheelnut

gustafo wrote: »

... and the guy told me it wont pass as the emissions are very high ....
...now he was on about some part which could cost 2-300 and it still may not work,

gustafo wrote: »

No i don't the mechanic is just a local guy i brought the car to.

I think I might be more worried about this mechanic. He can't be sure this new part will cure the problem which to me suggests that he doesn't have good diagnostic knowledge or equipment. I wonder how he knows that the car will fail the emission test?

I think you should take it to the NCT and get a proper result. I would imagine that this mechanic's bill is far larger than the NCT fee, so stop wasting your money and get a NCT test to see if there is really a problem.

vinny63

let tank run to red mark on guage put in a litter of difflan fuel treatment bring your car out on moterway and drive it in 3rd gear at 120k for about 30 miles and i bet it will pass the emmissions test catalitic convertors get clogged up with town driving and you have to cook the cat buy doing what i said to clear it.iI have done this and it sailed trough on emmissions

Tea drinker

Vinny, Difflan appears to be a herbicide, did you mean Dipetaine?

vinny63

yes sorry thats the one

gustafo

so i brought the car for the test today and yes it has failed on emissions, i tried putting dipetene and gave her a good old spin before i brought it in for the test.

Here are the fail results:

Low idle CO 1.23vol% Limits above 0.50%

High Idle CO 0.36vol% Limits above 0.30%

low idle seems to be a good bit above but not much in the high idle,
any ideas what could be the problem here, the guy who tested it said its unusual for mazda 323 to fail also as there is only 79000 on the clock

Thanks.

Nissan doctor

gustafo wrote: »

so i brought the car for the test today and yes it has failed on emissions, i tried putting dipetene and gave her a good old spin before i brought it in for the test.

Here are the fail results:

Low idle CO 1.23vol% Limits above 0.50%

High Idle CO 0.36vol% Limits above 0.30%

low idle seems to be a good bit above but not much in the high idle,
any ideas what could be the problem here, the guy who tested it said its unusual for mazda 323 to fail also as there is only 79000 on the clock

Thanks.

High CO levels are generally an air fuel/mix problem so a failing or slow switching lambda sensor could well cause it as they tend to switch slower on idle then at higher RPM's.

It can also be issues as simple as a dirty air filter or a faulty MAP sensor.

If your mechanic has the ability to test the emissions then he should be able to diagnose the problem precisely.

biko

If I was you I'd change oil and oil filter, sparkplugs and air filter. Maybe clean MAF. All of these things should be done anyway occasionally so not a waste of money. Throw in a full bottle of Dipetane just for luck.

Drive it until warm for at least 20 mins and take it to a local exhaust centre and let them check the emissions again.
If you get the same readings again ask them and they'll be able to help.

gustafo

biko wrote: »

If I was you I'd change oil and oil filter, sparkplugs and air filter. Maybe clean MAF. All of these things should be done anyway occasionally so not a waste of money. Throw in a full bottle of Dipetane just for luck.

Drive it until warm for at least 20 mins and take it to a local exhaust centre and let them check the emissions again.
If you get the same readings again ask them and they'll be able to help.

thanks for the reply, well i did a full service in it a few weeks ago, ya i will just have to take it to a garage that has the gear and see what they say.

Thanks.