andyd
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 posted on 13/3/03 at 01:07 PM |
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Bl**dy emissions!
So the VI guy says that engines manufactured pre 1st August '95 will be tested to 3.5% CO 1200ppm HC but engines younger than that will be tested to
current levels (0.3% CO, 200ppm HC and some lambda level I can't remember).
So then I write to Honda to get the exact manufacturer date of our Fireblade engine. £30 and a few days later they confirm that it was made in 1995!
After a call to the nice lady she says she'll email Japan and get the exact month too.  A few days later she calls to say she has just put another
letter in the post stating that the engine was made in November '95. Oh bugger! 
So on to the point (you guessed there'd be one right?  )...
Has anyone used a "rent-a-cat" on a bike engine running carbs to get through the SVA?
If so who did you rent it from, how much was it, what parts did it consist of and how easy was it to fit. I'm after as much information about the
whole process as possible.
I've been told by a mechanic mate that just putting a CAT on will not be enough to get down to the levels required. He suggested that it may be
possible to run a CAT short term with carbs if an air bleed valve, a lambda sensor and a control box was used but this sounds close to a full blown
injection system to me.
So without binning the carbs and fitting injection or binning the whole engine and getting an older one what can I do?
Anyone else running a post '95 blade engine got through the SVA emissions and if so how?
HELP?!?!
Andy
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Jim
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| posted on 13/3/03 at 03:22 PM |
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Andy,
ST and MK do hire a CAT. Fisher Sports cars do a buy a cat if you want to do more than one car. ST's was 120 for 7 days when I enquired last year.
This is from a u2u I sent to DodgyRoger previously when he asked about this. Maybe he can comment if it was any use.
The electrics are simpler than they look. There should be an instruction book which makes it sound quite complex. The lambda sensor goes into the
exhaust pipe just after all the pipes join. If it's an MK exhaust in the downsizing adapter. This wire then goes under the car and connects to the
ecu. The inlet rubbers need a set of holed put in them which the feeds from the air pumps goes in. Each air pump connects to the ecu via the bundle
of wires. The green ended wire goes onto a water hose as it is ised to detect the correct temp for the cat to turn on. (IT WILL NOT BE ACTIVE AT COLD
OR LOW RPM.) There is an earth as well. I think the last wire should be yellow and green this is to porvide the power to the system. The lights on the
ECU should indicate when power is ok. check the book for the correct sequence to indicate working. I think that is the lot. Check the operation of the
system if possible with your standard silencer
The emissions should now be extremely low. At low RPM the CAT will clean them up so it will pass.
This is all from memory so please check the manual aswell. I hope it helps
Jim
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andyd
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| posted on 13/3/03 at 09:50 PM |
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Thanks for that Jim.
I assume from your description then that they supply air pumps one for each cylinder and an ECU with the lambda sensor and all wiring. Then there's
some sort of temp sensor which need to tap into the water system to govern engine temp.
Have you (or anyone else) definately used one of these to pass the SVA? If so can you remember what emission levels you were able to get down to?
Was the car tested for 0.3% CO, 200ppm HC etc?
I need to be pretty sure that this'll work so that I don't waste time/effort in sorting it all out and then still failing because the CO is 0.4%.
I'd much rather find a pre August '95 engine and not have to deal with a CAT at all.
Andy
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Mark Allanson
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| posted on 13/3/03 at 10:40 PM |
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It seems totally stupid that we have to go through all this crap, as all the subsequent MoT's will only test for "visible smoke" as the car is home
built.
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andyd
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| posted on 14/3/03 at 11:58 AM |
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Mark,
I agree especially when the same engine used in a bike doesn't have to adhere to the same rules. It's hassle that I could do without but without
conforming to these stupid rules we can't get our babies on the road
Andy
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andyd
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| posted on 16/3/03 at 12:27 PM |
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A minor breakthrough
I got a friend of mine to test my 1998 Honda CBR600 for CO emissions on Saturday and the results were fairly low.
The level was around the 1% mark which means that by fitting a CAT the required emissions level should be attainable i.e. 0.3% (or less).
I was concerned that even fitting a CAT wouldn't necessarily get down to the right figure as I will be running carbs and not an injection system. My
fears are somewhat aleviated.
Although I will be using a 1996 Honda Fireblade engine, I don't expect the levels to be much different to my 600. Also the exhaust system on the car
will be slighty longer meaning the gases will have cooled more by the time they reach the analyser which should be a good thing I think.
Andy
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Mark Allanson
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| posted on 16/3/03 at 08:07 PM |
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Until starting my build, I used to drive X19's, I sold the last one to finance the locost, and use a push bike until it is finished. I used to set
the CO to 2% for maximum power for normal use, but for MoT day I would wind in the mixture screw half a turn just to make sure. When tested it would
usually give a CO of less than 0.3% and the hydrocarbons were alwats less than 200ppm. I suppose the low CO figure would be at the expence of the O2
figure, but I recon it would pass a post 95 emision test, not bad for an engine designed in the last sixties, 90,000 miles and thrashed for every one
of them. I had converted it to electronic ignition, but still on the original carb.
It may be worth borroring a bike, leaning it off and taking it down to the local MoT station for a dummy gas test!
You may not need a cat at all!
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jollygreengiant
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| posted on 25/3/03 at 01:45 PM |
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Lamda readings are calculated by the emmisions testing machine from readings taken not at idle but at 2500 - 3000 rpm. on a B(asic) E(mmisions) T(est)
for vehicles that require cat's. If the emissions test is failed then the emisions test then becomes vehicle specific as regards limits and rpm
band. Also the VI has just sent out a new special notice that covers kit cars and emisions, but as I am at home today with the lurgy, I do not have
the details of that information to hand.
Enjoy the muddied waters.
Beware of the Goldfish in the tulip mines. The ONLY defence against them is smoking peanut butter sandwiches.
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