mot woes

[littlefeller]

still no joy on the MOT, emissions still. now inpa gives a vague reference to miss fire but does so on all 4 cylinders. cam sensor swapped some time last year so pretty much rules that out , plugs were also swapped last year and the fact it is missing on all 4 randomly kinda rules those out too, i cant find any leaks anywhere so question is does that just leave the now 19 year old coil pack and leads.
this needs to get fixed as we have the cotswold cruise in a couple of weeks or will i have to borrow someones Yaris.


not the only thing it failed on.
broken rear coil and corroded brake line, both no biggie but not worth fixing till i get the emissions right.

 

[mktommo]

Old cars are always a little unpredictable @littlefeller - no matter how well we think we know them.

Good luck with getting all that passed ok. I always seem to learn about a new part that I didn't know the car had at MOT time and usually only because there's something wrong with that particular part!

 

[t-tony]

Post a picture of your emissions print out Jason.

Tony.

 

[raymond]

Sometimes taking the car out for a hard run can help with the emissions.

 

[littlefeller]

it failed on this last year, mot chap says it stinks like an old ford escort mk1. it was left running for an absolute age, he kept trying (different rev ranges) but it made no difference, it did have a good thrashing before it went in, it also went straight in as this issue is nothing new and the chap knew this. you can hear a misfire or rather a non fire very 3 or 4 seconds (again like an old mk1 escort) he says it is like the cat is doing nothing at all.

 

[the Nefyn cat]

If it's a bad misfire then the unburnt fuel can wipe the cat out. Not what you want to hear, I guess.

 

[t-tony]

What were the co, lambda and HC readings.

Tony.

 

[littlefeller]

@t-tony lambda and HC ok but co high, you would think if it is un-burnt fuel then the HC would also be high, they were a little high but not alarmingly so, to be honest @the Nefyn cat it is no more than expected, it failed last year on emissions but the guy forgot to put it on the list of fail issues, so i fixed the issues listed and took it back, he only tested the parts on the list. so i had a get out of jail free for 12 months, it has always stunk and the fact the thermostat has been stuck open for quite a while hasn't helped the cat either, the cat is about £75, so no issue there but there is no point in swapping it till i fix this misfire issue, you can hear it missing beats on idle.

 

[Nodzed]

I think I would check the coil packs Jason??

 

[littlefeller]

I think I would check the coil packs Jason??

this is my thought too, but according to impa it is on all cylinders, sporadic misfire error code, the coil pack on the m44 has 4 individual coils inside so for it to be the issue then all 4 must be worn out (not impossible), think i need to get my multi meter on it tomorrow, cant do it now as it is back parked up in the warehouse (i have been using a pool van for the last 8 weeks on and off while i figure it out). the multi meter test wont be conclusive though as you can only test from the input end. i may get lucky and the issue can be spotted from this end.
i read somewhere to spray brake cleaner onto the vacuum pipes, if the revs go up then there is a leak somewhere. but if i had a leak would not impa say this? would it see a maf error? it doesnt at the moment, just misfire codes.

 

[t-tony]

I would use carb cleaner rather than brake cleaner if you can get it but brake cleaner is a good substitute Jason. Is the crank position sensor easily accessible. That could affect all cylinders.

Tony.

ps. As you said if it was much unburnt fuel the HC's would be high. My thoughts are that the Cat has had it mate.

 

[littlefeller]

thanks tony, my thoughts exactly, my own bad really should have fixed that cool running ages ago. ok - impa says (i took a snip of the screen last time i cleared the codes) error 51 which is an ignition error, it also says error 62 - signal EML, i dont have an EML is this not the engine light which i dont have, luckily as it would always be on, error frequency is averaging about 25 every 3 months so its not recognising this missing on idle. new cat i think is in order, and swap the coil pack too while im at it.

 

[t-tony]

Have either of the breaker boys got a good used coil pack?

Tony.

 

[littlefeller]

ooops my bad, looking at the wrong DME errors are as follows -

• 62 Misfiring in Various Cyls, the other codes are for each cylinder like for instance 51 is misfire cylinder 2

 

[littlefeller]

Have either of the breaker boys got a good used coil pack?

Tony.

what i need is to borrow one and see, then if it improves or cures it then buy it but this is abit cheeky

 

[t-tony]

what i need is to borrow one and see, then if it improves or cures it then buy it but this is abit cheeky

Not if someone has one to borrow surely.

Tony.

 

[littlefeller]

well, im now £200 poorer, springs ordered, spring compressor ordered, brake hoses ordered and cat ordered i need a crying smiley, actually the cat wasn't that bad £75. got a set of new-other springs off ebay (new but not in original box) just need to solve the missing now or it will just knacker up the new cat, or i just buy a £75 cat every 12 months

 

[handsomejackuk]

@littlefeller just a thought have you been through all the emissions pipes ,and made sure they are all unblocked, also oil and filter change and airfilter change may help a little on the emissions, mine sometimes has a bit of an oily smell to it, just past m.o.t. ok though, and they said emissions were ok...... that litlle manifold thing on the inlet clamped on a sandwich plate with a pipe coming off the rocker cover... is that all clear ? I took mine off a few months ago just to check... also i had a failing cam sensor which i have changed and i know you changed yours too... is that still showing up on osd softwre or is it clear... mine used to have the odd misfire / hiccup seems to have gone now though

Al...

 

[5harp3y]

Why not just change the coil and leads?

 

[Stevo7682]

I had a 98 m44 z3 in for test last year customer tried additives new plugs etc tested emissions 3 different times lambda and hc ok all 3 times but co pretty consistent at around 0.5 pass limit 0.3 ended up we replacing the cat and it passed straight away at less than 0.1