Fails Mot On Excessive Smoke

[scgriffiths1962]

Hi my S reg 1.9 tdi has just failed its MOT "Exhaust emits an excessive level of smoke for a turbo charged engine". The mechanic has used this

 

excuse several times over the years with about 5 of my diesel engined cars. His fix is to add something straight into the fuel filter then runs

 

the engine until the emissions are correct, the product he uses is billed as D Power fuel conditioner, which he charges

[sparky Paul]

Welcome to the forum! :)

 

Does it look smokey when you rev it hard? Sounds like he's got a bit of a racket going to me.

 

'Anti-roll bar linkage' will be the drop link. Split balljoint rubbers seem to be a bit of a grey area with MOT testers - some fail them, some don't. According to my tester man, the joint only fails if it's seized or any play is detected - split rubbers are an advisory item.

Edited January 14, 2012 by sparky Paul

[seatkid]

Not sure but I think the new rules just introduced include damaged rubbers on ball joints - but I would have thought that to mean track rod ends and not arb links.

 

The emmisions are simple, the machine measures the smoke, the results and working out are printed along with the limits on your test results sheet. They will test up to 3 times and work out the average figure which is compared to the limit.

 

Often an "italian tune up" before a vist to an MOT station is all thats required to squeeze the old Tdi through. DO a search on "italian tune up" if you dont understand.

[daddyfixit]

any rubber boots/gaiters that are split are now a fail item as of this years new test changes,

 

to clear excess soot out of the car, get on motorway/dual carriageway that allows 70mph and drive it in 4th (not top gear) so that the soot will be cleared out of the exhaust system by the engine revving higher than usual. i only do 12 miles a day in my 306dturbo, so i detour to the motorway on mot test day-----and rag the conkers off it in 3rd/4th and it leaves a smoke trail like you wouldnt believe !!

 

but it does then pass the mot smoke test.

[scgriffiths1962]

Thanks for all your useful comments especially the "Italian Tune UP" I only drove 1.5 miles to MOT test so I'll have to go a bit further

 

and faster next time !

[sparky Paul]

any rubber boots/gaiters that are split are now a fail item as of this years new test changes,

 

The new MOT RfRs don't apply until April 1st, do they? Only advisory until then...