2014 Focus keeps failing NCT for high emissions

CXI

Folks need a bit of advice as I'm at loss at this stage.

2014 Focus 1.0 bought in 2019.

During the first year it had couple of issues with a yellow indicator coming up on dashboard. Garage said that it was a faulty lambda sensor, so they fixed it. It happened couple of times more, they kept fixing it and eventually the indicator stopped coming up. I'm not sure what the fix was exactly but I had to visit them about 3-4 times in total over a few months.

Service has always been regular and since covid the car has been used much less than before.

Now in 2022 NCT was failed due to high emissions:

Low idle: 0.50% - Limit above 0.30%

High idle: 0.75% - Limit above 0.20% (Lambda 1.01 which was fine)

I brought the car to a reputable exhaust specialist in Dublin 12 which was recommended by my car mechanic and in general has positive reviews. They replaced the convertor for 250EUR and provided their own test with 0.01% emissions.

When I did the NCT retest right after, the NCT guy told me that the car still kept failing but he did it few more times and eventually it passed with 0.05% for low and 0.06% for high.

My next NCT was scheduled yesterday and it failed again for exactly same reasons as 2 years ago: Low @ 0.60% and High @ 0.60%

What do I do now? Do I go back to exhaust garage and demand they fix it properly? Or is it normal for convertor to get faulty after 2 years again? Or could be an issue with a random sensor again, so it's better to be done with a mechanic?

User1998

Auto Exhausts in Crumlin? They are great at what they do but a €250 exhaust will only get you through one NCT. You will probably have to get another exhaust again this year as they are cheap Chinese exhausts that don’t last.

If you are not happy with that, go to Ford and see how much they quote you for a brand new exhaust. But I would not blame the exhaust place as your car clearly has issues.

Luna84

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121958849#Comment_121958849

It's not the exhaust it's the cheap aftermarket catalytic convertor. A real OEM convertor costs way more than 250 which is why thieves steal them.

User1998

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121958871#Comment_121958871

I know, OP said exhaust and catalytic converter is apart of the exhaust so I didn’t want to over complicate it for them. They had their catalytic converter replaced 2 years ago and now they need another one.

robinwing

put Dipethane into it , a bit more than is recommended on the side of the bottle and drive it for a few days , if you need petrol then top up with the dipethane again. The evening before the test drive the car briskly BUT NOT OVER SPEED LIMIT ! for about 40km up and down motorway . It worked for me anyway . Twice

PukkaStukka

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121958871#Comment_121958871

Was thinking the same. A secondhand original cat is probably the way to go. Some of that aftermarket stuff is not up to the job