Had new front pipe with Sports Cat fitted last April 2018 by Tony Banks , and the EPC light came on shortly after.

Spoke to TB and he mentioned getting the fault code remapped off which I did.

 

Friday submitted car for MOT and it failed for fast idle co2 emissions, recorded 0.22 on 1st run , 0.21 on 2nd, limit is 0.2!

Returning tomorrow to TB to hopefully  have the Sport Cat replaced under warranty. 

 

Just wondering if I'm not doing enough mileage , this last year averaged a about 200 miles per week, with some spells of aggressive acceleration.

Includes less than 50 motorway miles

 

Should I request a standard Cat?

Would this low mileage invalidate the warranty as unreasonable loading for a Sport Cat.

 

regards

 

Ken

 

Edited 10 February, 20197 yr by Kenrw8

try changing oil & fuel maybe? 

Thanks kobaysha great idea.

 

It was in for full service plus MOT, service was done first then test drive, garage knew of sports cat and want it hot before MOT.

 

Fuel I all ways use Tesco Ultimun

Edited 10 February, 20197 yr by Kenrw8

3 hours ago, Kenrw8 said:

Had new front pipe with Sports Cat fitted last April 2018 by Tony Banks , and the EPC light came on shortly after.

Spoke to TB and he mentioned getting the fault code remapped off which I did.

 

Friday submitted car for MOT and it failed for fast idle co2 emissions, recorded 0.22 on 1st run , 0.21 on 2nd, limit is 0.2!

Returning tomorrow to TB to hopefully  have the Sport Cat replaced under warranty. 

 

 

 

You were sold a pup, and EPC was trying to tell you so, but to map it off is both stupid and illegal.

 

You need a CAT that works instead of a pretend CAT, good luck with getting it replaced under warranty.

?

What kind of Full Service did you get, one that was like changing Spark Plugs, Fuel Filter & Air Filter and checking the ECU / Diagnostic check 

or less than that.

Would a Oil & Filter change done yourself not have been a better idea?

 

Tesco sell 'Momentum 99'.  

Yes meant Tesco momentum.

I have a service contract with local VAG specialist for annually alternating a 9000 and 18000 mile services to Skoda service schedule. And this one was an 18000 mile that meant changing spark plugs, oil, fuel and air filter, checking ECU/diagnostic check, coolant/anti freeze check, brake fluid check, greasing door hinges but no remapping back to OEM.

Does not include out of service parts such as pads, wipers, bulbs etc.

Xman, 

 

Based on his reputation I thought using Tony Banks in Leeds was a good choice.

 

Obviously you can't go with a repetuable supplier.

Will have a go to get under warranty and complain to the Longlife franchise which he trades under. 

 

:(

Will be getting ECU change unmapped.

Edited 10 February, 20197 yr by Kenrw8

Tony Banks does great work.

So what Remap have you got, and do you run OEM plugs at the standard gap and OEM Ignition coils?

Got remap by unicorn developments back in 2016, it's balanced map not got the max.

Plugs , coils and gap are OEM.

Previous 2018 MOT fitted OEM down pipe and cat had co2 reading as 0. That again Feb last prior to April fitting of stainless down pipe and sports cat by Tony Banks.

Tbh I'm expecting TB not to warranty replacement.

But am doubting whether my 10-12k use with low mway miles warrants having a sports cat. I did mention mileage to TB and he said it would fine, as he also suggested the warning map out which I'm considering as being ill advised.

 

Edited 10 February, 20197 yr by Kenrw8

Dunno what sports cat means, unless you mean straight through pipe...

The difference seems so small, I would have thought a good run after using a cleaner, such as cataclean, usually from places like eurocarparts, etc, should clean up the emissions enough to scrape you through.  Use it twice a year, particularly prior to the MOT and all should be well. This brand was actually recommended by the two major breakdown services a few years back and was highlighted in a driving instructors magazine. 

It is NOT a cheap, but a quality cleanser, which kind of eliminates the use of higher grade fuels for standard engines, where you pay extra for every tankful. 

I have also heard of other cleaners that are highly espoused but that is what I use. The dedicated diesel version, in my case, as one version is for petrol and diesel).

 

Mrgf,

Thanks 

Irrespective of what TB do I'll also get cataclean treatment in leeds as a backdrop to pass MOT.

Arranged to be at TB for 8:30,  have a reMOT in in the afternoon when bak home.

Edited 10 February, 20197 yr by Kenrw8

The Cataclean, you need around 25% tank of fuel, add the mixture and drive for a good while, to run it through. Then carry on driving and fill up when needed. I would tend to try and drive at decent speed, (Dual carriageway) For most of that quarter tank of fuel, filling up again as late as possible so as to not dilute the cleaner and potentially waste it.

If you have used it before, you will understand but the instructions are childs-play, anyway!

 

Best of luck and hope its enough. It does profess to reduce the emmisions by quite some degree!

I have have a 70 mile journey back from Leeds so that's probably enough

 

...Easily!

At Tony Banks and they're going to fit a secondary cat and add cataclean.

 

A secondary cat ? it's not a V8 !!....

 

their "sports" cat is not up to the job or it's faulty.....why would another be any better ? adding another will just reduce "performance" in my opinion

 

Adding cats to overcome an overfuelling tuning map and a cat that cannot cope is just trying to polish a turd.

 

 

Asking a CAT to perform its job at fast idle isn't asking for much.

 

They should rename the product from Sportscat to Nocat.

 

 

Not wanting to insult anyone but to inform other members

Basically Catalytic converters come in 4 sizes measured in cells per inch 400 for standard , 200 for known as Sports , having cell size twice as big as standard for less restricted flow and 100 for known as Racing , having cell size four times larger than standard for even less restricted flow. All Cats are coated ceramic honeycomb to remove the emissions they come in differing physicals sizes depending engine capacity and power and exhaust pipe diameter, 

 

According to Tony Banks they've fitted a 200 cell capable up to a 3 litre / 400+ hp engine of a high quality manufacture, only TB knows if this true and may well not be the case and maybe overcharging for a lower quality product. this may well be hard to prove and could be innuendo. They've fitted a second cat after the 2nd sensor believing that what the first cat does catch the second will as it means I have the equivalent of cell surface area of a standard 400 cell cat ( 2x 200 cell) assuming that they are both the same diameter as a 400.

 

As the car was ok with a standard cat the last MOT after which I changed to a Sport cat which manifested a 2nd sensor error which I subsequent had mapped out as suggested by TB.

 

I've requested the mapper to

1. fix the fact that the VAG specialist Garage I use say that they've got 3 (one being an OEM VAG) diagnosis software and they cannot read any ECU live data (rpm, power, timings etc

2. revert back to the original map , ie return the 2nd sensor to default coding. 

3. may even request reverting back the the oem map

 

Once back to a base line hope the garage can suggest what action is required to correct the emissions error, replace 2nd sensor, revert back to standard 400 cell cat

 

Things point to the ECU map but have been masked by the physical cat change and error map out 

 

Ken

Thanks for the info....

 

But regarding your situation

 

it does not make sense what they are saying... If a 200 cell cat can cope with 3 litres (which will throw out loads more than a 1.4) then they themselves are doubting their own product in the fact they want to fit a second cat......it makes no sense.

 

Yes the "sport" cat may well have a better gas flow through it,,,but your adding a second one which will restrict / slow the flow again, regardless of the fact it has a bigger flow rate because the gas flow now has to pass through 2.

 

The course of action "should" be, either "fix" the tune to reduce emissions which is not easy, on the flip side it's easy to "mask"......OR put the standard map back in and check emmisions with the sport cat fitted, if it passes, it again points to excessive overfuelling of the engine (which is basically what a map / tune is) and it needs addressing.

 

Unfortunately there is to many people / companies out there that think they are good tuning companies and arm themselves with a laptop and program and away they go. Manufacturers spend millions and an immense amount of time tuning engines and these "people" think they can simply tweak them to make the car that much better, often with downsides elsewhere.

 

If VAG offered a "tune" / "upgrade" for this engine, then it's the only one my ECU would ever get.

 

 

Edited 11 February, 20197 yr by UrbanPanzer

not sure what the nominal baseline is for those that pass the emission test (same engine), but you are only 5% out by achieving 0.21 and you need 0.20 (or less)

Surely this can be done with good new oil, some filter changes, a good run and maybe some cataclean fluid.

 

 

Edit : Had you passed without issue... you would not be considering all these extra complicated 'fixes' if it was an advisory..

 

Edited 12 February, 20197 yr by Kobayashi

Well I took the car to another MOT test station for just emissions and their got a pass result. Their result is just in limit at 0.19 so Im going to take that back to my garage. If they say it fails on their test rig I'll get the MOT from the other place. The tank has a fuel additive in which must have helped. For next year I'll get emissions test results about a month before the MOT.

 

The UK emissions tests are not hard to pass ( my petrol car last year was 0.02% ) even with a pass at 0.19 I would want to investigate why it is so high. 

On ‎10‎/‎02‎/‎2019 at 11:13, Kenrw8 said:

it failed for fast idle co2 emissions

Just for info; no it didn't. It failed on CO emissions, which is quite different.

MOT doesn't care at all about CO2 emissions

The reason it failed was either the lack of catalyst material (mainly platinum but other precious metals too) in the cells, or it was poisoned (usually due to sulphur or additives such as MMT octane booster neither of which exist in stock UK petrol). Or poisoned by engine oil passing through.

 

Most likely story its a cheap aftermarket cat with minimal precious metal content.

 

Once a cat is up to temperature, virtually all CO is converted to CO2, at idle speeds it should be a walk in the park. 0.2% is very generous indeed.

Got quoted £1070 excludes fitting for OEM exhaust. So bought a 3rd party type approved exhaust and fitted for third of oem.

Following day back to MOT and passed at 0% , which I'd got prior to fitting Sports cat.

So going to leave this exhaust on, probably lost iro 10-12hp, to probably 130hp, need to put back on Dyno.