There’s lots of reasons that cars fail MOTs, but emissions doesn’t have to be one of them. Here, William Jones, Sales Director at Cataclean, discusses the benefits of taking preventive steps to keep your customer’s engine emissions down.
In motor industry terms, March can be classed as the ‘MOT Season’, as it is traditionally the busiest month of the year for the annual test. High emissions readings is one of the most common reasons that a car will fail its MOT; recent research – conducted over a 21-month period – showed that 3.7 million failures from a total of 14.4 million were as a result of emissions.
The old adage that ‘Prevention is better than cure’ is just as applicable to the MOT world as it is anywhere else. In this respect, encouraging your customers to take preventative measures pre-MOT can ensure that they avoid the type of remedial repair work that comes as a result of a failed test.
Cleaning the cat
Putting a catalytic converter cleaning product, such as Cataclean, into the engine can bring about a host of benefits, as the product can help to lower petrol consumption and, crucially, reduce emissions. In fact, a 60% drop in emissions levels is not uncommon when using Cataclean on a quarterly basis.
Suitable for petrol, diesel and hybrid vehicles, the solution is poured directly into the fuel tank – ideally when it is a quarter full – and the car engine should then be run for about 20 minutes. More fuel can be added after this.
A results business
Last year, PMM published the results of a test carried out by an independent technician on behalf of the magazine. He put Cataclean into one petrol and two diesel cars and, on all three occasions, the emissions were reduced.
The opacity value in the first model – a 2005 diesel Audi A4 – dropped from 3.07 to 2.19 while the CO2 value in the second test car – an Audi A6 petrol – dropped from 0.53% to 0.19% in a fast idle test. Further evidence was provided by the third test car, where the opacity figure dropped from 2.15 to 1.11 in a 1.9 diesel Passat.
At the end of the test the technician concluded that he would use Cataclean as a service option upgrade at his garage in the West Midlands.
DPF developments
To add further credence to the use of Cataclean, the recently announced changes to the DPF MOT inspection laws have outlawed the ‘removal’ of these components from the vehicle. Therefore, DPF related issues must be dealt with using ‘best practice’ techniques.
One of the reasons for the rise in prominence of ‘removal’ services is due to car drivers becoming frustrated at the expense and inconvenience that a blocked filter can cause, particularly in the event that the car is not being driven in a way that allows the filter to naturally ‘regenerate’.
Cataclean can help to alleviate this issue. As long as there is still ‘gas flow’, a treatment can dissolve the soot accumulation in the DPF to the extent that it will regenerate. Furthermore, regular use of the product can help to prevent this extensive build-up in the first place.
