Hi guys, a friend of mine has taken his 94 wrx wagon for a mot this morning and it has failed on the cat emissions, the car is virtually standard and still has the cat/downpipe fitted.

I have been out of the scoob scene for a while but thought that a 94 import comes under the 'no cat' test?

have the mot rules changed? is it a case of 'if a cat is fitted it has to work'?

or is the mot tester just a bellend?


(I'll have a look at the mot paper tonight)

 

was the engine / zorst up to temp beforehand or had it been sat parked up?

 

was probably too cold as the car was left there for them to test.

but at the moment am more concerned whether the cat has to be tested or not as it never used to be.

 

I believe it is now! It should be tested for the year of manafacture. 1994 a bet test is required. Unless he has a letter from the manafacturer to say its an import and no designed to meet uk emission regulations.

 

thanks, can anyone else confirm that?


I'll update later with the emission results.

 

You can check your self on the vosa website and looking in the testing nanual. That's what testers have to go by. It's readily available to the public for this precise reason!

http://www.transportoffice.gov.uk/cr...sandguides.htm

 

It was doomed to fail then imo

 

thanks, I'll check it out.

 

what, even if it was meant to go through a no cat test?

 

should be non cat test acording to the link below , unless it has changed this year? ,

when i used to have a 95 wrx , car always failed because of decat , but printed this page off so they would do non cat test,


edit: link doesn't go straight to page but its - 7.3 Exhaust Emissions - Spark Ignition - Passenger Cars 1 August 1992 to 31 August 2002

http://www.transportoffice.gov.uk/cr...sandguides.htm

 

thanks mate, just read that now.


according to it if the the exact car in question cannot be found on the analyser database then a non cat test is to be performed.


I'm sure this was the issue years ago, so guessing that it should still be a non cat test but without having access to the analyser database then I cannot be sure.


Anyone know if the early imports have been added to the database yet?

 

heres a link to the page in question for others.

http://www.dft.gov.uk/vosa/repositor...01992-2002.pdf

 

well I'm guessing the vosa online database would be upto date?

here
http://www.dft.gov.uk/vosa/inservice...advehicles.htm


car in question is not on that database so therefore fits the 'non cat test'




So to sum things up, the mot tester was indeed a bellend.

 

Wording from the test manual,

A personal import must be tested according to its date of first use. *The only exemption to this is if the vehicle owner can present to the tester at time of test a letter from the vehicle manufacturer stating that the particular engine as originally installed could not meet the equivalent British emission standards. * If this is the case, then test to the next lower emission standard. e.g. A 1995 car first used in Africa has a letter from the engine manufacturer stating that the particular engine (engine number to be stated) cannot meet Catalyst emission limits, then use the pre cat limits of CO 3.5%, HC 1200ppm.*

 

how far out was it is it kept serviced (plugs oil air filter) try a fuel cleaner with GOOD fuel and a good thrash down the road ud b supriesed with results mate