Diesel emissions regulations

[truckdoctor]

I have a hankering for getting off road and getting onto some green lanes. Around hear the requirements are for the vehicle to be road worthy so being I need to be careful about which diesel I buy with regard to MOT emission regulations as I'm on a budget. Land rover discovery seems very popular so what year would be easiest to get through the MOT? Many thanks

[landruster]

My experience is that your prime consideration is rust. Discovery 1 bodies fall apart, as do Discovery 2 chassis. Plenty of google evidence for these.

As long as no one has been fiddling with the injector pump and the engine is not worn out i do not think there is a specific issue on emissions. Unless you want to go into low emmission zones in which case that rules out the older ones.

[shin2chin]

I never had any issues with my 300tdi Defender at mot time. Pump was wound up a bit from stock, then down again for the test.

[mk2cossie]

mot emission wise, EGR, Catalyst, DPF removal or obviously tampered with IS a fail.
There will also be a plate or sticker somewhere in the engine bay with the smoke opacity limit as well.
Older diesels can get away with a bit of smoke, newer DPF equipped stuff (cant remember the cut off year) is fail for visible smoke of any kind on the emissions test from the exhaust pipe.

And I'm fully aware there will be plenty of people spouting the rubbish about "no smoke no poke" but that is just lazy mapping/tuning of the pump

[biturbo228]

DPF rules are definitely post-03 as the 330d donor car I have doesn't have one, so anything before that will probably be easier come MoT time but converseley worse for driving through cities.

As an aside, unless you're unlucky enough to live in one, who on earth drives into the centre of cities anymore? I get there's a reluctance around public transport in the current environment, but driving into cities has always been bloody awful.

[truckdoctor]

Sept 2, 2020 23:20:38 GMT biturbo228 said:

DPF rules are definitely post-03 as the 330d donor car I have doesn't have one, so anything before that will probably be easier come MoT time but converseley worse for driving through cities.

As an aside, unless you're unlucky enough to live in one, who on earth drives into the centre of cities anymore? I get there's a reluctance around public transport in the current environment, but driving into cities has always been bloody awful.

Thanks for your replies, it seems after 2008 a "plate system" was introduced ( and then with drawn) so pre 2008 models are not as strict.https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mot-changes-from-may-2018-guidance-for-mot-testers/diesel-vehicle-emission-limits

As for driving in cities I spent the best of 40 years driving in and around London and watched as thing got worse, I think the breaking point for me was the time Ken Livingstone introduced the congestion charge and altered the phasing of traffic lights etc. creating gridlock. Happy to say I don't have to endure that frustration any longer and moved away into the countryside .

[cjj]

As a side note, it doesn't look like the one in the OP would be road legal due to the protrusion of the front wheels?

[vitesseefi]

Plate system applies pre 2008 too and is operational. Recently struggled with an 04 A4 TDI.

Regs say default “3” or, crucially what the plate says, if fitted. The plate says 0.6! To put this in perspective, that’s lower than the default value for post 2014 vehicles with DPF (though they are likely plated lower).

Unsurprisingly it struggled. New air filter, injector cleaner, a savage ragging before the retest and it still took about 20 passes to blow a 0.58. An early example of VAG emissions “optimism” perhaps. I watched the retest and at no point was there any visible smoke.

MoT tester observed that “if the plate isn’t there or isn’t legible I have to test to default” though in this case it would have meant a full fresh test as the 0.6 was already in the system.

He also commented that there is a particular LR Defender (forget which, sorry) with a completely unachievable plate value so have mostly been de-plated by now.

Reckon it’s time for an EGR blank on the A4 as I checked the old MoTs for my ‘96 A6 and noted that that has been blowing under 1 on the first attempt on every MoT since it’s EGR delete...... it doesn’t have a plate value anyway, but last year it managed 0.33. Not too shabby for a 90s tech turbo diesel with >300k on it!

Nick

[landruster]

Mine had a plate value stuck on the slam panel. It needs a repaint so is unlikely to be replaced, but no history of emmissions issues for the mot, this is on a 200tdi with 180k on it.