MOT Tester - how will you check for dpf?

[Stroller133]

Sorry if this has been asked already. Do we have any testers here that will know how to tell if a dpf is removed?

As far as I know most people cut the box, remove filter and weld back up - will mot involve cutting it open to check?

[Cheggers]

Do they even care, providing the emissions are OK??

 

 

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[Pillock]

Cheggers: Yes, since missing DPF is now a specific fail. 

 

Disclaimer: I ARE NOT MOT MAN

However, I've read the press release and it suggests that it's a visual check for both the canister, and the EML being off. Most DPF removal services will also reprogram the ECU since the car will sulk otherwise, so the EML won't be illuminated hence as long as your emissions are OK, it'll pass. The wordy bit from the ministry says that "If a DPF/and or DCAT has been removed, then the vehicle will fail the test" but we all know the limitations.

 

They can't go tearing into your engine bay, that's all they can do.

 

https://mattersoftesting.blog.gov.uk/2014/01/27/inspecting-diesel-particulate-filters/

[Morgan84]

With so many cars having under-trays now, and engine top covers making component inspection not always possible, I'm not going to know, and also I don't have x-ray vision either to see if its been removed and had the guts bashed out of it. To those of us who do test, up until now on diesels have we been scrutinising the exhaust system too closely enough to know if any we have already tested have been 'done' ? For me, it's been a case of is the system in good condition, mountings ok, any leaks and anything to advise - a quick walk from front to back with my torch lasting a few seconds, before then concentrating on important items like brakes, steering and suspension

[Stroller133]

With regards to light on dash, what's the new situation? In my car the universal yellow engine symbol light is off. However on the info text display I have a message saying "steering assist failure" that puts on a little plain yellow led and a second message "engine systems fault" with a red led. Ideally I want these fixed but the car runs well and Internet searches suggest the faults are seen as blank cheques by dealers where they fix it by trial and error with the owner paying for the research!

[Albert Ross]

Who is going to tell me it was fitted from new from the factory? Until that happens, like said above, things will carry on as normal. I am keen to uphold the rules, but cannot simply guess if something is fitted or not before I venture underneath it. As a tester I am asked to identify a vehicle prior to inspecting it. One of the choices to go through is whether it has DPF or not. How the hell do I know? Customers/owners/presenters neither know nor care.

[saucedoctor]

I was told categorically by an man at the MOT Centre in Larne that they "don't give a fuck about EMLs or any non SRS/ABS stuff" as long as the vehicle is otherwise OK. That rings true, as I ran my mate's S Type up to the test, and the EML was on due to a duff o2 sensor. The emissions were ok and the Jaaaaag passed.

[Pillock]

There's already an adequate system in place to know if it's going to suffocate kittens, which is the emissions test. 

I don't know the reasons for the new additions, but it seems neither popular with testers nor necessary. Part of me wonders if it's through pressure from motor manufacturers who are losing the not-insignificant sum it costs to renew the DPFs and the mysterious fluids on some motors every few years. I think on my Focus it's three hundred quid for a DPF, 80 quid for the fluid that goes with it (which apparently is a variation on AdBlue) and then half an hours labour to reset the ECU.

[oldford]

Visual inspection for me, of the exhaust, pressure sensors and tailpipe, that along with the smoke test result would give me a clue.  As to whether the car had one fitted from the factory is dependent on the data on the vehicle specific information, which tends to be quite specific about nothing.

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

[Morgan84]

I was told categorically by an man at the MOT Centre in Larne that they "don't give a fuck about EMLs or any non SRS/ABS stuff" as long as the vehicle is otherwise OK. That rings true, as I ran my mate's S Type up to the test, and the EML was on due to a duff o2 sensor. The emissions were ok and the Jaaaaag passed.

Yes, EML light isn't a MOT item at the present

[Stroller133]

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On some diesels that seems to be true!

Mine passed the smoke test ok, even though the next day it went into limp mode as the remap wasn't done yet. I've followed it and it does have the occasional puff of smoke under acceleration though.

[twosmoke300]

I expect that when the tester logs the car on it will tell him if it has a dpf or not

[saucedoctor]

My W221 S350s, both of them, went through insane amounts of AdBlue. You had to fill a tank in the boot which held 21 litres or so. Isaac Agnew Mercedes told me, unofficially of course, to "drive it a bit harder and it'll use less".

[dieselnutjob]

I expect that when the tester logs the car on it will tell him if it has a dpf or not

 

This will be interesting with my 607.

It was one of the very first cars to have a DPF, and being an X reg the government don't even know its CO2 emissions so it is on a fixed rate tax disc.

[Albert Ross]

"The Tester" being me. Quite often we get first time tests in, and this means we get a blank canvas. Some details are known, but we have to fill in the fine touches. Trim level, seating capacity, colour, and also identify if a DPF is fitted, it seems. Until I get underneath it, I don't know if it has one. A lot of early cars had them as options, (or indeed as a "non"option..) where you had to specifically ask for it to not have one... and it entered a different excise licence value bracket. If a DPF equipped vehicle hasn't got one, I suspect the presenter or owner will be getting a letter from HM Government asking where the remainder of the Licence fund is.... It's going to happen... you read it here first. Of course this could just be conjecture/bollocks.

[dieselnutjob]

are you saying that dvla don't know if mine has a DPF and that if I present the car this year without one then it will never need one?

[Micrashed]

DNJ - as your VED isnt based on your emissions (you say)  then I dont see why yours would make any difference whether fitted or not.

 

The C8 was one of the "non option" ones whereby in exchange for a higher VED we have no DPT (or FAP as the froggies call it). Compared with the Vauxhall we had that did have a DPF its much more preferable...

[saucedoctor]

From this month's Professional Motor Mechanic

GIGANTIC picture incoming.
 

 

 

[Richard]

Would removing the DPF not increase mpg and therefore reduce CO2 emissions?

[tooSavvy]

... as a non-dizzler (well, personally/my expense) I find this kitten killing crusade totally 'somewhere out there - in a Galaxy [other dizzlers available] far, far - but not quite FAR enough away !!!

 

This $hite is incredible... and handcuffs/grab lorry thrown in

 

 

.... don't have a dog, in Wales, and use an 'electronic discipline' collar either  

 

 

TS

[robinmasters]

 

 

...it is an offence...to use a vehicle which has been modified in such a way that it no longer complies with the air pollution standards it was designed to meet...

 

That could be construed as applying to US imports with the anti-smog stuff taken off.