Injector cleaners/petrol additive

Hightower · 01 June 2009, 23:50

It's starting to get close to my annual MOT for the Kia and have always had trouble getting the thing though the emmissions. Always take air filter out and have traditionally run Reddex or similar in the petrol tank a week before. She normally fails first test or two and scraps though on the third or fails.

Does anyone think that these petrol injector cleaners really work or is there something else I can do to lower the emmissions?

willk · 02 June 2009, 00:22

Not sure about petrol but Redex has saved my diesel 110 in testing every year since 1999! That or a wee drop of kero the week before

. Advice given was to drive to the test centre with high revs (lower gear than normal) and keep her hot until testing.

Good luck this year!

Hightower · 02 June 2009, 00:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by willk

Not sure about petrol but Redex has saved my diesel 110 in testing every year since 1999! That or a wee drop of kero the week before

. Advice given was to drive to the test centre with high revs (lower gear than normal) and keep her hot until testing.

Good luck this year!

Well yeh that was what I was told....Trouble is the emmission test can't always be done straight away and quite often is the last thing on the MOTers list.

codprawn · 02 June 2009, 01:32

You could always find a tamer MOT tester............

My 110 pinks like hell on the proper settings - richen her up after the MOT and the fuel economy improves and there is far more power and it's much smoother - engine will last longer as well.

So if it's a carb engine lean her out a bit until afterwards.

Using super unleaded may help or a damn good thrash down the A roads.

I am sure some of those cleaners/additives work a little bit but you pay a lot of money for a very basic/weak chemical. The diesel ones are just Kero for example. I suspect some of the hotter petrol ones are toluene or Xylene so you could chuck some thinners in your tank.

chewy · 02 June 2009, 07:13

Your cat could be knackered?

Nasher · 02 June 2009, 12:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by chewy

Your cat could be knackered?

Most likely as Hightower kicks him each time the Kia fails the MOT.

My experiance of the injector cleaners has been good, but you do need to give the fuel a good strong dose if you don't use it regularly, and make sure a tank of un-dosed fuel runs through before the MOT.

Nasher.

astra · 02 June 2009, 18:33

what is it failing on (co2 hydrocarbons lambda)

Hightower · 02 June 2009, 18:49

Cats!.......Hate the wreched things.

Always on CO2, hydrocarbons are well within limit. Lambda is always within tolerance, however I replaced the Lambda last year with a new one as I have a fault code come up regularly, made no difference to the test and failed first test as usual. I've also replaced spark plugs in the past without making a huge difference.

If the cat has gone, surely it would fail everytime?

mick · 02 June 2009, 18:58

give these a try http://www.millersoils.net/

astra · 02 June 2009, 19:12

Is it a aftermarket cat or a genuine one

Leapy · 02 June 2009, 19:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hightower

If the cat has gone, surely it would fail everytime?

Yes, and by a significant margin

chewy · 02 June 2009, 19:51

I had a brand new cat fitted and it did the same thing as yours. I didn't know if it was breaking down inside and causing it to fail.

Some cars can pass MOT's with decat pipes.

astra · 02 June 2009, 20:13

I have never had a car pass with a decat pipe unless its a lpg conversion or a vehicle not listed in the emmisions 14th adddition booklet,As for having aftermarket cats fitted its a no no they are useless

Hightower · 02 June 2009, 22:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by astra

Is it a aftermarket cat or a genuine one

I've got to assume it's a genuine one. I've had the car 5 years and never felt the need to replace it. That said I'd like to remind you that since I've bought the car I've always had problems during the emmissions test.

My Rover failed the emmissions earlier this year and I got an aftermarket cat fitted. This was the first time I've failed the emmissions in this car and passed with flying colours after fitment.