Emissions fail help

scudzilla

Failed my NCT yesterday on Emissions, passed everything else except for a rear light being out.

The results were

LOW IDLE
CO 1.26% (Above .30% fail)
HC 375ppm

HIGH IDLE

Lambda 1.01 (Pass between 0.97 & 1.03)
CO 0.46% (Fail above .20%)
HC 69ppm (fail above 200ppm)

Not mechanically minded at all, any clues as to what should do next??

Don't wanna get ripped off if it's only a small job

dh0011

make model year of car engine size petrol diesel any problems with the car?

scudzilla

dh0011 wrote: »

make model year of car engine size petrol diesel any problems with the car?

Focus, 2003, 1.4 (Don't laugh, it's been perfect or me)

Had timing belt changed 2months ago, have been tracking mileage on app for 3yrs+ and have consistently got an avergae of 41mpg, no problems at all

dh0011

how many miles are on the car?
there are a few things it could be. Simplest would be a dirty air filter http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FjNu5rf6k4.
next on the list would be if it hasnt been serviced in a while - pullout the dipstick and see if the oil looks clean.
after that you are looking at things like lambda sensors
there are other things it could be.

how much is the car worth?

aside I use an additive in my petrol the whole time called dipetane which keeps the emissions down.

scudzilla

dh0011 wrote: »

how many miles are on the car?
there are a few things it could be. Simplest would be a dirty air filter http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FjNu5rf6k4.
next on the list would be if it hasnt been serviced in a while - pullout the dipstick and see if the oil looks clean.
after that you are looking at things like lambda sensors
there are other things it could be.

how much is the car worth?

aside I use an additive in my petrol the whole time called dipetane which keeps the emissions down.

83k and serviced about 10months ago

As for value, i really don't know, it's in great condition and hasn't let me down once.

Guess i'll just throw it in for a service, suppose it's due one anyway

Last thing i wanted was to take it into a garage and be told a list of endless things that would cost a fortune

dh0011

if you were close to passing a dose of dipetane and a good hard drive might get you there.
If the air filter is dirty then i would replace it get a bottle of dipetane from a motorfactors and drive the car hard with the dipetane before next test.
some people will say other products such as cataclean are better than dipetane - even though i am very happy with dipetane.

failing on emissions is a balls as you will do a few things and you wont know whether that fixes the problem or not til the retest.

dh0011

did the lads in the test centre say anything about it?

scudzilla

dh0011 wrote: »

if you were close to passing a dose of dipetane and a good hard drive might get you there.
If the air filter is dirty then i would replace it get a bottle of dipetane from a motorfactors and drive the car hard with the dipetane before next test.
some people will say other products such as cataclean are better than dipetane - even though i am very happy with dipetane.

failing on emissions is a balls as you will do a few things and you wont know whether that fixes the problem or not til the retest.

Yeah, that's the problem, if it was brakes, or tyres i could get them changed and be secure it was ok, but emissions are a bitch.

He didn't say much, just that he didn''t think it was the cat

dh0011

if it is the cataltyc converter you can always get a second hand one but it would cost a few quid so at least that is something

best of luck with it - post back and let me know how you get on

scudzilla

Cheers for the help, got the cat changed, went for a new one, cost 340 fitted.

Sailed through today, low idle was 0.01% which is virtually nothing.

The middle break light (fitted in boot) i changed myself, got a replacement from scrappy, worked fine, guy was driving it in and it wasn't fcukin working!!!! He didn't notice though

Nissan doctor

scudzilla wrote: »

Cheers for the help, got the cat changed, went for a new one, cost 340 fitted.

Sailed through today, low idle was 0.01% which is virtually nothing.

The middle break light (fitted in boot) i changed myself, got a replacement from scrappy, worked fine, guy was driving it in and it wasn't fcukin working!!!! He didn't notice though

With an original HC reading of 375HC's, I would suspect that the cat has only fixed the problem for now.

375HC's is a sign of poor combustion or burning oil(poor combustion normally though on the focus) and if either is the case and is still there then the new cat might not last till the next NCT.

scudzilla

Nissan doctor wrote: »

With an original HC reading of 375HC's, I would suspect that the cat has only fixed the problem for now.

375HC's is a sign of poor combustion or burning oil(poor combustion normally though on the focus) and if either is the case and is still there then the new cat might not last till the next NCT.

Just dug out my last NCT report from May 2011

HC then was 228 ppm

On the retest this week the HC had dropped from 375ppm TO 46ppm, that nay better or is it still an issue?

type85

your perfect, pre-cat readings for an engine which IS running correctly are:
co 1.5%, hc 300ppm, o2 2%. the cat (once hot) uses this excess/surplus o2 to both burn off the remaining hc's and convert the co onto extra co2. and then your trees and plants absorb the co2.

scamalert

Biggest problem is that its hard to pin point where the issue with emissions is,and even bigger pain in the a$$ is to find a garage that can check emissions without charging leg and arm for that.
Before going forking money just to get told something expensive is wrong,and if its not smoking blue fumes,
id go with the people who advised to do
1.Change oil and oil filter-go for a thicker oil.
2.New air filter
3.fill up with petrol and add dipetane bottle or two to make sure emissions are low as hell if that stuff helps somewhat.
and drive it hard as suggested that for a bit that stuff would mix up.
If youll do everything yourself you should be close to 100e+/-
but at least youll save someone taking your car into garage and telling you the same story for that money.
worst case youll know that its more serious then old oil or filters :cool:
Seing OP resolved his issue,well at least you went the right way,better cat then something wrong with pistons or valves.

dh0011

hi scamalert - why go for a thicker oil? Is it to reduce oil burning?

scamalert

dh0011 wrote: »

hi scamalert - why go for a thicker oil? Is it to reduce oil burning?

correct,but from my experience if engine is burning oil in excessive amounts its little to none help.

Nissan doctor

If the engine is already burning oil then the wear already exists and changing away from the correct spec oil will do nothing other then accelerate the wear.

scudzilla

Nissan doctor wrote: »

With an original HC reading of 375HC's, I would suspect that the cat has only fixed the problem for now.

375HC's is a sign of poor combustion or burning oil(poor combustion normally though on the focus) and if either is the case and is still there then the new cat might not last till the next NCT.

Old thread from last year but an update, as i said i changed the cat last year and it seems it did fix the issue and no more problem.

Went for NCT this morning and emmissions were

Low Idle 0.03% 18ppm
High Idle Lambda 1.02, CO 0.02% HC 16PPM

So they were barely nothing.

So happy with this car, still getting 44mpg!!!

kermitpwee

scudzilla wrote: »

Old thread from last year but an update, as i said i changed the cat last year and it seems it did fix the issue and no more problem.

Went for NCT this morning and emmissions were

Low Idle 0.03% 18ppm
High Idle Lambda 1.02, CO 0.02% HC 16PPM

So they were barely nothing.

So happy with this car, still getting 44mpg!!!

Great news how many miles have you done since the previous nct??

scudzilla

kermitpwee wrote: »

Great news how many miles have you done since the previous nct??

Around 16k, not 100% sure as had to change clusters due to the old one failing, common fault apparently