May 2009
SWMBO's RAV4 failed its MoT test on exhaust emissions. Print-out reads:
Fast Idle Test:
CO: max 0.300% 0.000 PASS
HC: max 200ppm 0 PASS
Lambda: 0.970 - 1.030 1.091 FAIL
Second Fast Idle Test:
CO: max 0.300% 3.093 FAIL
HC: max 200ppm 90 PASS
Lambda: 0.970 - 1.030 0.922 FAIL
Natural Idle Test:
CO: max 0.500% 3.197 FAIL
I'm a bit confused by the first fast idle test. The '0' result for both CO and HC implies a remarkably clean exhaust, though the lambda figure does imply that the engine is running lean, so perhaps a low CO reading would be expected.
I gather that the second fast idle test is only performed to give the car a 'second chance' - so why are the figures so vastly different? In particular, the lambda value now indicates a rich mixture - which might explain the high CO figure. But why should the repeat test be so vastly different to the first??
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hi room, MOT in the morning , just wanted to know how the testers "test" the handbrake, is it so many clicks on the ratchet to see if it holds or is it a bit more technical than that? is their a rule of thumb? surely a handrake pulled up to the last tooth on the ratchet will hold more than one teetering on the first notch Read more
thanks for the info DD, mot went well apart from one panic episode, just before i went to the booked test i went to get some fuel as it was a bit low, i pulled into the petrol station and pulled the fuel flap catch inside the car and it failed to deploy....i spent 20 minutes trying to open the flap manually from inside the boot , mentioned it to the tester and he was ok with it, during the test he commented that the headlamp glass was starting to "yellow" and he advised me to soft wire brush the brake lines aft and grease them up...but chuffed to pass the MOT in a 12 year old motor ...cheers
Looking to buy one of the above shortly. Would appreciate any advise on the positives AND negatives of buying a UK Honda Shuttle as opposed to buying a Import Odyssey which appears better specced out. Any obvious drawbacks when it comes to re - selling in the future.
Also does the Odyssey command higher insurance premiums.
Would appreciate any useful comments. Thanks Read more
hi all
help required i have just had my car recoverd after being stolen 2 weeks ago,the police tell me there is no damage to the car so the insurance company are going to have the locks changed and return the car to me after i pay my excess £500
if i was to part ex my car when it is returned would it come up on any hpi check at the dealers!
{typo in header corrected} Read more
An HPI type check will probably show it as Stolen and Recovered, as this info is from the Police register, not the insurance.
I am considering buying a used Volvo V50 2.0d, either S or Sport model.
I currently run a V W Passat 1.9Tdi 100hp, which now has 167,000 miles on. I have not had a minutes trouble with the Passat. Prior to running the Passat I have run 3 Golfs, all having around 140,000 on them when I got rid and again I did not have a moments bother with any of them. So you could say that I do hold V W in high regard, but I have read differing reviews about the new Passat, hence considering a V50.
I am led to believe that the engine in the V50 is a Ford/Pug engine. Is this correct? If so is the engine any good? Will it be as reliable as the V W engine?? Is there anything in particular that I should be concerned about with the engine or the car? Is the Volvo as well built as a V W?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Read more
The pal I mentioned in my earlier post has just called. I noticed that his front tyre looked a little flat. No, he said they are low profile.
It was flat, it had a nail in it. I helped him change the wheel in a shed, it was raining cats and dogs. The spare was one of those skinny 50mph things and he wanted to drive 50 miles this evening.
What a daft idea these spacesaver wheels are, you don't even save much space.
My fiesta diesel has just started to produce a strong bad egg smell (sulphur dioxide) on start up. The car has done about 70,000 miles and just been fully serviced. The smell comes from heater vents but disapears after a short while or turning on the A/C. Could this be the Exhaust gas leaking into the air circulation or bacteria in the A/C? Read more
I'd be having a look at the battery / alternator and check that it's not overcharging at start up and boiling up the battery.
With the local Mitsubishi dealer wanting £302 for SWMBO's Colt's 2nd year service, we are considering taking it to an indie. Will a non-Mitsu garage know what needs doing?
The dealer said this service was a 'big one' and IIRC mentioned that the brake fluid would be changed amongst other things - no idea whether that's normal or not. BTW more distant dealer wanted £322.
Car is actually a CZ2 1.3 3dr, but that isn't listed in the Make/Model dropdown. Read more
Thank you :-)
I'm assuming brake shoes no longer contains asbestos, right? But after working on my brakes and dusting them out I developed a chesty cough the next day and so just wondered if the dust is still toxic in anyway. Read more
as a youth in the late 60s/ early 70s, me and a load of mates used to mess about in old factories ...one trick was to hang off the steam pipes and waggle them to make the white asbestos coating fall off like snow falling... im still drawing breath at a very pleasant rate fortunately...any one with asbestosis or emphysemia has my up most sympathy , i had double pneumonia caused by an infection ( viral or bacterial cant remember) it aint nice
Just having a flick through tonight's telly and I notice Knightrider is back on. New pilot tonight on SciFi at 8pm. Val Kilmer taking over in the driving seat from The Hoff who does make a cameo so it seems.
Not sure what the car will be or whether it will be as camp as the 80s version
"Brace yourself Michael!"
It clashes with the new Wheeler Dealers series but is repeated on Thursday evening, filling the hole left by the Sarah Connor Chronicles. Read more
It's a good series. Well worth watching. I acquired it from a friend a couple of months ago and am working my way through it.
The car is lovely! Truly a worthy successor. :-)
The other end of Westbourne Park Road, a series of bends and junctions with large desirable residences down one side and a mixed bag on the other, is being resurfaced and is for the moment devoid of its very nasty, sharp, eroded speed bumps. I often have cause to drive along it and it was such a pleasure today to waft over the new surface and even to rumble over the scoured 'temporary surface' without having to consider those awful gratuitous obstructions and without all that accelerating and decelerating along with the suspension wear and damned general discomfort of the things.
Have the residents, I wonder, got sick of the eternal thumping, graunching and extra pollution made by cars doing their best to drive down a wilfully damaged road, and urged the local authority to restore the road to its proper configuration?
I do hope so. If not I will dream up some swear-filter evaders for screaming and kicking purposes here. Read more
Went along that end of Westbourne Park Road again today. The resurfacing is done and the speed bumps are back. Well, uneroded new ones good for a steady 20mph in my car, unnecessarily slow of course for the road.
I promised to invent some swear-filter avoiders for kicking and screaming purposes. Well, I can't. I will resort to quoting my favourite aunt, long dead now alas, who would cry in a husky but ladylike Mediterranean voice, and with wildly flashing eyes:
'Hell's bells and buckets of blood!'
Hi BB,
That's a possibility - I'll block the tailpipe with a rag tonight and see if starts blowing a raspberry!
I still don't understand why the two fast idle tests are so different. I wasn't present at the testing, so can't say whether the car was fully up to temp or not.
A new air filter is on order - the old one was a bit, ahem, 'obscured', though only about a year old....