Cat plot thickens-2

A

andysat

Lifer
Hi all -took the zed for an emission test this morn-it PASSED with flying colours!-i was told it was nowhere near borderline either.
Got home and rang stealers to complain about the diagnostic result showing the cat needing replacing,i found out it had only one count-ie a 'blip' :headbang: -they are looking into it and speaking to the technician on Monday and getting back to me.
 
Stuart Truman said:
Makes you wonder if a sensor is on the fritz making it do strange things. Lambda probe maybe? :?
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Is that one of the 02 sensors cat back mate?-i have had two replaced,
 
My thoughts as well, but Andy had both replaced near the beginning of this ordeal. I'm of the mind that one, probably the post-cat, is a bit balky despite being practically new.
 
andysat said:
Hi all -took the zed for an emission test this morn-it PASSED with flying colours!-i was told it was nowhere near borderline either.
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Not surprised in the slightest. :wink: I think you need to be very careful who you believe when you receive this 'expert' advice from the garage. Clearly there is nothing much wrong with your car and certainly nothing to justify laying out £800 plus on a replacement cat converter. I'm still of the opinion that the EML is far too sensitive on the Zed.
 
bcworkz said:
My thoughts as well, but Andy had both replaced near the beginning of this ordeal. I'm of the mind that one, probably the post-cat, is a bit balky despite being practically new.
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Yep. It's not unknown to have a duff part. My venerable old passat had a faulty one that would go intermittently short circuit. It took months to find it
 
When i spoke to the stealer i mentioned about it being a duff new sensor-he said no because it would have thrown up an entirely different code and led them down a different path altogether :roll:
 
Lillywhite said:
andysat said:
Hi all -took the zed for an emission test this morn-it PASSED with flying colours!-i was told it was nowhere near borderline either.
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Not surprised in the slightest. :wink: I think you need to be very careful who you believe when you receive this 'expert' advice from the garage. Clearly there is nothing much wrong with your car and certainly nothing to justify laying out £800 plus on a replacement cat converter. I'm still of the opinion that the EML is far too sensitive on the Zed.
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You were right all along mate! :)
 
andysat said:
You were right all along mate! :)
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I'd take great delight in telling the garage who told you that it wouldn't pass the MOT emissions test the results you received today. :wink:
 
Lillywhite said:
andysat said:
You were right all along mate! :)
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I'd take great delight in telling the garage who told you that it wouldn't pass the MOT emissions test the results you received today. :wink:
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:) -Where do i stand now then?-should i take the dated print out i have had done today to the stealers and at least ask/demand a refund for the diagnostic?
 
andysat said:
:) -Where do i stand now then?-should i take the dated print out i have had done today to the stealers and at least ask/demand a refund for the diagnostic?
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I don't think you can ask for a refund for the diagnostic. All the diagnostic does is to identify the fault code, that's why I keep suggesting you buy a D900 code reader so you can read the code for yourself when the EML appears. The clever bit is for the garage to interprete what needs rectifying and this is where you are being let down IMO and to end up being told you have a cat failure, by process of elimination, is very poor when it's clear that this may not be the case as the emissions test carried out today clearly demonstrates.
 
Lillywhite said:
andysat said:
:) -Where do i stand now then?-should i take the dated print out i have had done today to the stealers and at least ask/demand a refund for the diagnostic?
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I don't think you can ask for a refund for the diagnostic. All the diagnostic does is to identify the fault code, that why I keep suggesting you buy a D900 code reader so you can read the code for yourself. The clever bit is for the garage to interprete what needs rectifying and this is where you are being let down IMO and to end up being told you have a cat failure is very poor when it's clear that this may not be the case as the emissions test carried out today demonstrates is poor form.
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Yeah you are right,when i asked the stealer if they had done an emission test after the cat 'looked' faulty (to confirm their diagnosis) he said no that is only used for mot's :roll:
 
Lillywhite said:
andysat said:
:) -Where do i stand now then?-should i take the dated print out i have had done today to the stealers and at least ask/demand a refund for the diagnostic?
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I don't think you can ask for a refund for the diagnostic. All the diagnostic does is to identify the fault code, that's why I keep suggesting you buy a D900 code reader so you can read the code for yourself when the EML appears. The clever bit is for the garage to interprete what needs rectifying and this is where you are being let down IMO and to end up being told you have a cat failure, by process of elimination, is very poor when it's clear that this may not be the case as the emissions test carried out today clearly demonstrates.
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Have you a link to the one you have mate?
 
Just put search for D900 code reader on eBay. There are loads for sale for less than £25 including postage on a buy it now price. I got mine from 'Beat the Garage, just love the name of that seller. :wink:
PM me with your email and I'll send you a PDF copy of the operating instructions so you can see what it does.
 
Lillywhite said:
Just put search for D900 code reader on eBay. There are loads for sale for less than £25 including postage on a buy it now price. I got mine from 'Beat the Garage, just love the name of that seller. :wink:
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Yeah seen a few,some have cases :)
 
Lillywhite said:
andysat said:
Yeah seen a few,some have cases :)
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I think you'll find they all come in a nice zip-up case with a disc for the instructions.
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I have noticed some have orange tops some have blue some have 2011 some have 2012 on them?-will i obviously need the newer 2012?
 
andysat said:
I have noticed some have orange tops some have blue some have 2011 some have 2012 on them?-will i obviously need the newer 2012?
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I've brought the Autop 2011 blue version a year ago, but suggest you get the cheapest 'buy it now' 2012 red version which are about £23 including postage. They seem to be a bit cheaper than they were a year ago.
 
andysat said:
When i spoke to the stealer i mentioned about it being a duff new sensor-he said no because it would have thrown up an entirely different code and led them down a different path altogether :roll:
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That makes perfect sense with a simplistic view of things. But there's that pesky knock on possibility. It would be useful to know exactly what sensor conditions cause a particular error to be thrown. But we reckon we're lucky just to know what the code means at all. There's maybe a couple dozen sensors related to emissions, and yet hundreds of trouble codes they can cause. The dependence of many mechanics on blindly going by whatever the code tells them without thinking the issue through is truly disturbing.
 
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