New mot regs - do you need to panic?

[The _Don]

PistonHeads Headlines - New MOT regs - Do you need to panic?

 

[A210AMG]

I can see a lot of dashboard bulbs being removed on cars with EML or Airbag warning lights on.....

Also how does a RX7 pass the doors bit... You have to open the front door to open the rear door?

 

[Sp!ke]

Interesting that the article failed to mention what I feel is the most important change... the bit about catalytic converters should be present if fitted from new.

At this point it looks like anyone that has had the secondary cats removed might now fall foul of this at MOT time. I've not seen anyone conclusively answer this one either way.

 

[A210AMG]

I should imagine...

A Lot of cars with the after market or iffy HID's will hopefully be failed = a good thing

Is the removal of Cats a polution thing? / noise? as its nothing to do with saftey?

Do the test stations have the available data on everycar what options could be fitted etc? and changes with each model year or facelift.

 

[lxi]

Interesting that the article failed to mention what I feel is the most important change... the bit about catalytic converters should be present if fitted from new.

At this point it looks like anyone that has had the secondary cats removed might now fall foul of this at MOT time. I've not seen anyone conclusively answer this one either way.

I'm about to get mine cut out - mentioned this to the guy at Longlife Exhausts - he was adamant that because it would still have cats (and emissions ok) then it couldn't be failed on that. He's in the business that should know otherwise he'd have a queue of recent customers banging at his door

I've tried (not very hard to be honest) to find the definitive statement, but failed so far.

I also asked when mine was being MOTd two weeks ago (at a main dealer) - the tester said if the rear set had been removed he wouldn't fail it, so it all seems a bit unclear

 

[Buster'stheboy]

Is the test fee going up too? If there's extra work for the garage seems like they'll want more money. How much of the test fee do they get?

 

[SHAUNE55]

You would have to have a tester who knows what every exhaust on every car looks like or a book with pictures for them to check, I would think as long as they see the front ones all will be OK.

 

[BTB 500]

They have a database of some sort giving details of each car by year ... think they search by VIN.

But there's still a reasonable chance that secondary cat deletes will be OK. I hope so, as I'd like to have it done on my SL.

 

[lxi]

It would be nigh on impossible to police - you could, for example have two inline cats replaced by a similar capacity or performance (?) single unit maybe twice as big, so counting the number would be completely unreasonable.

 

[Buster'stheboy]

Is the test fee going up too? If there's extra work for the garage seems like they'll want more money. How much of the test fee do they get?

Found the answer here. A forum for MOT testers:
MOT Forum - The MOT Testing Forum for the UK MOT Testing Industry

 

[removed]

I can see a lot of dashboard bulbs being removed on cars with EML or Airbag warning lights on.....

I'm going to Olly right after Easter to get the the SRS ECU replaced, among few other things ... MOT is due soon, might as well fix the dreaded SRS light :bannana:

 

[brigadier]

IMO it says cats need to be present, if fitted when new, should be ok with missing insides. And it only applies to petrol cars newer than 1992, that require full cat test.

 

[lxi]

about as clear as mud

 

[grober]

My feeling is that the "writing is on the wall" for the decat guys - if not in this "period of transition" to the new regulations--- very soon. I think you have to look at the reason these new regulations have been introduced to see where VOSA are ultimately going with this-sooner or later. Forget relying on small print loopholes or "interpretation" that will soon change and not in a good way.

 

[SHAUNE55]

Just get friendly with your local MOT guy, luckily I've known mine for about 15 years and I put hundreds of pounds worth of work his way every week.

 

[jaymanek]

If you want to remove your cat just remove the innards, the cat only has to be visually present and all MB's (AFAIK) will still pass the emmisions test without a cat.

 

[markjay]

I think that what they had in mind is mostly to ensure that cars are properly maintained rather than having systems disabled due to the high cost of a proper repair (e.g. failed cats, srs, abs, etc). The delete-cats-for-better-performance brigade are probably just collateral damage in this case...

Also, with the cats removed the car may still pass the emissions test, BUT where cars are taxed by emissions, there is a case to say that increasing CO2 emissions while paying lower band VED is in fact tax evading (does removal of cats increase CO2 emissions?).

On another note... it is interesting to note that many of the MOT checks are in fact identical to checks carried-out during regular service (I believe that almost all of the MOT checks are included in a B Service). I am just wondering if dealerships that have MOT testing stations actually carry-out the same checks twice at two separate location within the work shop by different technicians (in cases where a car is booked for service and MOT)? Seems a bit daft. Presumably they charge the customer twice anyway - once for the service and then for the MOT?

 

[Dieselman]

^ A 3 way Cat increases Co2 output.

 

[John]

Mine passed in Feb with 2/4 CATs.

No mention of it so like a lot of things - this will come down to the individual tester.

 

[Dieselman]

Mine passed in Feb with 2/4 CATs.

No mention of it so like a lot of things - this will come down to the individual tester.

The rules were relaxed until April.
You will probably need a new pair for next Feb.