My expensive car incident. Advice please.........

goldspanners

this still has nothing to do with the engine,high emissions doesnt mean worn engine,it could mean,catalytic convertor,fuel mixture,air filter,lambda sensor,anything at all.
i once took my old capri in for an mot,it had to be pushed on to the ramps and jump started for the emissions test.
it never failed on any of these problems (it failed on the several holes in the floor LOL).

tomstickland

It clearly has something to do with the engine, since the engine produces the exhaust gasses. Remove the engine and they're not going to do the MOT.

PasturesNew

TheImportanceOfBeingIdle wrote: »

You'll find the engine is very relevant t the MoT. How else do they check emissions? Fart down the exhaust and measure the time it takes to exit?

You know what I meant. They couldn't give a toss if it breaks down on the way out of the bay. They're not interested in the engine's ability to perform the function of being a handy vehicle, but only interested in using it to perform some of the tasks required within the MoT, like testing the brakes and emissions.

booklover

An MoT is just to make sure you're not driving a dangerous car on the roads.
It is there to check brakes, tyres, wiper blades. Things that make the car safe!

B**** all to do with the engine. The engine is not checked and is irrelevant to the MoT.

I can't believe you asked the question.

OK PasturesNew so sorry I asked the question, I was advised by a friend to ask - I didn't think of it myself. Anyway, no need to tell me off is there??: question:

I think I've been through enough after the actual event, :sad: not to mention financially. I just got my car back, well my hubby collected it, and great we are now £ 800 :money: worse off!!

Ok I know before anyone says anything - had a choice fix the car or get a new one, well we decided to just keep this one for another few months as it has just passed the MOT.

Thanks for all your help everyone. Look I don't know much about cars, and I just passed my test 4.5 years ago at the grand old age of 40 but surely there no harm in asking questions here is there???

Booklover

booklover

Sorry forgot to say that I had the engine head reconditioned, and 16 new valves, new water pump, new timing belt was installed and engine was tested.


booklover

anewman

booklover wrote: »

Sorry forgot to say that I had the engine head reconditioned, and 16 new valves, new water pump, new timing belt was installed and engine was tested.

You could have got a good scrap head (would have valves) for a lot less than £800. No way around a new belt and water pump though.

missk249

If I ever had a 6 year old car that was giving me those amounts of problems, it would have been scrapped by now!

I have a twenty year old escort convertible and it sits out in all weathers and it stars first time, every time, no rust, or anything at all. Its because cars are so readily available for such low prices now that they are not properly made to last, well thats my POV anyway.

anewman

missk249 wrote: »

If I ever had a 6 year old car that was giving me those amounts of problems, it would have been scrapped by now!

It's just a snapped timing belt it seems. Unfortunately these things happen, especially when people buy cars then get rid of them. If the previous owner did not get the cam belt changed, and the documents/service history was not passed on, the new owner may be unaware of the need to get the timing belt changed. Yes, changing the timing belt is quite pricey, but it is a preventative measure which reduces the risk of breaking down and more expensive repairs. My guess is this happens quite alot. At least OP has new belt and doesn't need to worry about similar happening again for the prescribed life of the belt.

missk249 wrote: »

I have a twenty year old escort convertible and it sits out in all weathers and it stars first time, every time, no rust,
or anything at all. Its because cars are so readily available for such low prices now that they are not properly made to last, well thats my POV anyway.

Cars can last forever with endless repairs, welding etc etc. However, you can buy second hand cars for next to nothing (they tend to end up worth nothing, you can't pay people to take them off you, and then eventually they go up in value, my guess is your Escort Convertible will be worth some money to an enthusiast/collector now) so it's usually easier and cheaper to scrap and start again once it is going to cost alot to repair a car and make it safe. And now scrap metal is worth so much there might even be money in scrapping a car.

Again maintenance is important, you can get underbody protection to help prevent underbody corrosion (older cars may benefit from it), but I doubt many people do. You can spray stuff like waxoyl in the sills etc to help prevent those rusting. You can wash and wax. I guess you could argue that once you've gone to all that effort and cost that something else will probably go wrong, and the money you spent trying to prevent problems will have been wasted.

goldspanners

so the op has only been driving for 4 1/2 years.and this is your first motoring problem,thats good going!

iolanthe07

Am I alone in thinking that actually the OP did quite well for £800, given garage charges these days?