I have just tried to get my Beat MOT'd and it failed because a previous owner had wired the spoiler light up as a fog lamp. The MOT people thoought it wasn't bright enough.
Does the Beat come with a fog light? should it just be a case of rewiring? The mechanic I am using suggested rewiring the spoiler light to the brakes (as I assume it is supposed to be and putting a new fog light unit on the bumper, which I am reluctant to do.
Any suggestions?
Jenny B
P.S. I've had to take the car to a Honda dealer because it faied on the emissions too. They hhave told me that I should have let them service it because if the pplugs and filters are not Honda ones they may damage the car. Is this true?
Many people take out one of the reversing bulbs, fit a red one and rewire it to the fogs. The beat has no fog lamp as standard, as it doesnt get foggy in japan.... (eh oz?)
The other option (and the easiest short term) is to fit one just above the exhaust on the bumper to get it through its MOT, then decide how you want it permanently.
As for the oil and plugs.....hmmmmm!
Providing you get the right plugs, you will be fitting the same ones as honda would, just in a different box! Not sure if there is another manufacturer for the oil filter though. I'm sure Steve will tell us all we need to know!
The most FOG I have ever seen is in the eyes of students of English! But your right there isn't much to contend with. good luck with the car Jen! Paul's right on the money I think, as to the emmission and genuine parts when it comes to emmission levels I'd say genuine parts has ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with it, but again thats just my humble opinion.
Thanks for your responses chaps. The light unit shown on the spoiler looks just like mine.
The worst of my problem appears to be the emissions, Honda say they can't get them down to an acceptable level and that the engine is probably beyond its servicable life! I don't understand this as I have been runnning her for a year now with no problems, except I thought she could be running a bit rich as she cuts out when you first re start her when still hot. I am beside myself that I may never drive her again, and feel that now she is at the Honda Dealership they have a licence to print money as I have to believe anything they say!
I can't beleive that anyone would say that about the E07 engine I think they are just afraid to tackle the job. Emmissions in my understanding would relate directly to;
1) The cataytic converter, those are a little pricey but can be replaced (you might get some new substrate off Adam if he still has the guts of his lol), its a bolt on unit not to much fiddly work. The reason these go out is overheating basically, the active substrate just runs out of OOmph! or is heated and cooled rapidly so many times it can become like powdered charcoal and inefficient.
2) The car could be running rich through poor adjustment or built up gunk in the control valve and that isn't really a major job, in fact its one of the Beat characteristic flaws. The valve is easy to find, take the cover off and get into it with some brakeparts cleaner or carb cleaner and a cotton bud.
3) Highly carbonized exhaust gas could be a sign of piston ring wear, the rings stop oil leaking into the cylinder where there is only supposed to be commpressed air/fuel, if oil gets in it burns in the explosion and you would notice smoke from the tailpipe usually. Piston ring replacement is not expensive because of the parts just where they are in the engine means you have to move alot to get at them, in the long run we will all have to do this. For them time being you could try one of the multitude of engine sealants made, as a rule I like the STP product range, although WAKOS has a great reputation.
All of these are fixable problems, don't take their advise is my opinion. beyond its servicable life my a....se! Hope this at least gives you some ammo....
If you are worried about getting ripped off and can get over the pennines to cheshire, consider using stuart Graham honda (01270 780300) in nantwich.
Providing your car is booked in for an MOT, then you can drive it to a test center. They worked extensively on mine, setting up timing and emmisions and it runs really well.
Thanks again for your help and advice. The car is now MOT'd.
Apparently whoever had it before had taken the bulb out of the diagnostics light, shame on who ever that was! When it was replaced they were able to see the problem and fix the emissions, also sorted the fog light without too much cost.
The bad news is that it showed another fault which is now being investigated. Something to do with the Crank positioning?
Could incorrect timing cause other fault codes? I know this may sound like a silly question but my sisters car gets the fault code 41 oxygen sensor heater. I have checked the timing and it is out.
Thanks for pointing me to the other threads, very useful info. I will pass some of it on to the garage as they were still looking into it last night.
Looks like it is going to cost me as I doubt if it is the timing, thats what it went in for in the first place. I was looking for someone to change the CAM belt soon anyway, I've got 81.5km on the clock.
I was hoping to get to Stoke to meet some of you this weekend but doesn't look like the Beat will be back on the road, shame!
me has no real experince of beats yet till mine breaks lol but think bout this get a pen and paper draw a fault chart ...... at the top of the chart put cam belt for timing every thing else works from that ... draw out all ur sensors and what they are for work out whick one does what job and why and which one follows on the chart sometimes it helps me.
Fog Light
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