MOT test for diesel

[Gef]

I bought my first diesel last August. It's a 1998 Rover 400 with 108,000 miles on the clock. Anything I should do before taking it for its test?

[NORMANTHEDOG]

just the usual,check the lights and wipers,washers etc,etc,and you should be ok

[Gef]

Thanks Norm, but I meant anything specific for a diesel engine.

[NORMANTHEDOG]

not really,more or less the same for petrols,the emmissions could be your only problem,but it should be ok.

[thundercrack]

hi,
emmissions , as norman says, could be a problem. buy a bottle of redex from asda for about �3 and tip half of it in your tank and drive around a bit. this will clean the injectors etc and hopefully give a better reading on the exhaust analyser.
good luck, alf.

[mr rusty]

I wouldn't even bother using injector cleaner: just cane it at maximum revs uphill in a low gear for a few minutes: it'll be scarey but it won't break.

It sounds like it'll need a caning because the mileage is pretty low for a car of that age: that would indicate shopping use and what diesels really prefer is hard use.A car driven on the motorway every day will normally sail therough the smoke test, whereas one driven granny style is more likely to fail.

[mr rusty]

I wouldn't even bother using injector cleaner: just cane it at maximum revs uphill in a low gear for a few minutes: it'll be scarey but it won't break.........thrash it on the way to the test so it's good'n'hot.

It sounds like it'll need a caning because the mileage is pretty low for a car of that age: that would indicate shopping use and what diesels really prefer is hard use.A car driven on the motorway every day will normally sail therough the smoke test, whereas one driven granny style is more likely to fail.

[NORMANTHEDOG]

take no notice of the last 2 posts,thrashing the engine will do it more harm than good.

[mr rusty]

When the engine is smoke tested, it's taken right up to the governor to first purge the exhaust, and the smoke test involves it going right up to max revs as well......and if it fails fast-pass it'll be repeatedly revved to get an average result: as anyone with any knowledge or experience of diesels will tell you, an italian tune-up is the way to get it through the smoke test on fast-pass.

Driving it hard on the governor will not cause any damage at all...that's what the rev limiter/governor is for.......

[fiesata]

Forget Redex and the others, use Millers diesel plus - my Mondeo with 120000 miles just passed the MOT with emissions of just 0.23, better than many cars with a quarter of the miles

It's the stuff they put in high performance fuels

It's economical too a bottle lasts me 6 months or about 1p per litre

Here is the website
http://www.millersoils.net/index2.html

[Gef]

Thanks for all your answers folks. I've still got three weeks to decide on what (if anything) to do.

Since I'm a muppet when it comes to cars, what does Mr Rusty mean by "on the governor"?

[david1702198]

has it had the timing belt changed recently???because if it goes during the smoke test it is NOT the mot stations problem it is yours.

[Gef]

Thanks David. I only bought the car last August when it had done 101,000 miles and I have no service history. I knew about this but not sure what I can do about it other than keeping my fingers crossed.