NCT - Failed emissions

Cosmocolic

Hi all,

My 2000 Ford Puma 1.4 failed miserably on emissions last week, tester said he had to abort the test for fear of damaging the equipment! He said there was some smoke visible also.

Results:
Low Idle (890 rpm)
CO 2.79 vol% above 0.50% FAIL
HC 710 ppm above 0 ppm FAIL

High Idle (2440 rpm)
CO 5.41 vol% above 0.30% FAIL
HC 2250 ppm above 200 ppm FAIL
Lambda 0.801 not between 0.97 and 1.03 FAIL

Car was serviced the day before the test and is driving fine. I haven't noticed any difference in performance or fuel consumption since it passed the NCT last year.

Mechanic initially said it was either the lambda sensor or the cat that needed replacing. Replaced the lambda and tested emissions, readings still way off on all counts. Mechanic now thinks it's the engine that needs replacing and not the cat because there was some smoke when he tested emissions at high revs.

Any advice on what I should do here would be greatly appreciated. Can't afford to be shooting in the dark trying to fix this, need to know exactly what's wrong and get it fixed, already down 200 quid replacing lambda and testing emissions.

Thanks

BohsCeltic

I'd get a 2nd opinion from another mechanic first

Mycroft H

The cat could be shagged but you need to find the underlying reason as to why the cat broke. The don't just spontaneously fail of their own accord.

Chimaera

Catalytic converter wouldn't lead to a result like that. I think you need a new mechanic.

Was the car fully warmed up before you went in? Any car going in for the NCT should be taken for a spirited drive for 20-30 minutes before turning up for the test to ensure all engine components are fully warmed up and functioning at their best. A cold engine will fail emissions, end of story.

What's your oil consumption like?

I went through the usual suspects for a fail like this here: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=85666935&postcount=3

That said, your results are waaaaaaaaaay off the scale and point to a serious problem. I'd also suspect that the poor lambda reading was down to something other than a failed sensor. The sensor can only report what it's seeing and with your other results so badly off I'd be inclined to blame things further upstream.

George Dalton

Looks like it is either burning a lot of oil or misfiring. As you say it is driving fine then I would go with the former.

Cosmocolic

Thanks Chimaera. It was a 30 minute drive to the test centre and I was running late so she was hot enough for the test. Hard to tell if oil consumption is high because I have a leak there at the moment. She's driving the same as she always has, I haven't noticed any difference since passed nct last year. Do you think I'm wasting my time even getting a second opinion? Might be best just to get what I can for it.