2.0 TDI FR 170 continually failing emissions tests

Kiyoshi

Active Member
Jun 18, 2018
19
4
Can anyone explain possible causes for continually failing of the emissions tests during the MOT? My car was done last July and it was with the garage for 4 days whilst they tested & tested & tested the emissions after continual failures. They were apparently taking the car out (time and time again) to the nearest A road to 'razz' it, in the hope it would 'flush' out the system. I don't really know too much about this whole process and what possible causes there could be. Can someone help explain that?

It's up for the MOT again in July, but I'm nearing the point where I feel like trading it in for a MK3. I'm not sure whether to put it through another MOT and then save more money for a few months, or just get it traded in now before the MOT is due. Any thoughts?
 

R3k1355

Active Member
Oct 30, 2014
1,778
247
Yorkshire
Has it been remapped or had the DPF removed?

If you've got boost leaks from any of the intercooler hoses it'll smoke as well.
 

Deleted member 103408

Guest
Is it possible the previous owner had the DPF Removed and the other part that might cause issues has it been De Catted.

The other question is do you use the car for lots of short journeys might be work taking her out and getting the DPF to kick in a give a good clear out of the system
 

Compo1

Active Member
Jul 19, 2010
271
64
Dirty oil can cause emissions problems.

Change oil and filter, air and diesel filter and rag it to death before your drive in.

Running a couple of tanks of shell's finest through it wont hurt either.
 

Rusty2k

Active Member
May 12, 2013
709
131
Do you have the printouts from the smoke tester? It should be quite obvious if it's putting out enough smoke to fail the test though.

The CR engines don't have catalytic converters and the only emissions test the car should be getting is the smoke test.

My CR170 has always produced zero or almost-zero results on the smoke tester, possibly due to the rev limiter coming in at 2500 when it's in neutral (mine's a DSG - not sure if the neutral limiter is different on the manuals).
 
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Kiyoshi

Active Member
Jun 18, 2018
19
4
Is it possible the previous owner had the DPF Removed and the other part that might cause issues has it been De Catted.

The other question is do you use the car for lots of short journeys might be work taking her out and getting the DPF to kick in a give a good clear out of the system

Not sure about the previous owner, I bought it from a Seat dealer 10 years ago.

I do use the car for lots of small journeys, yes. I don't do many miles (6k-8k per year).
 

Kiyoshi

Active Member
Jun 18, 2018
19
4
Dirty oil can cause emissions problems.

Change oil and filter, air and diesel filter and rag it to death before your drive in.

Running a couple of tanks of shell's finest through it wont hurt either.

Ah that's good to know, cheers. Is it worth getting the service done to do all of that prior to the MOT? I usually get them done at the same time.
 

Kiyoshi

Active Member
Jun 18, 2018
19
4
Do you have the printouts from the smoke tester? It should be quite obvious if it's putting out enough smoke to fail the test though.

The CR engines don't have catalytic converters and the only emissions test the car should be getting is the smoke test.

My CR170 has always produced zero or almost-zero results on the smoke tester, possibly due to the rev limiter coming in at 2500 when it's in neutral (mine's a DSG - not sure if the neutral limiter is different on the manuals).

Yeah I've just taken a look at them. They provided 3 documents, 2 for the failures and then 1 showing an aborted test due to not registering a reading at all; which they put through as a pass. Apparently there were some other attempts that they didn't give me a printout for as well.

The first failed test printout shows 1.82m, the second shows 0.86m. As mentioned third shows as aborted.
 

Rusty2k

Active Member
May 12, 2013
709
131
Yeah I've just taken a look at them. They provided 3 documents, 2 for the failures and then 1 showing an aborted test due to not registering a reading at all; which they put through as a pass. Apparently there were some other attempts that they didn't give me a printout for as well.

The first failed test printout shows 1.82m, the second shows 0.86m. As mentioned third shows as aborted.

Hmm very odd... 0.86 should have been a pass.... 1.5 is the new limit that came into force with the stricter tests last year, unless the vehicle has a plate stating a different limit applies.

In fact, the limit is 3.0 for turbocharged diesels registered before 1 July 2008.

More info here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publi...or-mot-testers/diesel-vehicle-emission-limits

What's the date of registration for your car? It looks like it may not be a CR engine in yours looking at the post above about how long you've had it... I'm not sure where I got the impression from that it was as you haven't said. It's probably a PD engine thinking about it. They're a little worse on the smoke tests than the newer CR engines but not by a massive amount.
 
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Kiyoshi

Active Member
Jun 18, 2018
19
4
The car was registered January 2007.

I've just taken a look and the previous year's MOT (2017) smoke test document (which was a pass) came through at 0.84m with a max limit of 1.5m. The new failed documents (different garage) show the limit of 0.5m.
 

Kiyoshi

Active Member
Jun 18, 2018
19
4
I've just taken a look and the plate limit (on the plate under the bonnet) shows 0.5m. So reading online about the new regulations (i.e. if there is a plate limit to use that) it looks like the tester was correct to set the max at 0.5m.
 

Rusty2k

Active Member
May 12, 2013
709
131
Yeah - I've just been out to check my 2010 car which also has a limit of 0.5 on the plate, although the last test I had done they apparently couldn't find the plate value and have used the default value instead.
 

Kiyoshi

Active Member
Jun 18, 2018
19
4
Looking through some of my old MOT documents, I'd have failed every year since 2013 with a 0.5 limit.

This has me slightly worried for July, at this point.
 

chrisjgill

Active Member
Dec 13, 2007
411
19
Skipton
My 2010 CR has a 0.5 plate reading (although the recent MOT document shows 0.05)

I had a pass with an average reading showing 0.0

The oil temp was at 77 degrees

MOT was done in April just gone

Sent from my ONEPLUS A6003 using Tapatalk
 

Compo1

Active Member
Jul 19, 2010
271
64
With a pass rate so low id be cleaning out the EGR valve as well as a service before taking it in.

Look into carbon cleaning too . My local garage offer it and does a lot of cleans for Taxis drivers and seems to get them all through after the clean.
 

Sharpy

This place has cost me a fortune....
Oct 2, 2018
957
486
Mine runs very clean since only using shell v power diesel. It’s a PD, but just had a reading of 0.16, the lowest it’s ever had I believe.

Run a cleaner through and if you can a few tanks of vpower and some long runs. Should all help.


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R3k1355

Active Member
Oct 30, 2014
1,778
247
Yorkshire
A CR shouldn't be failing so bad, get a pressure test done on the air intake system to check for leaks.

It sounds like the garage have been trying to get the car to clear itself out without success so there might be something wrong that needs fixing first.
 

ThirdLeon

Active Member
I failed my mot on emissions yesterday.

The car is reading temperature wrong, permanently -40 so it's not getting the correct fuel mix. I'm hoping if I can solve this problem and then run some v power, Miller's injector cleaner and a good drive, it'll pass. Hopefully!
 

Compo1

Active Member
Jul 19, 2010
271
64
I failed my mot on emissions yesterday.

The car is reading temperature wrong, permanently -40 so it's not getting the correct fuel mix. I'm hoping if I can solve this problem and then run some v power, Miller's injector cleaner and a good drive, it'll pass. Hopefully!

So your starting with the temp sensor then.

On another note my old 08 PD170 FR was passed on to my son it passed its MOT today 0.1 on the dot. Plate value recorded as 0.5.
 
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