Emissions testing

[Andre]

Each year we have to have our car inspected, brakes are tested, lights, horn, airbag, suspension etc. are tested. A probe is inserted into the exhaust and 3 readings are taken twice. Once at idle, and again at high rpm. I can’t remember what each reading is but its something like carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons.

Last year, my Yaris couldn’t keep all 3 readings in the “green” for long enough to pass, it kept going back and forth between the 3 readings. It wasn’t always the same reading that would go red. You are allowed several attempts at this test in case the engine isn’t up to temperature. After several attempts and raising the rpm to redline and doing some WOT revving, it just about passed.

It took way longer than it should’ve and the tester didn’t need to keep trying, he can fail the inspection after the second attempt. Because we are friendly and have been going to him for 20+ years, he is good to us.

Now for this year, I am going to only use Shell V-power for a few months before the test, address a small exhaust leak (after cat) and run fuel injector cleaner and cat cleaner before the test. I am also going to drive to the test garage in 1st and 2nd gear only to make sure the temperature is reached the correct place. There are no check engine lights, the car runs just fine, no smoke or excessive noise. The car is regularly serviced as well – I do spark plugs, air filter and oil according to owners manual intervals.

What else should I do before the test?

I’ve seen Eric’s video on cleaning catalytic converters but I won’t do that, if I’m going to the trouble of removing the cat, I will just replace it.

Topic

[Rob]

is this a OBD2 car…. you could maybe get some data from the o2’s and see what they are showing…. but with out seeing the gas analisys… I will not be able to tell you much… “Shell V-power” I persoanly think is more of a sales gimick becuase they refuse to tell you what the additive are and how much they use… PS all gases are req to have additives to help your engine run better its req in the USA by the EPA…. so unless shell will tell you what they put in it or shows some data from an indepenent company..wich I couldnt find on there site at all, or letalone any proph that they are any better then any other gas… wich they should come out and say….. what they advertise is ” V-Power surpass all of the EPA standered’s” translate… “V-Power gas has meet EPA std’s just like the rest of the gasses… if we didnt surpass the EPA std’s we couldnt sell are gas in the USA”
example on http://www.shell.us/motorist/shell-fuels/shell-v-power-nitro-plus-premium-gasoline.html they have a chart saying they are better then the others on caption “Wear results obtained using gasoline modified HFRR ASTM D6079” …. HFRR ASTM D6079 is a std test but they said they did there test to a “MODIFIED test” but there they refuse to tell you how they modifified the test to show on there behave… all other companys will use a ” * ” and tell you how the test was done and what was diffrent… but shell doesnt have any verifiable info on it at all… if someone can find me anything that shows Shell’s credibility… please post it becaue I just cant find anything at all… Ill end my rant… use shell v-power if you want to but I dont think it will help you at all sorry to say, but thats my thoughts…
here in my state if you fail they will give you a print out what test you fail on,,, and what the reading are, but with out the readings its hard to say… what I would check out is the fuel trim is might give you an idea or to pull out the spark plugs and see what they say to you and go from there..

[Mike]

I’m assuming you’re in Europe somewhere. I have no idea what your emission testing requirements are.

I have a Toyota Echo, which is the older North American Yaris before the name got changed here. On my dashboard, there is a blue coolant temperature light, indicating that the engine is not yet up to normal operating temperature. The Owner’s Manual doesn’t explain much about the full purpose of the light, but I assume that it’s there to tell you and the technician that the car isn’t ready for emission testing or troubleshooting when it’s illuminated.

Does your Yaris have this blue light, and does it illuminate briefly during the “bulb check” sequence when you turn the key from OFF to RUN? Even if it does come on, it might be possible that the coolant temp sensor is out of whack, and is causing the ECM to run the engine in perpetual warm-up mode (when fuel metering is bit more generous and richer) because it’s being told the coolant temperature is always too low.

[Andre]

Yes, I’m in the UK. The requirements are dependent on the vehicle and its age.

The blue coolant light only goes out when the coolant is up to temp, it takes much longer for the oil and other parts of the engine to get up to operating temp. Normally it goes out after a few minutes of starting the engine, unless its really cold.

It is an OBD2 car, the spark plugs look healthy, I replaced them around 10,000 miles ago with OEM Densos. I’m not sure what to make of the OBD2 scan data though, they must be within tolerance because the check engine light isn’t on. Shell V-power may be a gimmick but I figure it can’t do any harm.

[Author]

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