Strange emissions problem on my S3

[fozzy280472]

Hi all , just come across this problem regarding the emissions on my S3.
My MOT tester highlighted it to me , my S3 was first registered on 01/08/92 , therefore falls under the standards that changed on that exact date which I believe tie in with the introduction of the S3C .
Only issue with mine is , my car IS an S3 , it has twin airflow Meters, no cats , no exhaust sensors etc , so as I see it , it has to be tested as a S3 otherwise it fails the S3C emissions test.
Confused ?? I am !!!
Anyway my tester says at the moment there is a bit of allowed leeway and discretion with this but he believes that the regs will be tightened up in the near future.
My car was registered as K plate originally.
Anyone else come across this ?
My MOT man is a mate and top bloke and not looking for work by the way , he just thought I ought to know.
Any ideas ?

[v8s4me]

I had the same emissions issue with mine last year and by weird coincidence I spoke to the DVLA and the MOT agency (can't remember the acronym, VOSA maybe?) about it this morning. On the registration document the date of first registration is 01/01/1992 but the on the MOT system the date of manufacture was shown as 01/12/1992. That's right, 11 months after the date of the first registration. This anomaly caused the issue at last year's MOT. My V8S is also registered as a 290S. The MOT agency changed the date of manufacture to 01/01/1991 on its system this morning as a result of my call so this will solve the MOT emissions issue. But, to change the date on the DVLA system, and the model designation on the V5, the DVLA requires a letter from the owners' club confirming the date of manufacture as 01/12/1991. I haven't called TVRCC yet to see if they are willing to do this.

So there we are, that's how to sort it out.

[fozzy280472]

Cheers for the reply , interesting info there although my situation is slightly different in that my v5 logbook shows 01/08/92 as the date of manufacture of my car and this tallies with whats on the registration database .
I think a call to VOSA is in order......

[tvrgit]

Be aware also that the "year of introduction of the S3C" was not 1992. There was a considerable overlap with S3 and S3C being produced at the same time. My S3C is first registered in 1990.

[Maffe]

In Sweden it becomes mandatory with a working cat 1989...
A car from 1987-88 that have one fitted must have one, but doesn’t Mather if it works

[BIG DUNC]

I think all the pre-cat Griffs were registered in 92 and anything after then was a 500 with cats.

I am in a similar position with my classic range rover which was registered in 92 and never had cats, but is right on the cross over. & of course land rover have similar records to TVR when it comes to "did this car leave the factory with these fitted". It was what was left on the shelf on a Friday afternoon. Anyway, when I recently had that same discussion with my friendly tester he assured me that if it came out the factory with no cats then it shouldn't ever have to do a cat test as the point of the test wasn't to force owners of older cars to upgrade to new car standards. I hope he is right, but it is a subject in the back of my mind.

edited for sprammer and pelling

Edited by BIG DUNC on Thursday 29th March 14:28

[zombeh]

It should be tested as per the manual. ie. a non cat test with 3.5% CO limit.

What the manual actually says is that for any passenger car first used between 01/08/1993 and 31/07/1995 you should look it up in the book and if it's not in it then it doesn't have to pass a cat test. The S4C and V8S are in the book, the S3 is not. Whether there should actually be any S3s within that date is TVR's problem and DVSA's problem not yours.

[fozzy280472]

Thanks for the replies chaps , to be fair to my mate , he is basically saying that if it left the factory with no cats it should be tested as a non cat fitted car , I think he's worrying on my behalf in case the regs are tightened up in the future.
He always tests mine as a non cat car .
I suppose I'm looking for something in black and white to have to hand in case of an over zealous tester at some point .

[zombeh]

If you want it in black and white with © Crown copyright written on it then...
The current MOT manual is here https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploa...

part 7.3 page 9 (page 167 of the pdf) what to do on a post august 92 car that fails a cat test.

The box that says "Can you find an *exact match* in the analyser database or in-service emissions book

The book is here https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploa...

And an S3 isn't in it as none were built to be compliant with the then new emissions regs, the cars TVR were intending to supply on a K plate are in the book. The idea is that the owner of the car isn't punished for the manufacturer/dealer's inability to sell a handful of cars built before the new rules came in

Anything sold up to the end of July 95 doesn't need to pass a cat test if it didn't originally have one. This applies to various imports too if they're models that were never sold in the UK.
After July 95 it needs to pass a cat test regardless and if they managed to not sell a 92 car by then it'd have had to be modified to the later spec.

[fozzy280472]

Thanks zombeh ! That's super useful , exactly what I need cheers .