W211 MOT Emissions fail - next steps?

[Rob76]

did you give it an Italian tune up before you took it , I find when I get a customers car that I know is used for short journeys , I make sure I get it hot and give it a bit of stick to clean it out

^^This
I always give mine an Italian Tune up en route to the MOT, but even then my last one required the tester revving the tits off it to get a smoke test pass

 

[Rory]

like putting the exhaust probe up another car's exhaust ......

I saw this discussed in another thread and they basically seemed to say the tester ignored the plate value. Could be things have tightened up since then though.

Just looked at my car and it was tested at the default value of 3 last Oct. It doesn't seem to have a plate at all though - just a sticker in the B post. There's a 0.9 in a box but that box isn't in the position the MOT guide indicates. the actual value was 1.17.

 

[bembo449]

^^This
I always give mine an Italian Tune up en route to the MOT, but even then my last one required the tester revving the tits off it to get a smoke test pass

maybe you don't go 'italian' enough pal

 

[davidsl500]

How about Edd China's Terraclean system - or is that just smoke and mirrors?

 

[Wighty]

maybe you don't go 'italian' enough pal

He did a French tune up pal

 

[Tony Dyson]

Sounds like it needs to go on Star and look at the live running values - particularly MAF, lambda and injection values.

Well as the OP has already confirmed he has used additives and given his car a 100 mile thrashing for the short term benefits I think I would be looking more seriously into the cause and underlying problem of the sudden changes as advised in Post #4 above, particularly as the OP has already stated the car is just too good to scrap.

 

[Gazwould]

Aging thermostats are a common cause.

 

[Rob76]

maybe you don't go 'italian' enough pal

I thought i went full latin, but without the dangerous manouvres - Ill try harder next time

He did a French tune up pal

How VERY dare you!!!! I would never support French anything - let alone take part

 

[Wighty]

I thought i went full latin, but without the dangerous manouvres - Ill try harder next time


How VERY dare you!!!! I would never support French anything - let alone take part

Excellent stuff buddy

 

[Rory]

Post on Pistonheads today - someone chopped the number out of the plate, so the tester used the default value. Got advisory saying plate defaced. Tester suggested in future they'll be able to look up the value, but they can't at the moment.