MOT emission Test

[Telf 224 2 Cars]

As the MOT place near me has reopened i thought id better get the car through its MOT. Not 100% convinced all insurers will honour the extended Covid MOTs!

 

Anyway it passed with no advisories.

 

As some of you may be aware I've been bitching about my car 'smelling of exhaust' for awhile and yet the emissions came back with the following result:

 

CO 1.30%      Limit 3.5%

HC 152ppm  Limit 1200ppm

 

So it would appear at idle I dont have an exhaust issue in terms of unburnt fuel etc.

 

Now I'm really confused!

 

I was gearing up to fit a Wideband Lambda sensor to the ECU to try and control the fueling a little tighter but i dunno if its worth it now. Thoughts ?

Anyone?!

 

 

 

 

[Tom Fenton 1,542]

Just because it is OK at idle means nothing for the rest of the rev range.

[Telf 224 2 Cars]

1 minute ago, Tom Fenton said:

Just because it is OK at idle means nothing for the rest of the rev range.

agreed Tom,

When i first moaned about this issue the car went back to Emerald and was rerun on the rolling road. According to their figures its ok. My sense of smell tells me otherwise, i guess thats the issue really

 

[Telf 224 2 Cars]

as ive said before with the windows up and the fan running its fine . perfectly acceptable to sit in. as soon as you crack a window or open the sunroof its not pleasent at all

 

[welshpug 1,661]

its an old car without a cat, what are you comparing it to/expecting?    is the smell coming in when driving?   not just sitting idling?

 

A wideband is about £150 and setting it up to work with the ecu is very straightforward, as long as the mapping is good.

[Telf 224 2 Cars]

3 minutes ago, welshpug said:

its an old car without a cat, what are you comparing it to/expecting? 

I'm comparing it to my 1.4 that i drove whilst the GTI was in bits, that didn't have this issue. Its when driving- not cabin seal related as i say when the windows are up its fine.

 

Id planned to buy Emeralds wideband kit- fit that activate it in the software and see what happens

[Zetec7 4]

You may find it by looking at the hatch seal 1st. Jags had to put the swan neck tail pipes on to cure it  & Jenson soft tops would kill you at 70 mph with neat exhaust coming back at you

[Telf 224 2 Cars]

31 minutes ago, Zetec7 said:

hatch seal

hatch seal? sorry I'm not following- what do you mean Clive?

 

[Gaz205 50]

Boot seal 

[Telf 224 2 Cars]

It's not any seal , they are all new. There is no fumes when the windows are closed

[PhilNW 44]

have a look at

the covers above the petrol pump and gauge

the rubber pipes in and out of the fuel pump

missing grommets and similar 

 

With the windows up the "cabin" is pressured, with the windows down outside air (and with it exhaust fumes) can get in via other routes,

 

A good while ago I had a similar problem with perished pipes to the fuel pump and was getting petrol smells in similar circumstances.  

Edited May 19, 2020 by PhilNW

[DamirGTI 342]

Can't remember from the previous thread , have you checked with a WB at what kind of mixture/lambda the engine runs across the entire rev range ? and particularly at the point where you start sensing the odor ..

 

Is there any evidence of oil burning ? (certain oil additives when burnt tend to make some of the weirdest exhaust smells , especially if that combines with fuel mixture being compromised/off too at the same time , then it often tends to be really nasty .. seem to notice this mostly on newer "low burn" engines though , as the piston rings or stem seals wear out blow-by gasses entering the inlet tract fools the ECU mixture control)

 

Is the exhaust 100% sealed up with no leaks ?

 

 

D

 

 

 

 

Edited May 19, 2020 by DamirGTI

[Telf 224 2 Cars]

23 hours ago, PhilNW said:

have a look at

the covers above the petrol pump and gauge

the rubber pipes in and out of the fuel pump

missing grommets and similar 

checked today, all new , no issues found. I taped over every possible entry point i could find, even put a foam seal down the handbrake cable tubes. no difference. bloody car

 

[Telf 224 2 Cars]

20 hours ago, DamirGTI said:

have you checked with a WB at what kind of mixture/lambda the engine runs across the entire rev range

yes emerald mapped it with a Wide band fitted.

20 hours ago, DamirGTI said:

point where you start sensing the odor

its always present

20 hours ago, DamirGTI said:

Is there any evidence of oil burning

no

20 hours ago, DamirGTI said:

as the piston rings or stem seals wear out blow-

again all new and only 4500 miles since build

 

20 hours ago, DamirGTI said:

Is the exhaust 100% sealed up with no leaks

yes as far as i can tell

 

[Telf 224 2 Cars]

i think the ECU just isn't reacting fast enough to control the fuel finely enough- i dont know if a Wide band would help. I forget what mapping regime they used- throttle position, RPM and load sites. Its got a specific name but i cant remember!

 

[DamirGTI 342]

Throttle based map right ? Alpha-N that'll be ..

 

Well , i would still plug the WB in and do a spin so that you can see for yourself and record whats happening with the mixture ... as something is bound to be wrong if it's smelling "funky" and WB will detect mixture errors . 

If Kieran has an WB probe , you two might try to do a spin with it connected , and see what happens while driving .

 

If it's not fueling , could be ignition ... like incomplete combustion ignition caused , that too can be seen with the WB stuffed in the exhaust .

 

Forgotten now this part too (getting a bit old now) , what it actually smells like ? like fuel rich or chemical sulfur like or something like so .. different than the "fuel rich" odor ?

 

 

D

 

 

 

 

[PhilNW 44]

To get a visual indication Can you get your hands on a smoke detector machine ?

[Telf 224 2 Cars]

The thing is it runs great , power delivery is spot on I think it just needs tighter control. Having spoken to one of the techs at Emerald he says fitting is easy , a couple of additions in the software tables but no rolling road really required . I'm thinking fitting their wideband kit may be the solution.

[Telf 224 2 Cars]

It's a riot to drive , but I want to cruise into Europe next summer without being gassed so I've gotta fix it

[welshpug 1,661]

their website says they are out of stock but an AEM from elsewhere works the same, uses the same sensor.

[Daniel306 12 1 Cars]

Iv fitted the Techedge to mine, its really easy

[Telf 224 2 Cars]

Small update, used some industrial plastic tape and taped up everywhere in the boot , under the rear seats etc that fumes might be pulled in from. No change.

 

Ferreted around the front this morning and found the steering rack seal not attached in any meaningful way. I wonder if this could be responsible? I dunno if this theory of the windows being down will draw fumes in? 

 

Any way 2 hours of sweating and swearing and I still havent got it refitted it's an absolute pig to fit!

[jackherer 543]

15 minutes ago, Telf said:

Ferreted around the front this morning and found the steering rack seal not attached in any meaningful way. I wonder if this could be responsible? I dunno if this theory of the windows being down will draw fumes in? 

If any of the bulkhead openings (steering column, wiring harness etc.) are leaking even a little bit you'll get all sorts of fumes in the cabin so that definitely needs to be sorted before you look at anything else. They are a bit of a fiddle to fit but if you've not managed it in 2 hours it must be worn out, what is the lip on it like?

 

17 hours ago, Telf said:

i think the ECU just isn't reacting fast enough to control the fuel finely enough

Your K3 is much newer and faster than my M3DK and mine is plenty fast enough even though my engine revs higher than yours!

 

How sure are you the exhaust is 100% sealed? With the amount of trouble I had sealing it up a while ago I'd double/triple check.

[Telf 224 2 Cars]

Steering rack seal fitted. No difference.

 

On 5/21/2020 at 6:23 AM, welshpug said:

their website says they are out of stock but an AEM from elsewhere works the same, uses the same sensor.

Mei. The wideband kit they have at Emerald includes a controller of some description . I looked at an alternate to the Emerald kit but couldn't find a suitable controller. Any ideas ?

Edited May 22, 2020 by Telf

[welshpug 1,661]

I use an AEM, has a gauge display which contains the controller, uses the same bosch sensor as emerald do, the newer type is the lsu4.9 sensor, which I think responds faster than the older 4.2.

 

came reccomend by sandy brown.