NCT and exhaust emissions on a 1992 car

jayo99

Guys,

My car is due for its test in 2 weeks and a few people have told me that 1992 and older cars are not tested for emissions.. Is this true?

Looking back on my previous 2 NCT tests I see on the report that beside the high idle section it has N/A in all areas.

Emissions were measured on low idle however.

Cheers
Jayo

Seth Brundle

Pre-1992 cars *are* tested for emissions. However, they don't need a catalytic converter.
IIRC emissions are now checked under both high and low idle but I may be wrong - it may be model dependant.

jayo99

k thats really what I wanted to know..
I have the cat out of my car and am wondering whether to put it back in or not for the test.

Seth Brundle

If your car was designed with a cat (in terms of your fuel injection software) then it may be beneficial to stick the cat back on.

jayo99

It was.. but last year my cat blew and took out my back box also..
So I have been running it without a cat for a while to see if I had my running problems sorted.
Just wondered if I had to go to the bother of re-fitting it...
Think I'll risk it and fit it if it fails on emissions ;-)

Seth Brundle

bring it to a reliable pre-test centre then and get the emissions checked or alternatively just bring it to the test and see what they have to say (presumably this is the cheaper option!).
What type of car is it? My cat went a few weeks ago and with various discounts I still had to fork out €1100

lomb

funny thing is i passed a 98 corolla the other day and that car was driven on 3 cylinders and one plug defective for 500-1000 miles. i thought surely the cat was gone with the unburnt fuel going into it. but no! it passed emissions with flying colours. mayb u dont need a cat to pass it?

jayo99

sounds like u had a lucky escape lomb..

My coolant temp sensor was the cause of the problems for me.. It went and so the ECU thought the car was cold all the time dumping more fuel into the exhaust, thus blowing the cat which broke up into pieces which ended up in the back box.. New cat & box from Toyota €1500 thx much !

All for a dumbass coolant temp sensor !

lomb

what year is she, u can get a cheap cat in traynors. i reakon i was lucky by the way. how did u know the cat broke up?

oh i reakon my cat is gone. how could it b rite after 3weeks of running on 3cylinders. but it passed emissions.my advice is put a brand new air filter in like i did and send it through sure it wont cost much if she fails apart from cat. i reakon ud pick up a cat for 100 in traynors in the north. they have daily deliveries.

jayo99

to get a cat from a mate and I spotted someone a while ago selling 2 on this board for my car.

I knew it broke up coz the car stopped on the motorway and when I got under the cat was glowing bright orange (no messin).

When I disassembled it the cat was blown right thru and its contents could be heard when I shook the back box :-(

lomb

did it drive ok then? on the motorway?

jayo99

well it drove like a lead ballon.. had to drive the whole way home on the hard shoulder.. gradually would cut out after every 5 miles.. had to leave sit and cool down and then tacke another 5.. not v good for engine ..

lomb

wel my cat must be gone and it passed with a wide margin so stick it thru. let us know how u get on.

jayo99

test is on the 18th so we'll see how it goes.

lomb

good luck with it looking forward to results with interest

mike65

Just checked my last NCT test sheet and it shows CO levels must be below 3.5volume% and Hydro Carbons 750ppm. Both at tickover speed.

Mike.

jayo99

Well guys..

My car sailed thru the NCT. I notice that on the test results form they don't even list emissions at high idle, so the car must be exept from that test.

At low idle it performed well - CO levels were .38% volume and Hydro Carbons 126ppm

Nice :-)

Gmodified

I have taken cat out of 89&92 CRX and cars had no problems with passing NCT

emission was very low and Cat was probably dead anyway

jayo99

heheh as it happens my other car (garaged) is a CRX.. 1988 model ..
Car is a rocket!

lomb

so a cat is a waste of time basically they allow 200ppm on high idle anyway on a modern car. my opinion is it restricts the exaust and should be removed if it self destructs (which can happen due to failed o2/lambda sensor spark plug, coolant temp sensor, maf sensor), this is why u can buy universal cats for 70 euro that dont restrict the gases much.

stratos

Would it be worth running some engine treatments to your petrol a few days before the test I wonder? I know our work mechanic recomends it, but I never tried it. I have also seen ads for a product called cataclean, Seems to do remarkable things. Has anyone any experience of it?

lomb

dont put the stuff anywhere near the motor. there is some info i was reading about a guy nearly wreaking his v8 out of his s500 due to adding teflon lubricants.it eventually gums up passages and can damage fine lubrication points that lubricate the cam bearings. also it can/will clog ur oil filter resulting in the bypass valve activating. there only snake oil salesmen that is the consenses

litirspam

Can anyone tell me if the car jack in Aldi is worth getting please?

Seth Brundle

@ litirspam - read the posting guidelines.
@ lomb - are you referring to oil treatments? These can and sometimes do work but not usually advisable if the engine has not been rigorously maintained. As for fuel treatments (which is what stratos was asking) - some work, some don't. Many folk recommend redline products

jayo99

car jack in aldi.. urmmm .. its cheap but not great.. I have one and my car rolled forward whilst jacking it and it bent the side bars of the jack which prevented it from lowering fully