NCT in da mornin'

[goz_83]

Getting the NCT done early this year. Had a date in December, but managed to find a time tomorrow. Dropped into the garage for a quick health check. Front passenger tyre needed changing, so I just changed both fronts with same tyres. Got tracking done and headlights were all grand. Oil leaking from rocker cover gasket (has been for a while), so I am going to get that sorted next week (not an nct issue, just a mess really). Also have a small leak on the power steering hose, so i'm going to get that replaced too after the nct. Camskill want over €300 for the hose but I can get it for a tenth of that price used, or even less. Wish me luck.

[mivecrx]

Did you go for any particular brand of tyre or just what they had in stock?
I see allot of ftos leak at the cam cover seal, easy fix that yourself. You can definitely get a power steering hose for a fraction of that, 300 is crazy.

Anyway, best of luck tomorrow

[goz_83]

Hi-Fly 215/45x17. Chinese brand I believe, but have had no issues with them at all. Had a full set put on last time I had tyres changed and just changed the front ones this time as the rear ones are grand. Cheap as chips too at €75 per boot, installed.

[mivecrx]

Hi-Fly 215/45x17. Chinese brand I believe, but have had no issues with them at all. Had a full set put on last time I had tyres changed and just changed the front ones this time as the rear ones are grand. Cheap as chips too at €75 per boot, installed.

Good price for that big tyre size,even the 16" standard tyres aren't to cheap.
15" mirage alloys FTW! (55e for Toyo T1r)

Remember all that's touching the road is the tyres and it doesn't matter what brakes you have, there only as good as your tyres! Best to spend that extra bit and get a decent tyre with good ratings imo. I know the better the grip the softer the compound and you lose out on some miles but in a sports car it's worth it.

[Kace]

Good luck with the NCT. I feel like I live in the place these days. 3 cars and 2 of them now in the 10 year bracket for annual retests.

Re tyres - Ah fond memories of the good old days with the R16 FTO tyres. Just shelled out €750 for a set of Vredstein R19s from Camskill for the Quattro

[Chris_Heilong]

Tyreland are really good for quality partworns, I went to the branch in Swords. 18" Continentals Sport for €70 with 80% thread. I would look into next time you change tyres.

[goz_83]

At the centre now, waiting for the FTO to make an appearance.

The hi-fly are a good tyre. I've no problem paying for quality, especially when it comes to brakes and tyres. The guy I know years recommends them and I have had a full set for a year on the FTO with spirited driving and great grip. The bonus is they are half the price of some of the recognised brands.

I think part worns for the most part are a false economy. In my opinion, they are a tie over for passing an Nct if strapped for cash and only 1 or 2 tyres need changing, or if you have uneven wear on one tyre and can find a very similar tyre to replace it. For people changing a full set of boots with 2, 3, or even 4 different brands of tyres, it's a disgrace. A colleague if mine had 2 brands after changing 3 tyres for the Nct. I wouldn't have felt safe driving his buggy. Apparently, neither did he after some unusual braking.

[goz_83]

OK. So she failed on:

one side lamp not working (I only had both the bulbs replaced last month )

Emissions (typical with fto eh?) reading High Idle Lambda 1.4 (pass 0.97-1.03). Low idle is good @ CO 0.01 (0.50 or more to fail).

Oh and this is the best part. She failed on incorrect chassis number
How many times has this car been through the nct and the first thing they are to check is the chassis number and they only see that a zero is missing after the DE3A this time. Effin retards in that place! The chassis number is incorrect on the logbook, missing a zero. I have to get the Garda to verify it now, which isn't a big deal, but I am annoyed that it has been missed every other time. So the previous 2 NCTs at least, should not have been passed.

Now about the emissions; is it just a case of replacing the lambda sensor?

[Wagalini]

The lambda sensor is probably fine. The cat probably wasn't warm enough when they did the reading. Get the emissions checked by someone else who will take the time for the cat to heat up to comfirm it's ok.

I had a lot of trouble with emissions initially. Then I started giving a really good run before the nct, turning up a few minutes late and then keeping the engine rev'ed to ~3,000 rpm while waiting for her to go in. No issues with emissions since.

That chassis number stuff is ridiculous.

[goz_83]

The lambda sensor is probably fine. The cat probably wasn't warm enough when they did the reading. Get the emissions checked by someone else who will take the time for the cat to heat up to comfirm it's ok.

I had a lot of trouble with emissions initially. Then I started giving a really good run before the nct, turning up a few minutes late and then keeping the engine rev'ed to ~3,000 rpm while waiting for her to go in. No issues with emissions since.

That chassis number stuff is ridiculous.

They had the car at the emissions testing area for a good while, so I am thinking/hoping they let it get up to temperature. I think I will have it checked anyway when I am getting the oil leak and power steering leak repaired. The bulb is annoying though. I only had both replaced with high quality LED bulbs when I was away last month. The car hasn't had much use since, but I never checked if they were working after I collected the car. I wrote to the ebay seller about it and hoping he will send a replacement.

I never bothered putting dipetane into the mixture, but I am thinking that reading is too high for dipetane, or redex to really make a difference.

[mivecrx]

Look at the report sheet and see what the engine temperature was. What was the high idle result? you could post a pic of that part of the form.

If the lambda is out and hc and co are ok then you should change the lambda sensor. Car need to be at running temperature, cat wont perform at its best if not.
Check and seal any holes in the exhaust if present, check your spark plugs for carbon deposits, clean if there bad. Air filter clean?
You could run Dipetane threw it, don't have it in for test.

[goz_83]

Look at the report sheet and see what the engine temperature was. What was the high idle result? you could post a pic of that part of the form.

If the lambda is out and hc and co are ok then you should change the lambda sensor. Car need to be at running temperature, cat wont perform at its best if not.
Check and seal any holes in the exhaust if present, check your spark plugs for carbon deposits, clean if there bad. Air filter clean?
You could run Dipetane threw it, don't have it in for test.

Come to think of it, the air filter could do with a clean. I will get on that. The engine temp was 83c. The previous nct passed when the temp was 89c and lambda was 1.02 on high idle. 6 degrees couldn't make that much a difference, could it?

Anyway, I will have a used lambda on standby and will be getting emissions checked at the garage. If they are still off, they have a replacement sensor to try (which I hope is good. Maybe DubC has the recent nct fail sheet from his gpx). I will be getting the rocker cover gasket changed and the power steering hose pipe changed, so it's just one more job to empty my wallet.

I got the form signed by the Garda to confirm the vehicle and VIN are ok. It doesn't say anything about sending the logbook in to get changed though. The nct guy never said this either, so I am wondering what I should do here, as the logbook reads the incorrect VIN. Think maybe I will call them and then see if Shannon have something different to say.

[mivecrx]

Engine temp should be between 90 and 110, it could make allot of difference. The metals inside the cat need to be hot to work correctly. Irrelevant if your CO and HC were all ok?

I meant what was your CO&HC readings on high Idle?

You can take out the lambda and clean it by soaking in petrol over night. I would buy a new one as there cheap enough, Bosch make them.

For the vin number, I would get a new book from Shannon with the correct vin on it(after the retest). You will be going to the nct every 12months so be handy to have it done.

[goz_83]

lambda sensors aint cheap from camskill. I need to spend as little as possible, because the other bits I am getting done are leaving me smashed, so a used lambda should do the trick, if it's needed at all.

Here is a snap of the fail sheet. Is there somewhere it states the engine temp need to be 90-110 degrees?

[mivecrx]

You can get a bosch one cheap enough, Seb might know where.
I mean it needs to be between 90-110c. for the cat to work right, it's not rules of the nct.

Only the lambda id your problem the rest is good so cat is fine. New sensor or even clean the one from the car, also check your plugs for carbon deposits to be sure there good and check for holes in the exhaust. But lambda should sort it

[goz_83]

Getting retested now. Car is idling outside, waiting to be taken in. Forgot to clean the filter though hope its ok. Got a genuine (Nct passed) lambda from brccrx fit and the side lights are working fine. Got that garda stamp sorted.

[goz_83]

Epic fail on the emissions. I got home a while ago to check the lambda and it seems to have been installed properly, but the test results are numbing. Looks like I will be ordering a new lambda sensor, which will be painful on the wallet this close to Christmas. Very disappointed by this.

[Sebastian]

most common fault . look at the bright side it's not worst

[goz_83]

Yeah. But a fault I thought would be sorted with the replacement lambda. Now I will probably need to have a full test done because it will be past the retest date.

While checking the lambda connection, I decided to give her an oil change too. So easy with the oil drain valve
I know she didn't need one, but sure it certainly did no harm and it was jacked up anyway.

[Kace]

Don't go crazy on the Lambda - a €20 unit from eBay sorted the same issue on my car.

Emissions issues on FTOs are always caused by the following :

- Lambda
- Engine Coolant Temp Sensor
- Cat

Replace them in this order if I was you - oh and find a place to test the emissions before you go back.

[mivecrx]

What did you do to drive the CO levels up that high?

[goz_83]

What did you do to drive the CO levels up that high?

The only change made was the 2nd hand lambda sensor.

[brccrx]

Hope You dont think ive send ya faulty one mate as the one U got is from my own FTO and heres the emission print out for it:



Im 100% certain ive send ya the one i should, there has to be different reason that she failed that bad, as ive text ya figures U got proves that the lambda doesnt work at all or theres something else thats the reason.
I wouldnt send ya faulty yoke or if that wouldnt have NCT report to prove its working for sure.

Look at the voltage, its 0.81 and when it were fitted to my car it got 1v witch is the best U can have, theres no way on earth that the voltage can drop so dramatically unless the lambda is not working at all.

Ive run one of my cars trough the NCT once with lambda disconnected and it did epic fail as Yours did now (i'll look for the report when back home from work and post here)

[goz_83]

No, that's why I asked if you were sure you sent the right one, because you said you had 2. I have it booked into Paul Nolans, so hopefully he will sort it. Problem is that its not til monday and that means a full retest

Why is this such a common fail? Last years results were super for me.

[Wagalini]

That's a real pain goz . I hope it doesn't end up costing you too much.