NCT failed on emissions

tiredblondie

Hi
2017 dacia sandero failed nct on emissions
Brought to garage this morning and said catalytic converter which could cost anything up to 1500euro!
He will check around for one and ring back with a price

Does this sound correct? Was shocked when he said it!

Wibbs

You can get third party catalytic converters that can be fitted and they are a lot cheaper, so maybe that would be the route to take?

tiredblondie

Wibbs wrote: »

You can get third party catalytic converters that can be fitted and they are a lot cheaper, so maybe that would be the route to take?

What do you mean by 3rd party one? A used one?

Would that be a main reason to fail emissions on nct? Or could it be something simpler?

Miscreant

I would be shocked as well if my 4 year old car failed an NCT on emissions!

How often has the car been driven in the past year? If it has only had light use then it might be an idea to take some long trips in it before the retest to see if it will pass then. I had this happen to an older car that I knew was in good working order (but only used in good weather.... which was rarely). It failed 3 NCTs on emissions before I realised it just needed to be driven for a few hundred KMs/Miles for about a week before the test and it would then pass. I never got any work done on the car, no new cat was required and I would bring it for a retest for it to pass. I even mentioned this to the testers on occasion and they said it was quite common for cars that are not driven much to fail for emissions and then pass when they come back in.

May be worth a try and could save you the expense of a new catalytic converter.

The Continental Op

OP post a copy of the fail sheet so we can see what it actually failed on.

Wibbs

tiredblondie wrote: »

What do you mean by 3rd party one? A used one?

Third party, basically a part not made by the manufacturer.

Would that be a main reason to fail emissions on nct? Or could it be something simpler?

Could be all sorts of things. Like Miscreant's example of a car rarely used needing a good run to clear out the cobwebs. A failing spark plug could do it too. I'm with Miscreant and his surprise that a four year old car needs a new catalytic converter.

The Continental Op's advice is good. The fail sheet would tell a lot more.

tiredblondie

Miscreant wrote: »

I would be shocked as well if my 4 year old car failed an NCT on emissions!

How often has the car been driven in the past year? If it has only had light use then it might be an idea to take some long trips in it before the retest to see if it will pass then. I had this happen to an older car that I knew was in good working order (but only used in good weather.... which was rarely). It failed 3 NCTs on emissions before I realised it just needed to be driven for a few hundred KMs/Miles for about a week before the test and it would then pass. I never got any work done on the car, no new cat was required and I would bring it for a retest for it to pass. I even mentioned this to the testers on occasion and they said it was quite common for cars that are not driven much to fail for emissions and then pass when they come back in.

May be worth a try and could save you the expense of a new catalytic converter.

Since January when I started working from home, I hardly drive it, only round the shops once or twice a week....

tiredblondie

Fail sheet

tiredblondie

tiredblondie wrote: »

Fail sheet

Am i much out on the emissions?
I don't know what the correct reading should be.

The Continental Op

Has anyone checked the actual integrity of the exhaust system ie checked for any leaks.

CAT might well be the fix but leaks or bad sensors could cause the problem.

I'd certainly be looking around for a cheaper CAT. I know the last one I needed started at €800 and I found ones that would fit at €500 and €400 eventually getting one from the UK for under €200.

The Continental Op

Hi idle is the problem with CO running at 1.09% when it should only be 0.2% so more than 5 times as much CO than there should be.

tbh my thoughts are the CO is so high that the issue is something other than the CAT although the CAT should reduce the CO.

CO - carbon monoxide

tiredblondie

The Continental Op wrote: »

Hi idle is the problem with CO running at 1.09% when it should only be 0.2% so more than 5 times as much CO than there should be.

tbh my thoughts are the CO is so high that the issue is something other than the CAT although the CAT should reduce the CO.

CO - carbon monoxide

Thanks!

But is it so high that using dipetane and driving the hell out of it won't make much difference?

No, he didn't check for any leaks or anything, he didn't check the car at all tbh, he just told me that that is what the issue would be

jbv

Get a second opinion.
The garage should check the errors that comes in the ECU and also check the exhaust for leaks.
You better off going to the a Dacia dealer to be honest.

sumo12

Dipetane into a full tank of fuel. Drive the stones out of it until that tank is gone (within speed limits of course!) I'd be very surprised if it didn't pass then

tiredblondie

jbv wrote: »

Get a second opinion.
The garage should check the errors that comes in the ECU and also check the exhaust for leaks.
You better off going to the a Dacia dealer to be honest.

Had it serviced in April in renault/dacia garage
They told me i needed 4 new tyres, new breakpads and new wipers in order to pass the nct - the wipers i had were brand new :rolleyes:
so i said i'd take a chance on the nct and see what came up.....sure enough, none of those items failed!

tiredblondie

sumo12 wrote: »

Dipetane into a full tank of fuel. Drive the stones out of it until that tank is gone (within speed limits of course!) I'd be very surprised if it didn't pass then

It may be worth a shot for the sake of a 20 something euro retest - nct was only on thursday gone so have another 3 and a bit weeks to get sorted

tiredblondie

Just wanted to update on this - i used half a bottle of dipotene on Saturday and half a bottle on Monday

Drove about 100km over the 2 days @ 100km/hour in 3rd gear (thought the car was gonna explode!)

Retest done on Monday evening

PASSED!!!!

Emissions went from 1.09 to 0.16!!

passatman86

Great result

Must try 100 klm in 3rd lol

I normally do 110klm in 4th to clear it out