2012 MOT Regs, Decats etc

[chriswrc51]

Had a very brief look at the new MOT additions for 2012 earlier, a couple of bits on there that i was wondering how everyone is getting on with..

First one is Decats etc, it states all cars manufactured with a Cataltic convertor, must have one for the test or its a big fat fail..
are most people running cats? are we all going to have to get the so called sport cats? or are people just whackin the cat back in for the test and then swapping it back out later?

Id imagine its more of a problem for non standard cars, mine didnt have a cat, i guess its going to be an issue for anyone with a custom exhaust, will putting a cat in for the test mess with the mapping??

Second one is warning lights, it says all ABS and air bag lights must come on, and then go off as designed.. what happens to those who have no air bag? my car doesnt have its airbag, but cant remember if the light every even came on with the ignition..

Any thoughts???

Chris

[FletchCossie]

My car is a CAT car and I've never needed one for an MOT and it's never been mentioned with my Autronic ECU I'm sure it passed on emissions without the CAT anyway

As for airbags you can use a resistor or just bridge the bulb off another light that comes on with the ignition

[sixaxles]

my car failed its mot on emmisions last year as its got no cat - the trick is to know the tester well enough to allow you to use another car for that bit of the test as far as the air bag light - cant say as i've ever noticed it before.

[COZZFATHER]

well i think anyone who has no airbag and its after a cut off date is asking for a fail imo,my car has no airbag standard and as its a 1992 model legally does not need a cat so theres another few good reasons to have a 1992 big turbo !!!!!!!!!!

[mallard man]

Only applies to cars 92 on (iirc) mine had just failed had to buy a sports cat.

[COZZFATHER]

i remember clear as day that in 1993 ford motor comany had 92 cars with no cats stuck in fields unsold,the law was changed to 1993 so ford and others could sell the 92 pre cat cars.

i remember from when i had 1992 ford cars back in the day fail on emmissions due to no cat and telling the mot'er that they were looking at a late pre cat car so how can it pass when its never had one fitted,that always worked for sure,its just some mot'ers were not around when that little lot happened back in the 90's when most 92-93 cars were being mot'd

[the youth]

mine is a 1995 and it states "Cat test not required on the mot" lol
the beauty of owning an import lol

steve

[psygnosis]

mine is a 1995 and it states "Cat test not required on the mot" lol
the beauty of owning an import lol

steve

Lucky sod

[mikedaf2]

A removable cat is the answer, as for the air bag im not sure as mine is a 93 and has never had an air bag

[luca]

Am I right in thinking that drivers seats also must be on runners now??

i.e bucket seats cant be bolted to cage tubing

[Daz 75]

drivers seat, 3.The driver’s seat fore and aft adjustment mechanism not functioning as intended.
if the seat is bolted with no runners then its not ment to adjust so you cant fail them.

[Daz 75]

airbag ,An airbag obviously missing or defective.
depends on the tester if you have a different steering wheel ,you could wire you airbag light on to your abs light or something like that,the only drawback with this is if the tester sees the airbag light come on and go off as intended he could then notice that the steering wheel has no airbag on it and fail it as obviously missing.
if this was the case you could take the airbag light out of the dash and the tester would look at the steering wheel and think..no airbags on this car. obviously do this before you take it for its mot, not after its failed.

[warrenpenalver]

all depends on the exact wording. If youve fitted a aftermarket wheel and completely removed the system, then it is not "obviously missing or defective" - it has been removed. there is a difference between something removed, missing or defective.

I suspect it will be the play on words that can be used to get the car legally through an MoT with no airbag.

I imagine there will have to be further guidance issued to MoT testers when issues like this go back to DVLA.

Already a lot of motorsport/rally people have complained to DVLA as their cars need to comply with MSA/FIA regulations as well as MoT.

Also kit cars and radically altered/rebuilt vehicles subject to IVA are not allowed airbags, yet in the case of a rebuilt/radically altered vehicle it can often look like a mainstream car that might have airbags as standard.

Clarification will have to be given as MoT testers cant know all cars out there and the DVLA computer doesnt list the necessary information either so there will have to be a judgement call.

you cant have the rediculous situation of vehicles passing the stricter IVA test yet not being capable of passing an MoT!

As far as cats go, its not really a huge change. very few cat equiped cars can be made to pass a cat test without a cat. And anything with an engine change to an older pre-cat engine is exempt anyway....

[Scouse]

Mine passed last year without the airbag light coming on………I removed the bulb and the tester never mentioned it. The only thing it failed on was a TCA which I bought same day and took it back for re-test. Just showed the guy the old one and he gave me the paperwork. As for the cat, I'm getting one made before it goes in again in May which once passed can be easily removed again.



Scouse.

[warrenpenalver]

vband exhaust couplings are the way forward. When i get rest of exhaust redone it will all be vbands.