Sadly the Focus failed its MoT today and was surprised to find it was on the emissions.

I asked the (very experienced) tester if he thought it was most likely the Cat converter (car now 12 years old/about 85K miles but he suggested not.

The reason he gave was that it passed the natural idle test and only just failed the second fast idle test. Was told to go buy and use a fuel additive and come back in the morning for a retest.

I've chosen the Wynn's pre-MoT emissions product and will drive some motorway miles before the re-test.

What do you guys think?

4 minutes ago, RayC333 said:

and will drive some motorway miles before the re-test.

What do you guys think?

I think you're a very brave man to take a 1.0 ecoboom out on to a motorway 🤣

Good luck with the retest 👍

5 minutes ago, unofix said:

I think you're a very brave man to take a 1.0 ecoboom out on to a motorway 🤣

Good luck with the retest 👍

Have seen half a dozen wet-belters on the motorway hard shoulders recently. I wonder why 😉 Not to worry though, I have home recovery cover

always do an italian tune-up before any test, especially if you've just been plodding about town. Also every few tanks add shell premium.

2 minutes ago, Steve said:

especially if you've just been plodding about town. Also every few tanks add shell premium.

Only gets used once or twice a week plus I rarely take it over 3000rpm. Have put some BP synergy petrol in with the Wynn's.

Will give the engine a good workout tomorrow and report back.

24 minutes ago, RayC333 said:

I have home recovery cover

Just remember that the likes of AA and RAC won't help you unless your car has a current valid MOT 🤔

Just now, unofix said:

Just remember that the likes of AA and RAC won't help you unless your car has a current valid MOT 🤔

very good point 👍

3 minutes ago, unofix said:

Just remember that the likes of AA and RAC won't help you unless your car has a current valid MOT 🤔

I'll be taking the long route to an official re-test 😁

4 minutes ago, unofix said:

Just remember that the likes of AA and RAC won't help you unless your car has a current valid MOT 🤔

An acquaintance of mine crashed this week.  Old MOT technically still valid, but had failed an 'early' MOT few days ago.  Waiting to see if the insurance will still be valid.

 

19 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

Old MOT technically still valid, but had failed an 'early' MOT few days ago. 

Is that still the case Tom. I thought that once a car failed an MOT it automatically cancelled any unused time left on on the old MOT.

The example given was that if a car came in with absolutely no brakes and failed, would it still be allowed on the road because it still had 10 days left on the old MOT ?

+++EDIT+++

Just found this info, so it looks like the previous MOT is kind of still valid, but so is the current 'Fail'

An MOT certificate is valid until the date of expiry, and a new test will not invalidate the current MOT certificate. If your customer chooses to have the vehicle retested and it fails the existing certificate will still be valid.

However, following the computerisation of the MOT test a "Fail" result will be recorded on the online DVLA database together with the "Pass" test result, and therefore a search on the DVLA data base will show both a pass and a fail result.

The ANPR system operated by the police is likely to draw the Police Officer’s attention to the MOT history and if checked the officer would see a "Fail". The Police Officer is almost certain to pull the vehicle over and check whether any repairs have been undertaken. If the repairs have not been completed the car is therefore not roadworthy and your customer is likely to be prosecuted.
 

The problem is the term 'roadworthy' doesn't directly link to an MOT, for insurance at least.

A car with 6 months MOT left could have picked up a dangerous defect.

A car that failed MOT on something like emissions couldn't really be considered dangerous.

I have personally seen the Wynn's additive make an old mechanical diesel engine pass an emissions test.

It went from failing badly to passing easily after 20 minutes fast idling outside the garage with the Wynn's poured into the tank.

As for the MOT being invalid, as far as I know that is only if it is a so-called dangerous fault, which emissions is not.

Since the new rules came in, to me it makes sense to pay for a Pre-MOT check. It will cost more, but you can sort any faults in your own time while still being able to use the car.

Having used the Wynns, enjoyed an Italian tune-up, evaded the law with no accidents or breakdowns, I took the car for it's MoT re-test this morning.

And the good news is it passed!

ps. The car drives really well, impressive acceleration for a 1.0, handles great. Ecobooms arn't all bad after all 😄