Put a couple of fuel system cleaners in the tank and then thrash the pants off it before the test and it will more than likely go through the emissions test

 

 

We get ours from a company called AMC but there are plenty on the market....Redex,Forte, Wynns, motal...just use whatever you can get hold of.

 

Wow, I've seen most bugeyes and some early blobs have suffered from the usual rot, now hawkeyes are going too.

And yet people still pay ever more stupid money for Imprezas!

 

Not for rusty ones they don’t

 

 

Everyone likes a happy ending. Good luck with finding a decent garage.

 

With regards to the emissions I would be prepared to bet that your pre-cat lambda sensor has gone faulty. I had exactly the same on my 2006 hawkeye WRX and Subaru kept telling me the CAT was shagged. I said it was 2 years old and no chance and after me continually telling them to change the pre-cat lambda sensor (the one in the headers) they did so and it flew through the emissions test.


They charged me £180 for the MOT for the time THEY wasted not listening to me about the lambda sensor.


Make sure you use a genuine Denso lambda sensor when you replace it.

 

 

Superb result

 

I'm pretty sure i was led to believe that they should pass an emissions test with either one of the cats left in place, this was years ago before i removed my centre pipe cat, mines certainly never struggled to pass an emissions test,

 

Dave. You don't say which emissions you car is failing on. It's very important in diagnosing the fault. Is it carbon monoxide (CO)?

I also have a Hawkeye, albeit an STI. I have trouble getting it through the MoT on emissions every year. Like you, the Lambda is reported fine.

In 2016 the emission problems stemed from a dodgy MAF - the MoT folk used diagnostics and found out it was reading a really weird air temperature. They changed the MAF with a replacement from Eurocarparts and the car passed but ran like a total dog! I quickly obtained a genuine MAF from Subaru and the car ran like an absolute dream! Cost me 400 quid though.

Last year it failed on emissions again. One bottle of catalytic converter cleaner later, it sailed through.

I thought I'd test the water for this year and submitted the car for an emissions check in January (i.e. not an MoT) having used 2 bottles of cat cleaner first. It was miles out on carbon monoxide. The MoT station thought most likely the cat is shot, but could also be fouled-up plugs. The plugs were changed a few days ago but came out in good condition, so it looks like the sports cat in my cobrasport system is shot.

Now, chatting with Len at Subaru4you earlier this week, he tells me a lot of the cheaper sports cats don't last very long before they become marginal on emissions (only 2 years!!!!). Hayward and Scott do a decent sports cat which he showed me. It's about double the size of the cat in my Cobrasport system, but apparently H&S cats are much more expensive.

I've got fed up farting about with emissions and sports cats, so I'm just gonna have a standard cat pipe fitted for MoT purposes.

Cheers

 

Try look for a Prodrive sports cat downpipe. Mine still sails through MOT's. Best of both worlds.

 

Can bad remap have an effect on emissions?
over fuelling?
not saying your car has that but just interested if it is a factor.

 

yeah, prodrive map was known to just slightly raise the boost and dump masses of fuel in.

 

I'd still bet it was the pre cat lambda causing problems. The Subaru garage told me my lambda was fine and not at fault. When they finally swapped mine out for another the car literally sailed through.

 

I'll second this ... I had a similar fail on my MOT emissions last year (Hawkeye WRX). Was down to faulty lambda sensor, and once replaced, sailed through emissions.

 

I had to pay Subaru £180 in labour charges for them to waste time checking things and continually telling me the Lambda sensor was just fine on my car and it needed a new downpipe, even though from the 1st day I'd told them I suspected it was the lambda sensor at fault. When they finally gave up they took my advice and changed the lambda sensor on mine for it to not just pass but fly through the MOT.


They still charged me for all their time trying things I told them were not at fault. How nice of them! When I went in to collect the car they asked me if I wanted a job! lol.


But still made me pay £180. Nice!