New MOT rules next year?

rover416i said:
The chipping and remapping becoming a failure is due to the emissions of the vehicle deviating from the emissions listed for the vehicle.
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I've not really read any of the links but I'd call BS on that. What about all those cars on standalone ECUs? The emissions will be much further out than a standard ECU that's been remapped.

As long as the car falls within emissions targets, why would it matter?
 
rover416i said:
The chipping and remapping becoming a failure is due to the emissions of the vehicle deviating from the emissions listed for the vehicle.
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Quite an interesting one seeing as most tuners that offer a generic remap don't store your original map (as far as I'm aware) and even if you have that remap removed you only get that tuners "default values" put back on. Either way, if you look at it from the software side surely it will still look like it has been modified.

If this does come into effect then I can see the dealers making a killing re-flashing ECUs!
 
MrLOL said:
I've found EU directive 2009/40/EC

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2010:173:0047:0072:EN:PDF

And it makes no mention of ECU chipping ?
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Reading the first bit it appears that was replaced by 2010/48/EU and the EU are now proposing further changes to it.

I can see why they want to check for remaps on CO2 grounds as it as it has also been mentioned the MOT test will include checking factory fitted DPFs are still on the car as owners have been removing them due to issues.

They are going to need pretty advanced software to check all the brands of cars unless they do some kind of load cycle on the engine and check the CO2 output.
 
If this engine chipping thing is true I can see there being uproar coming.

Making something retrospectively illegal when thousands of people already have chipped cars is crazy...
 
They certainly aren't scared to make things retrospectively illegal.
They did the same when it came to tints on the front windows - they became illegal overnight.
 
rover416i said:
Other items – such as headlamp bulb and unit incompatibility, headlamp levelling devices and illegal engine ‘chipping’ – will need further thought before we can get a workable solution for MOT stations.
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Indeed, particularly as engine "chipping" is not illegal!

No PAS when PAS should be fitted is a fail (assuming the tester spots it) no matter how thoroughly you have removed it - same goes for removing anti roll bars and the servo.

Doesn't mean thousands of cars won't pass anually with these mods mind you. Adjustable track control arms are also a failure but there are plenty of cars out there with them.
 
agw_01 said:
I've not really read any of the links but I'd call BS on that. What about all those cars on standalone ECUs? The emissions will be much further out than a standard ECU that's been remapped.

As long as the car falls within emissions targets, why would it matter?
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Cars with a standalone ECU would be easy though. Straight fail if unable to connect the diagnostic equipment to it.

As for the emissions targets, the work that manufacturers have to go through to homologate and certify a car against EU requirements goes way further than a quick check of the CO2 and NOx levels using an exhaust probe. A remap isn't going to meet those requirements.

The forthcoming Euro 6 requirements (which have killed many a car including the 1.8 Toyota powered Elises and Exiges) include the manufacturer showing that their cars will meet the as-new standards after 50K miles. It some what defeats these objectives if the ECU has subsequently be reprogrammed.
 
Alibaba99 said:
Cars with a standalone ECU would be easy though. Straight fail if unable to connect the diagnostic equipment to it.

As for the emissions targets, the work that manufacturers have to go through to homologate and certify a car against EU requirements goes way further than a quick check of the CO2 and NOx levels using an exhaust probe. A remap isn't going to meet those requirements.

The forthcoming Euro 6 requirements (which have killed many a car including the 1.8 Toyota powered Elises and Exiges) include the manufacturer showing that their cars will meet the as-new standards after 50K miles. It some what defeats these objectives if the ECU has subsequently be reprogrammed.
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But what about cars built before these emission standards? Ie you have an 3.2 L M3, you will never meet the emission targets regardless of ECU setup. I can only think this will be applied to cars built after a fixed date.
 
What a crock of ****. What would stop you leaving the diagnostic port connected to the original ecu in its own standalone box not connected to anything? It would always meet requirements then.

It wouldn't surprise me if they turned around and made cars older than 10 years old illegal.
 
mejinks said:
What a crock of ****. What would stop you leaving the diagnostic port connected to the original ecu in its own standalone box not connected to anything? It would always meet requirements then.

It wouldn't surprise me if they turned around and made cars older than 10 years old illegal.
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One of the requirements of OBDII is to record various engine and emissions parameters. Some one might get a touch suspicious that nothing has been recorded yet the car has obviously been driven.
 
Lopéz said:
Indeed, particularly as engine "chipping" is not illegal!
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Yup.

Lopéz said:
No PAS when PAS should be fitted is a fail (assuming the tester spots it) no matter how thoroughly you have removed it - same goes for removing anti roll bars and the servo.
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Some cars you really couldn't notice the difference with. :)

Lopéz said:
Doesn't mean thousands of cars won't pass anually with these mods mind you. Adjustable track control arms are also a failure but there are plenty of cars out there with them.
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Exactly.
 
Lopéz said:
Indeed, particularly as engine "chipping" is not illegal!
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It is in Germany though unless it's a manufacturer TUV approved job. These regs are trying to be Europe wide and regs are pretty lax compared to some.

Lopéz said:
No PAS when PAS should be fitted is a fail (assuming the tester spots it) no matter how thoroughly you have removed it - same goes for removing anti roll bars and the servo.
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I would have thought that spotting removed PAS is pretty easy, as apart from the Elise and Exige (now discontinued anyway) I cannot think of any full production cars without it.
 
The ECU thing has to be rubbish, there are many reasons for having a non standard map, kit cars, custom cars etc some times have to have a bespoke map to make them run properly, emmisions could be imporoved with a remap. -not to mention imports remapped for different fuel grades.

Its simply not within the remit of MOT as long as it passes emissions, insurance issue, yes but not MOT.

And surely it would be a nightmare for garages having to cope with the vast array of different ECU set ups, in terms of buying specialist equipment and understanding the algorithms and coding side of it..?
 
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andy_mk3 said:
+1

Perks of working at a garage :P
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So you would be willing to put at risk the ability for the garage you work at to actually be allowed to do MOT tests just so you could illegally pass a vehicle that shouldn't?
You've either got a very understanding boss who wouldn't hold such an event against you or you've seriously not thought through your "boast".
 
There are plenty of 'friendly' MOT places that are happy to let things like emissions slide for people that don't even work there, so I imagine an employee wouldn't have any problems :)
 
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