Failed MOT on emissions

[besidetheseaside]

Hi Stephen, Yes he said he can do a ad-hoc emissions test so I will get to him ASAP. This could be one of those mystery jobs when the exact truth of the problem will never be known, and as Dave says, who cares

All thoughts of Volvos are now on the back burner as I am off to Nottingham tomorrow in my Jag to look at a Daimler for a friend, hopefully it will be on its way with us back to North Wales later on.

[dickfridge]

I was advised to add acetone to the fuel, it got my 97 V70 through the emissions test it had failed beforehand, and has worked since. I'm no expert, so please don't quiz me on it, but it works. There was plenty of stuff on the net about it a few years ago, people saying you could increase mpg by adding it. but it's quite corrosive. A one-off to get you through the test will be fine.

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by dickfridge

I was advised to add acetone to the fuel, it got my 97 V70 through the emissions test it had failed beforehand, and has worked since. I'm no expert, so please don't quiz me on it, but it works. There was plenty of stuff on the net about it a few years ago, people saying you could increase mpg by adding it. but it's quite corrosive. A one-off to get you through the test will be fine.

I'm guessing your V70 is a diesel then? It doesn't work with petrol, i remember it being all over the wibbly-wobbly-web many moons ago and as such did some research into the various reports, test and so on.

Reading between the lines, any improvement on petrol mpg was purely coincidental, possibly the driver was being more gentle to encourage a better economy without even realising they were doing it.

On diesels however, the improvement in economy was more consistent and wider spread across the people that had tested it. Generally they were getting 5-10% better economy and there is some science to back this up. The acetone starts to atomise the diesel so when it is injected into the combustion chamber, it burns easier and more completely.

Only a very small amount was needed, i can't remember the figures but it was along the lines of an egg cup of acetone to a tankful of diesel.

The big problem with the emissions on the OPs car was the tester was actually testing the car on the wrong limits. If you read through the thread, you'll find it couldn't meet the general standards for cat emissions (which is what the tester was using) even when new and just to make matters worse, the cam timing was out which further increased the emissions.