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Some changes to the MOT regarding HID & ECU's

Dave Docwra

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Apr 24, 2010
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There are to be some changes to the MOT test from 1st January 2012 which are being introduced in response to European Commission Directive 2010/48/EU of the 5th July 2010 and which will effect those with aftermarket HID headlights and remapped ECUs:

4.1.4 Compliance with requirements:
(a) Lamp, emitted colour, position or intensity not in accordance with the requirements
(b) Products on lens or light source which obviously reduce light intensity or change emitted colour
(c) Light source and lamp not compatible

4.1.5. Levelling devices (where mandatory):
(a) Device not operating.
(b) Manual device cannot be operated from driver’s seat.

4.1.6 Headlamp cleaning device (where mandatory):
Device not operating.

For anyone with a remap, section 6.1.9 may be relevant.

6.1.9 Engine performance:
(a) Control unit illegal modified.
(b) Illegal engine modification.

(by 'illegal', it is assumed that they mean changed/programmed differently from OEM specifications)

There will also be a new check on the general condition of the wiring:

4.11. Electrical wiring
(a) Wiring insecure or not adequately secured.
(b) Wiring deteriorated.
(c) Damaged or deteriorated insulation

and on the function of airbag and seat belt pre-tensioner systems:

7.1.4. Safety belt Pre-tensioners:
Pre-tensioner obviously missing or not suitable with the vehicle.

7.1.5. Airbag:
(a) Airbags obviously missing or not suitable with the vehicle.
(b) Airbag obviously non-operative.

7.1.6. SRS Systems:
SRS MIL indicates any kind of failure of the system.

Some of the above won't be popular with some around here I know, but VOSA have confirmed that the necessary changes to the MOT test schedule will be introduced and from 1st January 2012 vehicles that fall foul of the new requirements will fail the test.

The biggest change is they will now be able to detect re-maps, and car will fail the MOT if this is the case.

One assumes this has been brought in because a lot of people who re-map their cars don't inform their insurance company.
 
I would be very interested in what constitutes an illegal control unit. In the world of sportsbikes, every 2nd bike has a power commander fitted. All my bike have had them to smooth the torque curve - made the bikes much nicer to ride.
 
I wonder how one would stand if one has unwittingly purchased a vehicle with some kind of ECU modification and has been driving it around none the wiser :think: Until your MOT man says......and then what :?: :!: I guess you'd no longer be insured to drive the car home and the car would fail the MOT as a result :| :think:

edit - I'm sure that I've read that those Tune-It type of up grades can just be turned off allowing the car to revert to OME settings :)
 
So does this mean that a remap is okay so long as you've declared it to your insurance company? I wonder how they (the MOT testers) will detect some remaps when even the main dealers equipment cant.., :think:

Many good remaps are able to to be switched back to to stock via the OBD port. Would this still fail the MOT :think:

I guess this change is of the least relevance to LC owners on the whole but the modified car scene is going to be very affected.

Lucky I just MOTd the car then ;)
 
I think the HIDs is a good thing - after market ones fitted to cars with the numbers 2, 0, 6 as well as c,o,r,s,a are an annoyance at the moment. I want one of Chas's remote controlled spot so when he's driving behind me I can blind him.

The ECU thing is a bit boring though but, I had an Audi in SA which was flashed via the OBDII port and come service service time I could remove the flash and all was well. Another way to beat it would be to just buy a scrapped ECU and use that a week before it was due an MOT. Boring though...

I was reading about a firm which has / will started supplying ECUs which are tamper proof.
http://www.elektor.com/news/tamper-proo ... paign=news
It would be interesting to see which manufactures take this one because you would be (would you be?) excluding a large part of your customers.
Mind you, out of all the Audi S? owners, how many tweak them?
 
The ecu thing is a bit of myth, they wont be checking apparently - not in the UK anyway. Euroland they do in some countries.
 
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i believe this has been doing the rounds for some time, and each time its dismissed as not actually coming into effect.

for starters there would be no way to get the ecu testing equipment round to every single back street garage
 
be interesting to see if this really happens. tbh i'll just put my oe bulbs back in if i fail on my hid kit ( the best mod i've done on my 120 by far) for the re test, and my new lindop box can be turned off by disconnecting the earth :mrgreen:

i can't see how they'll detect remaps, the lr dealers never detected the one on my disco.

imo they should concentrate on the more safety critical items like tyres, brakes, corrosion.
 
or they could force you to go to select garages to have them tested, like they e/test here. i have to drive 2 hours each way to get an e/test.

it isn't like they care about how easy it is for the owner. :think:
 
I wonder if an lpg conversion would come under the same umbrella as an ecu modification? I can see there'll probably have to be reams of info to read through in order to define what actually is being targeted here. Is it about performance upgrades or is it about making sure every vehicle still will hit its designed emission targets?
 
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