Never a straight line

[BDA]

I see hot it works over there! An hour test is ridiculous! There must be a lot of places that have that expensive rolling road dyno to handle all the tests! Driving the car on the road and waiting for it to acquire satellites would drag it out further and expose them to liability in the event of an accident (well, maybe not - they are the government!).

Depending on where you live, your old Europa may not be tested at all. I'm not clear on all the details, but a lot of the testing was related to emissions and was done through the OBD port rather than tailpipe sniffers, etc. Since we don't have one, they pretty much forget about us. I'm pretty sure they check lights, brakes, etc. manually on the rest of the cars but I guess there are so few cars on the road that are pre-OBD they don't worry about even that for our cars. It almost wouldn't matter because the guy performing the test is probably wearing boots and wouldn't be able to drive the car in the first place!

Now in some states, they don't do inspections at all regardless of the age of the vehicle. That makes a lot of sense to me. I think the inspection regime is just another way to tax us as I doubt there are a statistically insignificant number of cars that could not pass the emissions or "safety" tests they perform now. The times I've been caught, there would be a CEL code that was unrelated to emissions or safety but that had to be cleared for 30 days before they could do a good scan.

Before they changed the law, I had to have my Europa inspected and one of the things they checked for was exhaust leaks. My the secondary tubes were slip fit into the exhaust pipe so they leaked there. Well, that failed me! I tried to explain that the "leak" was behind the cabin and in any event, it was only about two feet in front of a BIGGER "leak" - the tailpipe, but to no avail. I had to get some high temp silicone goo and hose clamps to seal the "leak". 

Good luck with your replacement speedo should you need one. I'm hearing that the speedo gears in the tranny are expected to fail and they are no longer available. If you have the standard rear suspension, it seems like it would be difficult to find a place for a sensor to sense a target. Maybe you could fabricate something that would be welded to the inner U-joint half. In any case, you will likely have to get pretty creative!

[EuropaTC]

   - now the failure because you have an exhaust leak a couple of feet away from the open end of the system does have all the hallmarks of a UK test.....  here you can fail for a chip in the windscreen if it's in your line of sight or if the bulb in your speedo isn't working for example.

Actually I misled you on the time. I did a check this morning and it's officially a 45 minute test, but whereas at one time you used to drive in and wait, now they usually tell you to go shopping or for a coffee while it's done. (they have to warm the engine for emissions testing)  Not every garage can do tests, they need approved guys with a rolling road/brake tester and the whole set-up must be linked over the internet to the DVLA to automatically record the numbers from brake testing, emissions, etc.

If you guys are interested in what's involved, this is the official description and there are several "MoT testing" forums kicking around which have qualified guys offering advice.

http://www.transportoffice.gov.uk/crt/doitonline/bl/mottestingmanualsandguides/mottestingmanualsandguides.htm

In truth the whole thing is silly. It was originally introduced because we had pre-war wrecks on the road with holes in the floor, no brakes, etc. So a good idea and no problem with brakes/steering/suspension checks. But last year they changed the law and if your car is pre 1960 it no longer needs a test. Hence the very cars they introduced the test for - rod brakes, lousy suspension, wobbly steering - are now exempt.....

[4129R]

Realistically, how many miles a year will a pre 1960 car be driven?

I doubt that many MOT testers know all the rules for the pre 1960 cars. Do they allow flippers instead of indicators? No seat belts. Do they allow mechanical dipping (2CV headlights)? Remember the vacuum powered windscreen wipers on the 100E, or was it the E93A?

[EuropaTC]

Realistically, how many miles a year will a pre 1960 car be driven?

I doubt that many MOT testers know all the rules for the pre 1960 cars. Do they allow flippers instead of indicators? No seat belts. Do they allow mechanical dipping (2CV headlights)? Remember the vacuum powered windscreen wipers on the 100E, or was it the E93A?

I think we're in complete agreement, I can't see a pre '60 car being driven very much at all. Those that are driven at all probably reside with enthusiasts and are in better mechanical condition now that when new.   

It's my age I'm afraid, I'm just having a grouchy day and the 2012 MoT test being applied to my 1970's car is one of those buttons.....

[3929R]

I'm in Utah, USA and vehicles with model years 4, 8, and 10 years old require a safety inspection. Over 10 years old and you need safety done every year. Emissions tests are required only for our 3 most populated and polluted counties and then it's every other year for years 2 to 6, and every year after your car is 6 years old......

BUT a group of vintage car enthusiasts lobbied the state legislature a few years ago and successfully passed a bill that allows for vintage car registration which is exempt from all testing! Older collector cars (not available for daily/regularly driven vehicles) can get a special license plate with lower fees and NO testing requirements. 

[BDA]

Just a minor update...

In spite of the fact that I had Nisonger check out all my gauges and I had my alternator rebuilt too, the ammeter has always bounced since I got my car back on the road in '99. I checked the KB (http://lotus-europa2.com/ekb.html - in case your unfamiliar with it) and the general consensus was that it was the voltage regulator. A few years ago, I had my alternator rebuilt again - this time it was over $300 (if I had known he was going to go to that expense and trouble, I would have gotten another alternator!). On the way to the LOG in Asheville, the ammeter bounced unless the headlights were on and then it was pegged on the + side. After seeing it bounce for a while, I pretty much tuned it out.

I converted almost all my lights to LEDs (http://www.lotuseuropa.org/LotusForum/index.php?topic=891.0). Then the other day I was at the Post Office sending some mail (any excuse to drive it!) and it died at the mailbox. I pushed it off to a parking place and started checking connections. Everything looked good but then I noticed the high tension leads on the battery were not secured as well as I thought. I tightened them down, drove home and then cleaned the posts and the clamps and tightened them properly. Since then, I noticed the ammeter has stopped bouncing and it is steady just on the + side of 0. Even turning the headlights doesn't move it that much!

It seems highly unlikely that installing the LEDs made the difference since I would expect any difference they made to be noticeable only while the LED was on. I don't believe that I never had the battery clamps properly tightened but the lose cables do seem like the most likely culprit. Since electrical systems are only one of the things know little about, I expect someone will be able to definitively analyze the real reason my ammeter bounced, but on the other hand, I wonder if it is just a continuation of a progressively happier car. I didn't have any real trouble on the way to Asheville but I noticed some minor issues. I don't remember specifically what they were but I did notice that they were better on the way home! It's almost as if the car gets better the more I drive it! That's my story and I'm sticking to it - till the next time it breaks!

[BDA]

Well, things were going well for me and my Europa. I drove it whenever it was practical. This Thanksgiving, I drove with headlights (Halogen) for an extended period of time (probably about an hour) for the first time. Everything went well till I was almost home when I noticed that the headlights worked but the dash lights were out (they might have been dim, I don't remember but they are LEDs now so they shouldn't be dim). Monkeying with the switch would get one or the other to work but not both. The headlight switch I have is a replacement I got from Banks because I broke the original one (I'm too embarrassed to say how). I believe this is what Richard sent me (http://www.holden.co.uk/displayproduct.asp?sg=1&pgCode=020&sgName=Electrical&pgName=Switches&agCode=0508&agName=Push-Pull+Switches&pCode=31126). It was a little wonky in that there seemed to be a lot of slop in the action of the switch but always seemed to work in the past. I parked the car in the garage and made a note to check on it later.

A few days later I went to drive the car somewhere and it would not even try to activate the starter solenoid, but it did activate the electronic speedo and IIRC, it did turn on the electrical fuel pump. I checked the voltage at the battery and it was low. Hmmm... I happened to have a spare battery so I put that in and got similar results. I notice that the dash light over the ventilation switches would come on when I pulled the headlight switch  so I know that I'm getting juice to the switch. I don't have any blown fuses. I didn't see anything obvious under the dash. The starter still seems to be hooked up. There has been no smell of melting insulation and I didn't see any of the smoke leak out of the wiring. Lately neither the speedo nor the fuel pump responded to the ignition being turned on, but the horn compressor did spin and dash light did come on. I figured that was because of the low voltage condition. At this point, I am suspicious of my headlight switch and I'm ready to blame it for a short that could be draining my battery however I don't see how that would cause it not to activate the solenoid. I'm about ready to take the dash out (partially) to inspect it more completely because I can only be upside down under it for a short time (even with the front wheels jacked up) before I feel sick (maybe I should put a hatch in both foot wells to use as a way to access the wiring behind the dash!) but before I go to all that trouble, I thought I'd see if anybody had any other ideas.

Thanks in advance!

[blasterdad]

How are your battery cables? Corroded ends will do exactly wat you are describing, only allow minimal voltage in & out.....

[BDA]

Thanks Blaster but battery cables are in good shape and tight on the posts. 

[blasterdad]

Hmmm. Ground to engine or frame maybe?
You didn't feed your Maugui after midnight did you...

[BDA]

Maugui? That's it! I lost my Maugui! ...What's a Maugui? 

I don't THINK I've lost any grounds. Certainly not to the engine. I have a pretty heavy cable from the tranny to the frame one side has a stop nut and the other side is safety wired. The odd thing to me is that it was working fine (except for what seems like a headlight switch problem) one day and now this...

I clearly have to do more poking around with it but it is SO uncomfortable to get my head under the dash and taking it off is such a HUGE pain. Maybe there is something I can do to make it less uncomfortable... If I find something, I'll post it.

[jbcollier]

Work through it methodically.

Battery connections first

power feed to ignition switch (through ammeter)

feed to fuse box

fuse box connections (very common source of trouble)

junctions under dash

etc

Just follow the trail that the wiring diagram lays out.

[EuropaTC]

My first checks with similar problems is to check the voltage at the battery and if it's not 100% then I charge it up and see what happens next.   Next step is to see if there's actually a constant current drain so disconnect the earth and route it all through a meter to see what's happening. A modern radio will draw some current but unless you have modern alarms, etc, I can't think of anything else that should.

If the bad news is that you do have a current drain, then all you can do is watch the meter and try one circuit at a time. Maybe something like the courtesy light wiring which are always on ?

(I usually start with the last one that I "fixed"    )

Brian

[BDA]

Thanks for the tips, Blaster, JB, & Brian. There just isn't any other way to debug electrical problems than probe circuits, is there? I was hoping my situation would ring a bell with someone and "short circuit" the process (to coin a phrase!), but it looks like I'll just have to brute force it. I'll probably start pulling the dash board off sometime after Christmas. 

Merry Christmas, Everyone!

[blasterdad]

Maugui? That's it! I lost my Maugui! ...What's a Maugui? 

This is the handsome little devil of which I speak,
if you feed one after midnight he'll turn into a Gremlin!