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Engine swap (MOT related)
Westy1994 - 26/3/13 at 04:37 PM

I have searched around and can't find an answer to a question I have which is..

Can I swap a non emissions test ( visual only) engine for an engine that had a cat fitted on the original car, and still be able to claim it does not need an emissions test , either with or without a cat fitted?, this on the face of it would seem an easy question to answer, but my car is Q plated.

Does anyone run an engine (dated around 1995) that had a cat as standard in a Q plated car and how do you get on at MOT time?

My car was reg for the road in 1994.

All the various websites and links say different things, and much like my thread from last year regarding a vaguely similar question, there seems to be conflicting information out there.

I am planning on scrapping a tintop since I have other transport, and thought one day the engine would be handy for the 7, but due to the available room either in the engine bay or externally there is little room for any more exhaust boxes ( cat) without going rear exit , so I would be fitting the motor minus the cat..

Do DVLA , when updating the engine size and number also change the emissions category?.

Maybe a stupid question, but I am dammed I can find a definitive answer online....


gremlin1234 - 26/3/13 at 04:50 PM

the mot test manual (introduction, pg8) states that q plated cars be tested for emmisions as first used before 1 aug 1975, (and 1 jan 1971 for other testing )


whitestu - 26/3/13 at 04:56 PM

I changed from a 1991 CVH to a 2000 Zetec with no issues at MOT.

Having said that it still has the cvh as far as the log book is concerned.

stu


westf27 - 26/3/13 at 05:06 PM

there are people out there that can fit a cat with the silencer,makes it a bit longer.


Westy1994 - 26/3/13 at 05:07 PM

Yeah the MOT manual states a lot of things that once out of the station are illegal - Black/silver number plates springs to mind again here !!!, I take Stu the MOT station have not picked up on the engine change, or have they just turned a 'blind eye' ?, whilst am am fully aware that the MOT rules for Q plated cars dictate that a visual test is acceptable, I can't get my head around the fact that an engine that once had a cat can run without one or need a test just because the car wears a Q plate, just seems an odd thing for them to do?. I am kind of playing the devils advocate here because I don't want to do all the work to find out I wasted my time.


MkIndy7 - 26/3/13 at 05:11 PM

True, but the modern engine that used to have a CAT etc is still likely to be a much cleaner more fuel efficient engine than the old one your taking out.


Not Anumber - 26/3/13 at 05:14 PM

From what i can gather lots of people have built with Cvh engines and changed to Zetrec or Duratec afterwards and are still measured against the emissions of the original engine.


adithorp - 26/3/13 at 07:52 PM

Can't have searched very hard. I wrote this just yesterday on a thread about emmisions...

"Whatever it asses IVA at is what is required from then on, irrespective of what engine goes in later. The only exception is if it gets a Q plate when at MOT it should be just a visible smoke test (even if it was full cat/bets test at IVA)"


Westy1994 - 26/3/13 at 07:57 PM

Sorry, I dont read every single thread on a forum. And I did not see you post. Can you please provide proof of this via a vosa or dvla link


COREdevelopments - 26/3/13 at 08:53 PM

Hi try this link. It is the vosa emissions chart.
VOSA flow chart
This should not really be a problem as you have a Q plate and it should only be subjected to a visual test.
Try this link too

Another point, your car was reg'd in 94 you say. So if i am correct it didn't need a SVA. You really got nothing to worry about and can put any engine you like.

hope this helps

RobVOSA flow chart2

[Edited on 26/3/13 by COREdevelopments]

[Edited on 26/3/13 by COREdevelopments]


SteveWalker - 26/3/13 at 10:14 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Westy1994
I can't get my head around the fact that an engine that once had a cat can run without one or need a test just because the car wears a Q plate, just seems an odd thing for them to do?.


It's perfectly sensible. For normally plated cars, emissions are based on the age of the car or the engine, whichever is older. Effectively this is the same thing, where the Q plate says that the age cannot be accurately determined and arbitrarily assigns 1975 as the effective year of manufacture.


Westy1994 - 26/3/13 at 10:39 PM

Thanks folks, before your edits Rob I was going to comment on the info in the first link you gave as it had no mention of Q plates. And you can hardly call it sensible when someone who has an age related plate now instead has to comply with the regs set out by the oldest part of the car, be that the engine or reg'd date of use, someone with the same engine as mine and on an 'L' reg will need full emissions compliance whilst I don't !! (that's the benefits of Q's then), not complaining just stating a fact. Then again I have found very little logic in certain Vosa/ Dvla rules, they very often contradict each other. I will whip the motor out of the scrapper then now, this is why I wanted some kind of clarification, lot of work to find out it was worthless.... Out with the spanners then.