MOT Fail.. cry ..

Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2009 2:30 pm

Arse

CV joint gaitor split, Mcpherson strut leaking, 1 tyre below tread because of this. 2 brake pipes needed, rear brake in-effective, and high co2 on fast idle.

Im chaning spark plugs, air filter, oil and o2 sensor to see if that will squek emmisions through, not holding much hope though.

Is it possible that because im burning a bit of oil ( suspected valve stem oil seals) it could be blocking cat sending silly signal back and using more petrol than needed, and / or cat cream crackered because of this.

Im guessing its going to be head overhaul time, and new cat.. Sad

I lobbed some forte injector stuff in about 2 weeks ago. Also didnt have super unleaded in. I think I will add some super Uleaded in there for its re-check. Any other idea's tips..

fast idle:
co 1.12% fail
hc 0130ppm Pass
lamda 1.037 fail

second attempt

co 0.89% fail
HC 0070ppm pass
lambda 1.026 pass

natural idle 0.20 pass

Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2009 3:13 pm

have you tried the highly technical test of hitting the cat with a hammer to see if it sounds knackered? hollow, rattly sound = dead and solid ringing = good. Not totally sure about what else to do to try and sneak it through but a recent thread (can't remember if it was here or s2forum) suggested taking the car a good run before having it tested so it's warm. can't remember the science behind it but i'll try to find the link.
If your lambda needs changing it's quite possible it's sending a bad signal to the ECU and affecting the mix. Def worth changing anyway if it hasn't be done before (or in a long time).

Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2009 3:29 pm

took it for a whizz about before i got it tested. Looks like it's either going to have to have a overhaul, or try and get shot of and get my mitts on a another cheap coupe. Problem is I need my car for work, and i have no holidays until last week in january. Which I would need to get to a car as I live in the middle of nowhere.

Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2009 3:41 pm

so either way you'll need time to either fix the issues or buy another car? Problem is you'll not get much if you get rid of it without MOT. what year/engine etc is it?

Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2009 4:28 pm

get some ethanol in the tank, makes them clean as a whistle for the test Wink

Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2009 4:54 pm

haha. there you go. one problem sorted. what kind of measurements are we talking here? change your spare for your low tread one.. 2 problems sorted. Very Happy

Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2009 5:39 pm

by what u sed in ya readings for ya mot failure good chance ya lambda could be bad. fi ya car was made before august 1992 it dosent need a cat so jus do what i did n have it de-catted it allot chaper n u get so much more power. good luck

Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2009 10:26 pm

k reg 2.0e engine. First registered aug 10th or something 1992. It'll be worth overhauling as you say, without an mot I aint gonna get nowt much, but with MOT at least id get back what I spend doing it up. But then I'd want to keep it Very Happy

Bodywork is in very good condition.

I think Im going to hold in there with this one. Maybe if something catches my eye in the future I'll put the feelers out on selling it.

Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2009 10:46 pm

glad to hear it. Very Happy

Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2009 11:01 pm

Yes

Cant scrap the old beast.

What would I get.

I like having a unique car, cant see myself in a ford or anything like that. And I like that VW feel. Well i would get a VW golf again, but the wife doesnt like them, apparently too square and too small/unsafe in a crash.

Only thing I have to do is persuade her to let me buy a donor coupe with leather interior. mmmm drool.

Yummy mirror finish Very Happy

except some berk has now dented that door Mad

That will be fixed as soon as I get my mitts on a new door tho.

Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2009 3:34 pm

That's a fine looking coupe mate. Let me know if you need any parts and i'll dig about and see if I can help with any of it.

Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2009 7:40 pm

looks sweet dez you cant get rid of it theres not enough coupes flying round the lakes Laughing

where was that pic taken i think i recognize the road but then again there is a lot of roads in the lakes that look identical Laughing

Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2009 9:56 am

Near Bassenthwaite, Keswick area. If you go up the hill theres a forest there. I think we were walking in there and thats the only place I could park.
I've only ever seen a red s2, a black s2, a 2.3 black coupe and a white 16v coupe up here. Plenty of saloons etc.

And yes once you get off the main roads all the roads do look the same. Some nice driving to be had though.

I'll be after a new damper. It's going into the garage tommorow so he can check emissions and see if changing bits and bobs has improved it. If not he can figure out if its the valve stem oil seals.
Rear brake, he is going to see if it can be free'd off, or if not I think they were about £30odd quid last time from local motor factor.

Ahh well.

Other bits should be cheap enough I hope. And at least with head overhauled I'll be able to get some more mileage out of the old beast.

Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2009 1:19 pm

theres quite a few forestsround there Wink

my nana lives in thornthwaite on the other side of bassenthwaite and yer there is some excellent roads best time is after 9pm when all polis are in town and hardly anybody on the roads.

after youve had all the work done it will be fine for at least another year maybe more and if you go looking for something else you might have more troubles.....better the devil you know and all that Wink

Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2009 9:12 pm

he had it on machine today got it to very close passable.
Going to change distributor cap and rotor arm, and try and advance the timing a touch. Also he said to bung about 3 bottles of some emission reducing stuff from partco.
He did say it could be an overfuelling issue. As it smells quite petroly when you smell the exhaust, as though it was on choke, or didnt have a cat.

Its an aftermarket cat, so im wondering if this could be causing me problems too.

So a question, is the ecu temp sender the 2 pin or 3 pin plug.? I always assumed it was the 2pin one because if you dis-conect the wire on the 3 pin one, the temp guage dies.

Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2009 9:56 pm

change the lambda straight away mate. duff lamda gives overfuelling and if it's not the sole problem it will most likely improve things anyway.

I don't understand the temp sender question. sorry Confused

Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2009 10:24 pm

already changed. doesnt pink now. Very Happy

although it could be down to super unleaded too.

Site Moderator Joined: Jan 31, 2003 Posts: 9144

ECU sender is 2 pin. normally at the rear of the cylinder head

Newbie Joined: Jan 07, 2009 Posts: 18

Dez

Your white coupe looks sweet! You should do what you can to keep it, especially if the mileage isn't too high!

I bet it's at least 15 years old, and look at that body work!

Posted: Tue Jan 13, 2009 6:29 pm

Thankyou Mikes2 Very Happy

Got one on order for tommorow, replaced dizzy cap and rotor arm too.

Got myself 3 bottles of emmisions controler, about £3.40 each, worth a shot.

Will let you know how I get on.

Posted: Tue Jan 13, 2009 8:15 pm

Is that the coolant temp sender Mike?

Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 6:02 pm

Still not low enough. Mad

Going to take it bad to orig MOT center and plead with him tommorow.

Fella said it is probarbly burning oil from valve stem oil seals and piston rings. I asked how much to do and he was wittering on about if they are in clearance, dont know if he really wants the ob or not.

Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 8:07 pm

really nice looking car.
You got to keep it......
What are those wheels?

Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 8:53 pm

have you a vag specialist in your area you can even phone and just ask about it?

Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 10:23 pm

no vag specialists about up here.

Wheels are RacingHart. Borbet c look a likes. Never seen them before, and even the borbet ones are hard to find theese days.

I dont mind spending up to about £700 on the engine work if it's going to be a1 again. What do you guys reckon. Do the piston rings arse up at 115k definatly burning oil when very hot, it was doing it stood at 3k revs in the mot place, not loads like a ford would spit out, but it was filling the garage up with crap and oily mist.
Does it need a compression test, garage man said it would need a wet test. Im assuming where you bung oil down the spark plug holes.

Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 10:27 pm

Yes i agree bodywork much too nice to scrap. Bloody engine is doing my plums in though. On my old astra which I moved from it was the other way round, all rusting but engine was amazing, think it was on about 130k when i got rid of it. Quiet as a mouse, no oil or water usage. weep Rolling Eyes

UltraUser Joined: Mar 18, 2005 Posts: 1570 Location: Gwent

I thought the ABK temp sender was on a platic pipe on the side of the head?

From another thread, post by beerbelly:

With regards to the two sender units on the flange.
The sender unit nearest to the engine is:
Part number 025 906 041 A
This is the temperature sensor for the electronic control unit.

The sender unit furthest from the engine is:
Part number 053 919 501 A
This is the temperature sender with switch.

Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2009 10:24 pm

The temp senders are indeed on a plastic pipe type housing.
Anyway took the old beast back to origional MOT man and it was passable. Very Happy

Yaaay, so getting rest of work done next wednesday.
Only thing which I was wondering about was that the place I got my suspension strut from only had gas filled ones, not oil filled ones. Hmmm.

Posted: Sun Jan 18, 2009 1:53 am

glad you got it sorted, was gonna say if you get stuck give me a pm if you want and il come and see if we can fix her up. if your wanting stuff like head gasket done or other jobs your not confident doing im only downt road just east of marra land Wink

Posted: Sun Jan 18, 2009 3:58 pm

Thanks Gompa. To be honest time is my biggest enemy, that and that i have to park out on a very thin road. So its hard to do suspension jobs etc.