MOT Failure

[Big_Papa_T]

Not the best news that i've had today when my car failed it's MOT. It's going to end up costing me an arm and a leg! It failed for the following:
- both front anti-roll bar linkage has excessive play in a pin/bush.
- offside rear brake disc excessively pitted.
- Exhaust emissions Lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits.

I don't have a problem changing the anti-roll bar linkage and the rear discs, but i don't have the faintest idea about the emissions test. Can anyone explain in english what this means? Obviously i know it's due to high emissions but what does 'after 2nd fast idle' mean? I asked the guy at the garage about it but he was totally useless and told me maybe all it needed was a good drive before the test!
Any advice appreciated!

Cheers
Scott

[T5ER]

Not the best news that i've had today when my car failed it's MOT. It's going to end up costing me an arm and a leg! It failed for the following:
- both front anti-roll bar linkage has excessive play in a pin/bush.
- offside rear brake disc excessively pitted.
- Exhaust emissions Lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits.

I don't have a problem changing the anti-roll bar linkage and the rear discs, but i don't have the faintest idea about the emissions test. Can anyone explain in english what this means? Obviously i know it's due to high emissions but what does 'after 2nd fast idle' mean? I asked the guy at the garage about it but he was totally useless and told me maybe all it needed was a good drive before the test!
Any advice appreciated!

Cheers
Scott

What he means is thrash it around for 20 mins b4 its M.O.T oh and take the air filter out(it helps)LOL

[BlackBeast]

- offside rear brake disc excessively pitted.

Awww crap, mines going to fail

[T5ER]

Awww crap, mines going to fail

get 2 put on asap

[BlackBeast]

I might take an angle grinder to them to get the lip off lol. Probably not my best idea that

[T5ER]

I might take an angle grinder to them to get the lip off lol. Probably not my best idea that

LOL get the carboard disc type that sits on a rubber backed pad and clean the whole disc

[st1t5]

I asked the guy at the garage about it but he was totally useless and told me maybe all it needed was a good drive before the test!

Dont you just love some mechanic's ..... bet they took your money quick enough though.

[abdul]

just give it a good drive before a retest

[firestorm]

also try some good quality fuel additive, when you run it, get the car warm, then run it at faily high revs in a lower gear, i normally go down the dual carriageway in third, doing 70-80 mph.

the second fast idle test was done, because the car failed the first, you get 2 chances, with a 180min 'warm' up time in-between, but this is done at fast idle (between 2000-3000rpm), with the car in the workshop. When it's being driven, it clears the exhaust system better.

worst of all, it looks like you may need a new lamda sensor, the limit is only 0.97-1.03, fairly tight!!! sounds like the cat will be ok.

[dreadly]

Yea, I would agree with Firestorm, did they give you a Lambda reading?
A good thrash in second gear will clean things up, but you probably need a new Lambda sensor.
If you thrash your car, you probably wouldn't have pitted rear brakes, so I suspect a damn good thrashing will make sure you meet lambda.
If it's way out, then it is the CAT.
Take it somewhere else for the re-test, just to be sure.

[Big_Papa_T]

Ok cheers for the advice!
Maybe i should have added that my engine management light came on last week. Is it a possibility that this may be due to a faulty lambda sensor? If so how much does one of these usually cost?
I'll get it booked into Volvo tomorrow to get my codes read out anyway!

[dreadly]

Anywhere between £20 and £180 - Try an get a platinum one.

The fault code should be helpfull though, as long as the code isn't 'Emmisions' - Lol...

Be aware that the Lambda sensor could well be rusted solid into the exaust, if volvo give you a good price, get them to do it...

[firestorm]

how did t go mate?

[Big_Papa_T]

I tried the fuel additive and gave it a good hard run before the retest but it still failed. I managed to get the fault codes read out today for £20 which wasn't bad at all. As was previously mentioned the front lambda sensor is knackered! It was also reading an engine controller failure but the mechanic reckoned that this is probably due to the sensor sending weird readings to the ECU and will probably clear after fitting the new oxygen sensor!
I've had a price of £59+vat for a new one. Is this reasonable? I've did a fair bit of searching but can't find it any cheaper.
Out of interest does anyone know of anywhere that is cheaper or does anyone have a 2nd hand one lying about?

[volvotuning]

Make sure it's the correct Bosch sensor and not a cheap generic one, else you'll keep having problems.

Adam.

[wright_t5]

I second that thought, I had a sensor problem with my 850, bought a cheap sensor, lasted a week and had problems, bought a genuine Volvo one, no problems at all.....