MOT Changes 2018

[Tadhg Tiogar]

I don't have EML popping up on the diesel Bora, but it does flash the glow plug light because of the aftermarket LED tail light clusters that I fitted some years back.

[Dick Cheeseburger]

The whole brake fluid thing - the tester isn’t allowed to remove the lid from the reservoir. If the reservoir has been coated in satin black then there’ll be no way of checking, I’d assume. Having said all that, if you knowingly drive around with minging brake fluid, you deserve the wrath of the nearest smiter tbh.

[Kiltox]

The whole brake fluid thing - the tester isn’t allowed to remove the lid from the reservoir. If the reservoir has been coated in satin black then there’ll be no way of checking, I’d assume. Having said all that, if you knowingly drive around with minging brake fluid, you deserve the wrath of the nearest smiter tbh.

How does that work with the level check - unable to check due to being minging / painted so pass and advise?

[blackboilersuit]

Not entirely true.  Pre 1st Sept '75 is a visual check only (most of my fleet fall into this category), so if your MGB really does smoke a lot it will be down to the discretion of the tester.

 

Doesn't matter after May 2018 as anything that old will be MOT exempt. 

[SiC]

Doesn't stop you getting an MOT though. I will probably will do on mine. I imagine it'll become a selling point too.

 

I have noticed that everything tax exempt has risen a bit. Even lowly and scrapyard stuff. My wonderings is because of the MOT exemption is helping a lot.

[Sigmund Fraud]

My wonderings is because of the MOT exemption is helping a lot.

 

See the bright* side... The infamous phrase "will definitely pass an MoT" will disappear from ebay auctions, to be replaced by "road legal* as MoT exempt" !

 

[sierraman]

Some tyres on that and its ready* for the road.

[mercrocker]

Except MOT exempt won't mean road legal!    Taxable, maybe, but that is all.   Mind you its been a very long time since I have seen the Ministry pull anything old.   Used to do it all the time near the docks - I think I had about half a dozen wave-downs in my old W123.

[wuvvum]

So what's the justification behind making the EML a failure then?  Everyone knows EMLs can illuminate for any reason or none at all (on my van the EML illuminates when the clocks drop to zero, which happens every so often and has fuck all to do with the engine).  Surely if the car is running OK and passes the emissions test, the EML being illuminated is neither here nor there?

 

Also,

 

Vehicles first used on or after 1 September 2002 fitted with a different engine must to tested to the requirements relating to the age of the vehicle.

That's that Pinto-engined Mk6 Transit I posted in the eBay thread fucked then...

[pilninggas]

Every LPG converted car Ive had has had the eml on for 02 FREAKOUT and all have passed emissions.

Guess theyll all fail and have to be scrapped now.

I had a Kia Clarus Taxi when I was teacher training.

 

It had a sloppy lpg conversion that would put the EML when the LTFTs went out. Unfortunately the extended local Taxi inspection and MOT included correct EML function with igntion on and then extinguish after.

 

I pulled the dash binnacle and wired with EML bulb to the ABS bulb, so they both came on, appeared to self-check and then go out. Kept the fucker going for taxi purposes.

[The Moog]

I think the EML will be to do with emissions - probably that if there is a running error it is unlikely to be at its most efficient.

[sierraman]

You need the EML to be out for 30 minutes while the test is going on, doesn't matter if it illuminates on the way home.

[Jim Bell]

I think the EML will be to do with emissions - probably that if there is a running error it is unlikely to be at its most efficient.

 

But running not at its most efficient can still pass the emissions, so they're testing the same thing twice, using vastly different parameters (presuming the eml on rule is concerned with emissions).

[dave21478]

Get Rich Quick idea..... Cobblers or SiC or somebody else that knows one end of a soldering iron from another should knock up a load of wee cheater modules - A circuit board that takes an ignition live feed and outputs a bulb or LED lighting up for 5 seconds each time the ignition comes on. Launch the original EML bulb and hot glue the new bulb in its place in the binnacle for infinite MOT passes.

 

Id buy that for a dollar. Or about a fiver.

[busmansholiday]

A few years ago when I had the XJ 40 the abs light was always on. With an MoT pending and no doubt a big repair bill I 'happened' to come across the fact that Maplins did a very cheap self assembly electronic kit that would turn on a light for a set period of time when energised. Obviously I did not* remove some abs relay and plug one of these into the terminals instead of it. Or forget* it was there for a couple of subsequent MoTs...

 

Edit VT27E. 7 quid

[Isaac Hunt]

Going to be a bit of a faff. We have a car in the family that has had a re-map and the EML is on. It is due to the post cat lambda. The car had been mapped before it came to us and I asked the 'mappers' about it and they said they now have the ability to 'map it out'.

 

I was going to try one of the adaptors that moves the sensors a bit further out the gass stream and thus means the sensors gets to pick up a weaker trace and thus returns a value that the ecu considers in range. Looks like I'm going to have to try it.

[mat_the_cat]

Every LPG converted car Ive had has had the eml on for 02 FREAKOUT and all have passed emissions.

 

In that case the LPG system hasn't been mapped correctly

 

Yep on the LPG front EML light has always been on on our RX300, you could argue it like the CAT removal on an LPG vehicle as part of the conversion and no longer required as it refers to the original ECU which is no longer controlling the fueling.

 

Not strictly true on any modern system - the LPG ECU intercepts the injection pulses from the petrol ECU and adds a 'fiddle factor' to that time to compensate for the different characteristics of LPG (including pressure and temperature (=density)). If that fiddle factor hasn't been mapped correctly, the LPG injection duration will be incorrect, and the lambda sensor will feedback to the original ECU that the fuel/air ratio is too rich or weak. The original ECU will be able to adjust its own injector duration (and therefore indirectly that of the gas ECU) within certain limits but if that's still not enough to give the correct ratio (or beyond what is deemed a 'normal' range), it'll throw on the EML.

 

It's not uncommon for the LPG installation to be rushed, as you really need to check the mapping over a range of engine loads and speeds, including during the warm-up period. So if the customer is waiting to collect their car, or has just gone for the cheapest install quote, there may be corners cut...

[Dave_Q]

Going to be a bit of a faff. We have a car in the family that has had a re-map and the EML is on. It is due to the post cat lambda. The car had been mapped before it came to us and I asked the 'mappers' about it and they said they now have the ability to 'map it out'.

 

I was going to try one of the adaptors that moves the sensors a bit further out the gass stream and thus means the sensors gets to pick up a weaker trace and thus returns a value that the ecu considers in range. Looks like I'm going to have to try it.

 

But those adaptors could also fall foul of the new rules where any obvious tampering to emissions shite is a fail.

[SiC]

Get Rich Quick idea..... Cobblers or SiC or somebody else that knows one end of a soldering iron from another should knock up a load of wee cheater modules - A circuit board that takes an ignition live feed and outputs a bulb or LED lighting up for 5 seconds each time the ignition comes on. Launch the original EML bulb and hot glue the new bulb in its place in the binnacle for infinite MOT passes.

 

Id buy that for a dollar. Or about a fiver.

That would be illegal as it could be classed as a defeat device. My skin is too tender and face too pretty for prison!

 

In some American states, they do emissions tests by plugging into the OBD port and checking for ready states + codes. If not clear then it'll fail the states smog checks. The ECU returns an ID and must be registered + approved. If not, the company manufacturing can get massive fines and the executives off to jail.

 

There is test and development tools made in the USA for OBD to pretend to be a ECU at the end. You have to sign a waiver and only be a registered company before they let you buy one. Even then I believe it will always throw a code so it can't be used as an emission OBD state defeat device.

[SiC]

Plus as pilingas said, it's easier, cheaper and quicker to just resolder it onto another light. Or a couple lines of code on an Arduino will do it too.

 

Pretty much:

int ledPin = 13;

void setup()
{
  pinMode(ledPin, OUTPUT);  
}

void loop()
{
  digitalWrite(ledPin, HIGH);
  delay(2000);
  digitalWrite(ledPin, LOW);   
  while(1);
}

If you wanted fancy, you could have it turn off a few seconds after starting:

int ledPin = 13;
int starterLine = 10;

void setup()
{
  pinMode(ledPin, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(starterLine, INPUT);
  // Set starter line to be pulled up, so can be used on a relay contact
  digitalWrite(starterLine, HIGH);
}

void loop()
{
  digitalWrite(ledPin, HIGH);
  while(digitalRead(starterLine) == HIGH);
  delay(2000);
  digitalWrite(ledPin, LOW);   
  while(1);
}

[Soap Distant]

On Mercs just rewire the bulb into the low washer fluid light. On for a period then off. Job done.

On others, meh, it's just a timer circuit, plenty on YouTube to solder up using discrete components. Stuff behind dash - sorted.

[AlabamaShrimp]

Well this is all very jolly but I think after reading this thread apart from the pointless checking of brake fluid it's all really about emissions and someone somewhere doing this so they get some figures so some other someone can spout some crap on telly/to some commission to say how green the UK is or something equally as shit.

[Rave]

Can't they just continue to test braking efficiency? What's the honest reason that dirty brake fluid would be an issue that's not picked up on the rollers?

 

I'm certainly no expert but I was under the impression that 'dirty' brake fluid has just absorbed too much water, in the main. That lowers its boiling point. The brakes will work more or less entirely normally until they get hot, say in a panic braking situation or if held on for long periods down a hill, at which point the fluid can boil behind the piston, with predictable effects on the force the piston then exerts on the pad. I've heard that old fluid is bad for seals as well, but that could be an old wives tale.

 

I must admit I'm not the most religious changer of brake fluid, a failing which I do mean to address sooner rather than later. On long hills if engine braking isn't cutting it I pulse brake to give the heat a chance to dissipate rather than dragging the brakes all the way down.

[Bren]

If people cannot recognise the flashing of a low oil level warning light they sure as shit would'nt know anything was amiss with their brakes until such time as their conveyance took residence in somebody's kitchen.

 

Personally I hate any resevoir that is so filthy you cannot see the level.

[Kiltox]

Plus as pilingas said, it's easier, cheaper and quicker to just resolder it onto another light. Or a couple lines of code on an Arduino will do it too.

 

Pretty much:

 

int ledPin = 13;

void setup()
{
  pinMode(ledPin, OUTPUT);  
}

void loop()
{
  digitalWrite(ledPin, HIGH);
  delay(2000);
  digitalWrite(ledPin, LOW);   
  while(1);
}

If you wanted fancy, you could have it turn off a few seconds after starting:

int ledPin = 13;
int starterLine = 10;

void setup()
{
  pinMode(ledPin, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(starterLine, INPUT);
  // Set starter line to be pulled up, so can be used on a relay contact
  digitalWrite(starterLine, HIGH);
}

void loop()
{
  digitalWrite(ledPin, HIGH);
  while(digitalRead(starterLine) == HIGH);
  delay(2000);
  digitalWrite(ledPin, LOW);   
  while(1);
}

Surely a 555 timer would be the cheapest option if you wanted to add circuitry

[twosmoke300]

Or maybe just fix the fucking thing ? Jeez !

[HH-R]

Aye.

 

Is the EML a big problem for most folk? I've had loads of aging motors with an ECU and with the exception of that POS blue Panda, none of them have ever flagged a fault.

[Jim Bell]

Ive had cars that have flagged a fault, change the part, eml stays on. Reset light, eml comes back on. Change other parts in the hope that will please the light. No joy. Car runs fine throughout, passes mots with emmisions.

Doesnt make much difference if its just a light but an mot fail?

Wont people just scrap low value cars if the eml is on with a vauge emissions related code?

 

*Sucks through teeth* well sir, it might be the cat, might be you 02 sensors, or your maf, or something else. Parts and labour is probably come out at more than the cars worth and I still cant garuntee that the light will go out.

 

Best of scraping it m8

[puddlethumper]

Yeehaa!!!  No EML, EMU, ECU or any other shiz on my buggy.

 

I'm not 100% sure what they are, never having had them.

[twosmoke300]

Ive had cars that have flagged a fault, change the part, eml stays on. Reset light, eml comes back on. Change other parts in the hope that will please the light. No joy. Car runs fine throughout, passes mots with emmisions.

Doesnt make much difference if its just a light but an mot fail?

Wont people just scrap low value cara if the eml us on with a vauge emissions related code?

 

*Sucks through teeth* well sir, it might be the cat, might be you 02 sensors, or your maf, or something else. Parts and labour is probably come out at more than the cars worth and I still cant garuntee that the light will go out.

 

Best of scraping it m8

 

Fault codes dont always tell you which part to change. Need to be diagnosed properly . Quick plug ins are not diagnostics. The only one thats a pita is the P0420 cat efficiency code which jap cars love to flag up . Still as clean as a pin on the emissions test but cat isnt quite as good as it should be. However it will take 50 odd miles to come back on so just reset before test. 

 

When i was learning my old boss would always say "prove it " when I said a part was faulty .