DPF removal check to be part of UK MOT test from February 2014

[mannyo]

This change announced today is going to upset a LOT of people.

 

From Feb 2014, your car will fail an MOT if the DPF is missing, (and also shows signs of tampering I guess.)

 

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-rules-for-mot-to-test-for-diesel-particulate-filter

 

 

 

[@Lee]

oops, I can see a lot of 'Wanted: DPF for a (insert car here)' topics coming soon

[Auric Goldfinger]

Good job I chopped mine in for Petrol

 

Their won't be many Octavia Tdi PD Vrs's about then.

[Slotty]

So glad I don't have one in my car (never had as it's 1.9 TDI)...!!!!

[Huskoda]

Well, that clears up that gray area then.

 

Glad mines in good health and I didn't opt to have it cut for the sake of it.

[softscoop]

How does this effect those that have their DPF gutted?

 

Still appears to be fitted from the outside, but with no innards.

[BossFox]

Of course, people will just get them tested at "friendly" stations that if questioned will say they couldn't see signs of tampering and that it must still be in there then.

 

There isn't (from what I can see) an acutal test on the exhaust gas a non-DPF car would fail.

[Blackline Stu]

Is there any way that the MOT tester can tell if the guts of the dpf have been removed but the box itself has been put back in the exaust?

 

Just asking, I've still got mine.

 

Edit: beaten to it

Edited 5 December, 2013 by Blackline Stu

[Huskoda]

The simple test is see how much soot is coming out. You can easily see if it has one or not, especially if its accompanied by a performance remap.

[JungleJames]

I was surprised people got away with removing them for so long.

I would have thought the emiissions test would have failed without a DPF. Obviously the emissions tests in the MOT are not measuring everything they should be.

 

Good to see this finally clarifed. DPFs are annoying, but something needed to be done about the particulates.

[BossFox]

The simple test is see how much soot is coming out. You can easily see if it has one or not, especially if its accompanied by a performance remap.

 

On the road maybe, but what about when the car isn't under load during the test?

That's when the smoke test is done and non-DPF cars that should have a DPF pass it.

[JungleJames]

Also, im assuming that everyone who tries to sell on a car that has had the DPF removed, will be unable to sell it on. For example, surely now dealers should refuse to give any money for a car with missing DPF (one taken out) when given as part exchange. Certainly it should be a lot more difficult to sell these cars on now. 

[faboka vrs]

So how many are now driving around with out insurance due to their car not being road legal?

[Huskoda]

So how many are now driving around with out insurance due to their car not being road legal?

 

If the cut and associated remap are declared, then they're currently not on the wrong side of the law for that. They may have fun declaring after Feb 2014 though and then you're into the declaration argument again.

 

Also passing an MOT is not entirely the same as being road legal.

[littleade]

Good job I chopped mine in for Petrol

Their won't be many Octavia Tdi PD Vrs's about then.

well that should put an end to most of the ill informed stuff being posted about dpfs in CR engines then!

Camchain tensioner anyone?

[XLBaconDoubleCheese]

Obviously the emissions tests in the MOT are not measuring everything they should be.

 

Diesels dont have emissions test on a MOT

[Ben90]

Some of the more savvy garage owners/engine mappers who made a killing chopping out DPFs have probably stashed them all away waiting for this very regulation to come in!

[dan4291]

I thought it already was part of the MOT, and they just do a visual check that it's there?

[mannyo]

I thought it already was part of the MOT, and they just do a visual check that it's there?

 

Nope, not part of the current MOT at all. Only emissions controls are checked for spark ignition engines (ie. not diesel).

[Paul007]

The crucial bit 

Garages and testing stations will be required check for a diesel particulate filter (DPF) in the inspection of the exhaust system as part of the MOT test (or annual test for heavy vehicles) from February 2014.

The vehicle will automatically fail the MOT test if the filter had been fitted as standard but is found to be no longer present.

The filter works by trapping solid particulate matter from exhaust gases. This type of filter has been in use for more than 20 years and helps meet European emission standards, improving air quality and health standards.

Some firms offer services to remove the filter, claiming it will boost consumption. But it is an offence to drive a vehicle that has been modified this way, as it will no longer meet the emissions standards the car achieved when it was approved for sale in the UK.

[Llanigraham]

Quite easy to test if one has got it's "innards": Quick tap with the "rust hammer". If it sounds hollow it is probably empty!!

[JungleJames]

All these garages that were offering to take your DPF out for you are no doubt laughing all the way to the bank. I bet they knew this would eventually happen, and yet they still kept doing it. What a money spinner they have found. Take peoples DPFs out, then later on, put them all back in.

Hey, perhaps they will offer you a tenners discount if they previously took your DPF out!!!

[Brimma]

All these garages that were offering to take your DPF out for you are no doubt laughing all the way to the bank. I bet they knew this would eventually happen, and yet they still kept doing it. What a money spinner they have found. Take peoples DPFs out, then later on, put them all back in.Hey, perhaps they will offer you a tenners discount if they previously took your DPF out!!!

Hindsight is a wonderful thing

I'm not quite sure what your big issue is with the garages, no-one held a gun to anyone's head to force them to have their DPFs removed

[@Lee]

I doubt any garage offered the DPF removal with a view to raking it in when the removal became illegal an MOT failure. I doubt they expected what has happened TBH.

 

Edited especially for JungleJames

[Blackline Stu]

I doubt any garage offered the DPF removal with a view to raking it in when the removal became illegal. I doubt they expected what has happened TBH.

 

So true. The garages offered a service and people took them up on their offer and paid them to remove their dpf. Its how a business works. They sell something, people buy it. Nobody held a gun to the head of anyone telling them that they had to have their dpf removed. To use a Brimma phrase 'you pays your money and yous take your risk' or something like that