Your Diesel Car is Most likely to Fail its MOT

Has your car fallen victim to the newly introduced Dangerous or Major categorisation and failed its MoT? Diesel car MoT failures have become nearly four times for substandard emissions. So considering the statistics and the drastic changes introduced in nearly 60-year history of MOT, your diesel car is at a higher risk of failing the MOT.

The most common causes of MoT failures under the new regime are:

- Leakage from the brake valve in hydraulic fluid

- Issues in the brake disc, missing drum/brake lining/pad

- Improper mounting of the brake pads

- Tampered/missing DPF

- Wheels with loose/missing wheel nut, bolt or stud

- Distorted or worn out tyres

- Dripping steering box

- Contaminated brake fluid

Most vehicles are failing the test because of the DPFs. They are used to trap and store the exhaust soot to cut down emissions from diesel cars. It is tested for signs of removal and tampering. In case of any such detection, your car will fall within the Major defect category. If your diesel car has a tampered diesel particulate filter (DPF), then it will be given a Major defect and thereby, fail the MoT test. Any car with a re-welded or cut DPF canister may be refused a check until the owner gives a valid reason for it (such as filter cleaning). It will also be failed if it emits “visible smoke of any colour” during the metered checks. In this case, it is better to ignore your instincts to remove the DPF filter because as per the recent MOT orders, even cars that have had the filter removed will be failed.

Tougher test regime may even scar your MOT certificate, with a Pass “with defects” warning to urge owners to get “repair as soon as possible”. Among the other checks being carried out under the new regime, under-inflated tyres, fluid leaks, and flawed reverse lights on vehicles that are bought after September 2009 are failing most diesel vehicles. However, if your diesel car has DPF older than 2005-06, it will not be evaluated on any new emission-related parameters.

You can maintain your car’s DPF in two ways:

a) Passive Regeneration: This occurs when the car runs at the motorway speeds for more than thirty minutes. It is done to increase the exhaust temperature enough to start the process of burning off the excess clogged soot.

b) Active Regeneration: This is done by automatically injecting extra fuel at the time of vehicle's ECU. It is done to increase the exhaust temperature and burn off the stored soot when the filter reaches a stipulated limit.

The best solution in case your vehicle is detected with dangerous faults is to not drive away from the garage. Ensure you get MOT Newport from a garage which can fix all the faults right away, like Trade Price Tyres. Don’t let MOT be a nasty experience any more, because this garage has all the services from 24X7 mobile tyre-fitting to vehicle servicing.