Prep for MOT

[Fibo666]

Right I've started to check the car over before it's MOT, got two new tyres on the back the other day, one wheel was slightly stuck(think the wheels have been resprayed at some point so centre is slighty smaller) anyway when we pulled on the wheel to get it off the whole rear beam moved so i've changed the rear beam bushes eventually. no the car makes a funny noise when been driven, like a wheel bearing or scrubbing noise from the back. Will the car need any sort of tracking/alligning doing after the rear bushes?

Took the car for an emissions test the other day and it failed, engine was hot and been recently serviced, had new plugs, leads, dizzie cap, rotor arm, coilpack, oil&filter, air filter.
Test results:

Fast Idle Test - Fail
CO - 0.59% 0.30Max Fail
HC - 74ppm 200Max Pass
Lambda - 1.08 0.97-1.03 Fail

Second Fast Idle - Fail
CO - 0.62% Fail
HC - 61ppm Pass
Lambda - 1.05 Fail

Natural Idle Test - Fail
CO - 0.78% 0.50Max Fail

Is this likely to be the Cat? and does the Lambda need changing too?

Also the camber is wrong on the front passenger wheel, top edge is sticking out further than the wheel arch, is it just the two bolts on the strut for adjustment? although i think something may be bent, can't find any play in the wheel or see anything broken.

Forgot to say, the car is a Mk2 Ibiza 1.8 GTi 16 valve with an ADL engine.

Also found that the bottom of the gearbox is made mostly of fibreglass so that needs changing at some point too.

And the ABS light and handbrake warning light are both on but i think this is the ABS sensors and wiring.

Any help or thoughts would be muchly appreciated and NO I will not be buying another cheap car from a 'mate' lol, good job i've got till dec before the mot is due

 

[toonfiend]

Alright mate, a few things to sort out there! Probably better trying out some cheap stuff first, put some new rear wheel bearings in, did mine last year about a tenner a side, see what that does, Whats the mileage on the car?, mines got 110K on it and went for MOT yesterday went straight through on the emissions, you could try cleaning out your fuel system with some redex additive. The front camber as you say is adjusted by loosening the lower 2 bolts on the strut and then moving the hub in or out as needed you may need to get the angle done by a garage to get it spot on, I dont think the rear hub alignment can be adjusted (may be wrong?). Hope this is of some help, keep us updated......

 

[crezz]

abs light would indicate abs sensor more than likey, get in there with a steam cleaner and blast in around behind the wheels, in around hub ect. the handbrake light would usually be brake fluid level

does the car get used much? as said above, stick some fuel additive in and give it some so everything is nice and hot prior to mot

if you do need to change the cat, have a quick look to see if the downpipe and cat are still in one piece, as from factory, hopefully its been changed at some point so they will be individual pieces

 

[Cupra Kid]

I'd look to check thelamda before going for a CAT

 

[Fibo666]

firstly thanks for the quick replies.

Alright mate, a few things to sort out there! Probably better trying out some cheap stuff first, put some new rear wheel bearings in, did mine last year about a tenner a side, see what that does, Whats the mileage on the car?, mines got 110K on it and went for MOT yesterday went straight through on the emissions, you could try cleaning out your fuel system with some redex additive. The front camber as you say is adjusted by loosening the lower 2 bolts on the strut and then moving the hub in or out as needed you may need to get the angle done by a garage to get it spot on, I dont think the rear hub alignment can be adjusted (may be wrong?). Hope this is of some help, keep us updated......

It's a 'P' reg and has done 134k, the 'mate' that had it before doesn't really know that much about cars ( likes to think he does though) and was running it around for a year with it backfiring when going down the gears and was really sluggish upto 2500 revs so i'm thinking the cat for emissions. sorted the backfiring and sluggishness by adjusting the dizzie to alter the spark timing runs fine now.

abs light would indicate abs sensor more than likey, get in there with a steam cleaner and blast in around behind the wheels, in around hub ect. the handbrake light would usually be brake fluid level

does the car get used much? as said above, stick some fuel additive in and give it some so everything is nice and hot prior to mot

if you do need to change the cat, have a quick look to see if the downpipe and cat are still in one piece, as from factory, hopefully its been changed at some point so they will be individual pieces

The car gets used for about 18 miles a week for my mrs to get to and from work ( only 3 miles each way) but i take it out every so often to give it a decent run.
I've checked both the handbrake switch and the brake fluid level switch both seem to work fine when the car is stationary, just as soon as you set off even an inch the handbrake light comes on ( only when going forwards, doesn't come on when i reverse up the drive. read on here that it might be more than one ABS sensor thats duff causing both lights to be on.
The cat/downpipe has been changed before as they're bolted together and not one piece so atleast changing the cat will be easier.

I'd look to check thelamda before going for a CAT

That's what i was going to change first as it's cheaper than the cat but i think the cat will need replacing too as said above.

 

[crezz]

perhaps the abs pump or abs ecu is fubared

 

[Cupra Kid]

If its ABS its generally a wheel sensor in my experience which are cheap and easy fixes. If its wiring loom related its gonna be a headache

 

[Fibo666]

perhaps the abs pump or abs ecu is fubared

Brakes and ABS both work fine so not sure it will be pump or ecu, been checking the wiring and sensors and found one front wheel has no plug, the wires have been bodged to the actual sensor, got hold of two wires with plugs from the scrappy and borrowed a soldering iron today so going to try to sort the wiring tomorrow if it's not raining

 

[Fibo666]

Sorted the wiring, and now just the ABS light stays on so I pressume I have one fubared sensor, i shall unplug each sensor one at a time, my logic says the sensor that needs changing will not bring the extra light on on the dash when unplugged, i shall update with my findings

 

[gtikezz]

ime not sure that will do the trick ( correct me if i am wrong all ) even unplugging one at a time the light it would still be on as it would still be picking up the fault untill the problem has been fixed ?

 

[Fibo666]

I know the abs light will stay on, when one sensor is bust it puts the abs light on, if another sensor goes or is unplugged it will put the handbrake light on aswell, so if i go round them all unplugging one at a time which ever one doesn't put the handbrake light on is the one that is buggered and causing the abs light to be on.
Makes sense to me lol