Passed MOT !!

She has passed the MOT !! :-):-)

She had originally failed the emissions test with the spare exhaust fitted.   So just before we went on holiday I swapped it for my well used, scruffy exhaust.  I did not have time to test it and the first time I drove the car was this morning, taking it to the mechanic.  It quickly became obvious there was a leak somewhere as she sounded like a racing car and there was lots of popping and banging on the overrun.   I took 2 more exhaust systems with me and told him he would have to try and find a cat/silencer/lambda sensor combination that worked.   But apparently he tried her on his own gas analyser and he could see that even in the battered, leaky state she was almost passing the test.   So he took a gamble and took her to the MOT station and said that she was OK on his machine

Here were the results:

Fast Idle:

CO Limit             0.2      Actual Value     0.197      (Close)
HC limit              200     Actual Value     141         (Safe)
Lambda  Limit  1.03      Actual Value     1.022      (Close)

Natural Idle

CO limit               0.3      Actual Value    0.294      (Close)

So basically it was a real 'skin of the teeth' pass.  Incredibly lucky.

She still kept me on my toes though.   When I drove her there the fan light came on but the fan itself didn't.    Same on the way back, so I assumed the fan relay was playing up.   Then I happened to go into the garage 10 mins later and the fan was happily running, cooling the engine.    Kit cars, don't you just love them.

I still need to try and come up with a solution as I probably won't be that lucky next year, maybe a programmable ECU. Meanwhile, here's to another year !!

Failed MOT

Put her in for the MOT and no unexpectedly, she failed.  A couple of small things (split steering gaiter, twisted brake pipe) easily fixed, but also on emissions.

This is particularly frustrating as with an ECU-controlled fuel injection system you have no control over the emissions so there is little you can do.   I've handed the car across to a mechanic, along with another exhaust and a brand new catalytic converter to see what he can do.