Law reguarding CATS

Titch

Titch

Micra K11ng
Hi,
Was out tonight and after taking my lass home i was driving back. Now, i have to go through the roundabout, but tonight i noticed that there was a policeman standing in the entrance way to a shop. Now i never saw him till i was actually on the roundabout, and i wasn't doing anything wrong so never really bothered.
Anyway, i turned left, looked in my mirror and see that he's taking my plate down.
Now - i had done nothing wrong!! I wasn't driving fast (already learnt my lesson for that one), had my lights on and was indicating that i was going left! So was wondering why were they being shady and hiding in a dark entrance, and then taking my plates.
Could it been because of my exhaust? Now i used to have a De-cat pipe, but now i've got my CAT back in, so surely there is nothing wrong with that?
Just wondering, not wanting them here first thing telling me i was causing loads of noise etc, when all i was doing was driving home (slowly and quietly).
Cheers - Titch :)
 
Are you 100% sure it was a police car? Why dont you call your local police station, they should beable to tell you. Just say you saw somone acting suspucisouly copying down something as cars passed.
 
car's wont always pass an emissions test with a cat in though, even if the cat is fine. My super s didnt with the janspeed manifold on. Unless that cat was knackeed and the primary one was ok ?
 
ive got my MOT soon and will be puttign car back to standard... do you guys reccon i should drop in the middle cat aswell as the standard manifold...

the manifold is already on
 
Wont do any halm will it! anything to get it through the MOT, you can always remove it afterwards

But why would a police officer take down details of your car regarding cats etc! Unless its exceptionally noisy and sounding unhealthy, how can he physically see how bad the emissions are on your car! They're probably just taking down details of boy racer style cars in the area and keeping them on file or something - or checking into your past for outstanding offences maybe!? etc
 
It doesnt matter if your car has a cat on or not. The only difference on a cat test is the emission levels.

I believe is must be less that 200ppm HC and less than 0.5% CO.
 
kristian said:
ive got my MOT soon and will be puttign car back to standard... do you guys reccon i should drop in the middle cat aswell as the standard manifold...

the manifold is already on
Click to expand...

if the one of the manifold is there you wont need the second one
 
He took details of you - by law you have a right to know why! Freedom of information act titch! you should know about this :p Mr copper wannabe lol
 
hughes_16v said:
if the one of the manifold is there you wont need the second one
Click to expand...

this is not always rite,,,cars fail MOT's all the time ,totaly standard with all their cats on,,,they dont last forever :)
 
If there is no CAT but it passes an emissions test there is nothing the MOT station can do but advise you that the cat is not present - they cant fail your MOT
 
if it was fitted it must have one in for an mot, and im pretty sure it must be in all the time for emmissions etc otherwise they wudnt have them on would they lol
 
K10Daz said:
He took details of you - by law you have a right to know why! Freedom of information act titch! you should know about this :p Mr copper wannabe lol
Click to expand...

The Freedom of Information Act, including the one in Scotland, doesn't apply to information about individuals, unless they are part of one of the many organisations it covers (e.g finding out the performance of a local GP).

It's the Data Protection Act which counts, and you can request the information that the police have on the PNC. However, you have to tell them what you want to know, you have to pay for it, wait a long time, and there are plenty of exemptions.
 
Actually, if the car originally had a cat on it when it left the factory it must have one, regardless of emissions. The exception to the rule is the fact that some cars werent officially made after 92, but they may be some in 93 with L registration and have a cat.

If the MOT centres list says theres supposed to be a cat on the car and there isnt itll fail.

max CO level is 0.20%, max HC level 200ppm both at fast idle. Natural idle max CO is 0.30% i believe
 
If ur car passes its emissions test they cannot fail its mot cat or not. Im probably reading from the old book here as iv not seen the new computer system in action yet because iv been at the training centre this week and the system got put in last week when i was off
 
This may be a dumb thing to say, but why are you worried about your CAT being in? A policeman took your registration plate number while the "sleeping policeman" was checking the undersides of all the cars to see if there's one on there lol

Sorry, I don't see how someone taking your reg has got anything to do with a CAT being in place. I fail to see how you possibly linked the 2.........
 
Sounds like a weirdo to me, hes probably a number plate spotter or something.

More likely is what was suggested earlier, theyre just noting down plates of modded cars. Could be doing a tax check on it too. Its great when you see the police protecting the people in these ways...
 
ahhhh cats, lovly critters them felines! i have one my sefl, calls 'im self Jess has 3 legs.! nah man all i know is all cars after 1992 MUST have a cat converter iirc! :D
 
Nah - wasn't meaning that it was anything to do with my CAT - was just wondering what the law was reguarding them as it went through my mind when i saw him taking my plate :)
 
MOT Questions & Answers

Type in UK MOT test in your browser, go to MOT Questions & Answers. Near the end of the second page there question regarding cats. Not required at all to pass the test, apparently, even if the car came equipped with them. However, as motor was designed to pass emissions test with them/it, it is unlikely it would pass emission test "for the year the car was built" without them/it.

Quite a few other questions and answers on those pages that
might also be of interest to MSC menbers.

Cheers,

S
 
RIK said:
this is not always rite,,,cars fail MOT's all the time ,totaly standard with all their cats on,,,they dont last forever :)
Click to expand...

true but the 2nd cat doesnt really change the emissions, when i was at college i covered emissions testing, i tested my car and the workshop technicians said is the car running because the emission where brilliant, when i removed my 2nd cat the emissions where still the same! a friend of mine has a nova 1991, by law it shouldnt have a cat but he failed on emission because it wasnt there
 
This side of the coin involves the importation of a vehicle the Ministry of transport know nothing about. I drive a 1995 Mitsi FTO which came with a cat on. I put a straight through De-cat Mongoose exhaust on it and it passed the MOT. I also know of someone who owns a 97 FTO, he also passed with ease. The law came in around 92-93 and it's true you do have to have a cat on for the MOT, but not for imports. For example, a Galant has a V6 like the FTO. That's where the similarities end. If they can't find it in the MOT book they can't go to the "nearest" car with a similar engine and have to pass it on the lowest possible reading even though the readings may be higher, hence giving your car a good thrash before the MOT to get the emissions down.

HTHs
 
MOT Website: no cat necessary

From the MOT Website, Questions & Answers, page 2

"There is no necessity to have a catalytic converter on any vehicle. However, your vehicle will be MOT tested as if it had one and it is unlikely that it will pass the emissions part of the MOT without the cat. the reason being that the engine and catalytic converter were all part of the same integral design to meet emission requirements when the vehicle was manufactured_MOTT"

S
 
yep there is no legal requirement to have a cat fitted to your car what ever the year *AT THE MOMENT*
As long as it passes emissions its fine. Its when it does not pass emissions the entire car becomes road un-worth - cat or no cat...
 
Thought so, but the new computerised MOTs you have to enter the serial number of the cat into the MOT computer - suppose you could have your cat sitting in the boot if you know the MOT Tester :lol:
 
errm... serial number of a cat...

i removed mine the other month off my primera and i didnt see a SN on my car... infact a lot of cats ive seen dont have SN's which are easily visable - IE the one in the later K11 exhaust manifolds

i think thats a myth...
 
There will be a diamond number on the CAT and a longer part number - thats how they order the same one for your car! Serial number - part number - its all the same kinda thing. Not a myth - i work in the place
 

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