Failed MOT - then passed after a few days.

[p1RATE]

emmisions are not really something you can easily make up. I doubt they took the tine to find another vehicle to test, but it does happen. just take it elsewhere for an emissions test and report them if it fails

 

["andy"]

but I am worried about MOT next year and paying for the same problem again.

Which is the whole point of going to get your emissions checked


If the other garages results don't match then you know where you stand . For example I'd be wanting most of the money I'd paid back in my pocket

 

[realscot]

Use that cat regenerator today on an old passat (not one in sig obviously )
Before CO - 0.88 HC - 233
After CO - 0.27 HC - 110

Took it for a 3 mile blast then had it on fast idle for about 10 mins, failed only just on co first try but after a few mins it managed to get through the second time.

 

[Dr Who]

Sounds like straw clutching to me. I was under the impression that most cars did better on emissions if tested while the engine was warm. So they might have just retested it with a warm engine.

They have to warm the engine up before the test anyway, pretty pointless doing it with an enriched cold mixture....

 

[Dr Who]

but I am worried about MOT next year and paying for the same problem again.

So how do you think you are going to resolve the issue if you retest it now and it fails? Surely you will have to pay again now?

Just accept the pass and if you have to deal with again next year, then deal with it. Chances are the problem is fixed and you will just be paying more now to check up on a garage that you have a long standing relationship with, the new garage which might be less scrupulous and force a fail to make you spend money with them. The only point of the emissions test is to pass the MOT really, and if the car is running fine, not using excessive fuel, why lose sleep over it? I really do not understand why you use this garage if they are that untrustworthy you cannot trust them to tell you the truth over something as paltry as a spark plug change.

 

["andy"]

So how do you think you are going to resolve the issue if you retest it now and it fails? Surely you will have to pay again now?

Why would he pay again ? He would go back to original garage for refund or the work they said they had done

He doesn't need to retest it he just needs the emissions checking (if he really doesn't trust them)

Load of fuss over not much IMO

 

[Dr Who]

Why would he pay again ? He would go back to original garage for refund or the work they said they had done

He doesn't need to retest it he just needs the emissions checking (if he really doesn't trust them)

Load of fuss over not much IMO

Retest the EMISSIONS, not the whole MOT Getting a refund would be nigh on impossible, the plugs have been used, they have documentary evidence the car passed the emissions test after the works, the fact that it failed again a few days later just goes to show it has a further fault that is causing issues with the plugs which they are not liable for as their remit was to get it through the MOT.

The whole situation is ridiculous, if you take a car for an MOT and it fails on something, you pay them to put it right to save a retest fee, they could have said all manner of things had failed if they were unscrupulous, all of which would have been more expensive than changing the plus. Going back to them and saying "you didnt really fix my car as it has now failed it's emissions" effectively is calling them liars (which they might be) but at the end of the day, they gave you an MOT on a car that had previously failed, reporting them to VOSA etc could result in your MOT being revoked and additional costs for fixing the vehicle. Just accept the MOT and move on.

 

[Crafty]

^ Which is why you either use someone you trust or MOT the car somewhere that doesn't have a garage attached/won't do repair work.

Either way you know exactly what the car failed on.

 

[apeksdiver]

It has passed for the year don't worry about it.

 

["andy"]

Obviously I need to get into the MOT business if so many people would be happy bunging me a few hundred quid to change some relatively new spark plugs and fiddle their emission ls test

Still not saying that's what happened to OP though but I guess we won't find that put till next years MOT now .

 

[I_M_Weasel]

Well I'm happy with the pass and I've drove today and it does seem better than yesterday (maybe because its windy and dispersing the smoke) hopefully by next year it'll still be ok.

I wouldn't exactly say I trust the garage, but I distrust other local garages more, probably not helped by my limited car knowledge.

Thank you for everyone's input.

 

[dalin80]

Both spark plug changes* and oil changes can alter emission readings, air filter changes can help as well.

A lot of cats are on a bit of knifes edge and it doesn't take much at all to push them either way. Have got dozens through emissions tests by adding a petrol treatment and doing a bit of a run.


*Even pretty much new ones especially if changing make, had a pug 206 which refused to pass despite driving perfectly, swapped out the 1000 mile NGK plugs for nearly identical Bosch ones and it instantly went through, sometimes you just get a odd batch.