Club 80-90 Forums

Hi,

Just had an MOT failure and I have a feeling it was taken a ,

Failed on parking lights, didnt know how to switch them on,

Failed on emissions, even though the print out was for a test for a catalyst equipped vehicle with a closed loop control,

Now I can handle stupidity but my main concerns are that it passed easily on the fast idle test

CO 0.20%

HC 41 ppm

but failed miserably on the second fast idle test

CO 0.70%

HC 209 ppm

Does anyone understand or has an inkling why this would be so, both tests I presume are undertaken at the same engine speed and the engine was up to temp on the first test as I drove it there 10 mins before the test start.

Should have been tested as non-cat, would pass easily on those figures. For a pre 1992 vehicle, limits are 3.5% CO and 1200 HC.

This is what I assumed, the tester when i phoned up thought it was a 1998 vehicle , my only concern is the difference in the two readings, ie did the tester rev the beejesus out of it to try and clear the cat. I have just had to clean out the oil breather as it was soaked.

Now I have seen it all, after virtually taking the re test myself the van passed with flying colours, the tester even after having me point out his faults still tried to fail it on emissions even though there was a large poster on the wall next to his machine displaying the correct excepted levels now I have just got to see if I can remove the data from MOT history as it makes it look like I have got a Knackered engine one day and bought a cheap MOT the next.

If you're genuinely concerned, report the garage to VOSA. They take this sort of thing seriously, and I've reported one before and they were inspected and fined. They sound incompetent.

I was speaking to someone the other day, he was telling me that there small firm took a van in for a mot it failed badly, they advised the boss to scrap it , in his wisdom he took it elsewhere (maybe he knew it was a dodgy garage) it passed no problem at the 2nd garage. The owner (boss) was contacted very quickly by vossa, they came took the van and inspected it. The boss of the garage did a runner and the mot tester got arrested (or the other way around). Now I don't know if this was true, but id guess it is. So yes vossa (or what ever there called now) take things like this and yours seriously and quite rightly to.

Very worrying.
I have had the same tester for 25 years, lucky me I guess, but he knows old stuff and what's what legally.