RogerThat Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 Has anyone had a diesel particulate filter fitted to their vehicle in order to be able to drive inside the Low Emission Zone without having to pay £100 quid a day? Any issues to report? How much is the annual service of said filter? Any paperwork need to be supplied to TFL each year? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muswell Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 I looked into it 6 years ago when the reprieve was coming to an end. I gave up quite quickly when I could see that it was going to cost an arm and the proverbial and it wasn't worth it for a 10 year old van. So I bought a new one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 I had this exact same quandary with my works 1999 tranny which I bought new and was in good condition for its age, I investigated the DPF route, and discovered that the conversion would cost 4k minimum, plus there's a annual service requirement *-) ........ So being a natural lateral thinker, and dedicated Luddite :D .......I replaced my Fanny's 15 year old diesel with a 40 year old V6 and now I'm LEZ compliant B-) ..............and one day my Fanny will get there and back without any AA input...........Current bill's are North of 7k 8-).......although the actual conversion was only 2.5k including a automatic transmission :-> ...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RogerThat Posted February 7, 2016 Author Share Posted February 7, 2016 Alas, a new(er) vehicle is completely out of my budget range :( (truth be told, I've gotten quite attached to this one and I already broke the bank to get it!) Understood re the DPF cost, I've been quoted just over £2,500 (fitted). Horrendously expensive, but that equates to about 25 days in London if I were to pay £100 a day. I usually spend around 15 days a year there (spread out over the space of a year) so I'd get my money back in under two years (if that logic applies) and it'd be great to spend it in my trusty motorhome instead of taking the car and rocking up at the local Premier Inn :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keninpalamos Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 A cheaper way would be to get your town council to charge £100 every time a London zone registered vehicle drove into your town and they could hand that to you to give to Boris on your next trip to London ?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muswell Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 RogerThat - 2016-02-07 7:48 PM Alas, a new(er) vehicle is completely out of my budget range :( (truth be told, I've gotten quite attached to this one and I already broke the bank to get it!) Understood re the DPF cost, I've been quoted just over £2,500 (fitted). Horrendously expensive, but that equates to about 25 days in London if I were to pay £100 a day. I usually spend around 15 days a year there (spread out over the space of a year) so I'd get my money back in under two years (if that logic applies) and it'd be great to spend it in my trusty motorhome instead of taking the car and rocking up at the local Premier Inn :) I think the risk is that your van would still not be OK on Euro 3 NOX emissions and NOX is now as big an issue as particulates since parts of London exceed the limits by a huge amount. I reckon the restrictions will have to get tighter. I would enjoy the delights of Premier Inn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayjsj Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 I think Pelmetman had the right idea, get a half decent mechanic to drop you a compatable petrol engine into your van, and get an LPG conversion at the same time. A big lazy petrol engine would be powerful enough to stand the drop in power of using LPG, and your fuel would only be approx 60 ppl. The DPF cost of 2500 , is ridiculous. Indeed all DPF s are ridiculous, as this is a CITY problem, not a countrywide problem. It's the Buses and taxis that need DPF 's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayjsj Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 keninpalamos - 2016-02-08 9:12 AM A cheaper way would be to get your town council to charge £100 every time a London zone registered vehicle drove into your town and they could hand that to you to give to Boris on your next trip to London ?? As an ex.Londoner, who hasn't been back for years because of the stupid zones and charges, I entirely agree with us charging them in retaliation, bring it on, it should have happened when the congestion charge was first put forward. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayjsj Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 pelmetman - 2016-02-07 2:21 PM I had this exact same quandary with my works 1999 tranny which I bought new and was in good condition for its age, I investigated the DPF route, and discovered that the conversion would cost 4k minimum, plus there's a annual service requirement *-) ........ So being a natural lateral thinker, and dedicated Luddite :D .......I replaced my Fanny's 15 year old diesel with a 40 year old V6 and now I'm LEZ compliant B-) ..............and one day my Fanny will get there and back without any AA input...........Current bill's are North of 7k 8-).......although the actual conversion was only 2.5k including a automatic transmission :-> ...... pelmetman, why is your fanny so unreliable ? Does she have electronic ignition ? Thought the Ford V6 was a reliable engine ? Or is it the gearbox ? My experience of Ford automatics have not been good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 Rayjsj - 2016-02-08 11:18 AM pelmetman - 2016-02-07 2:21 PM I had this exact same quandary with my works 1999 tranny which I bought new and was in good condition for its age, I investigated the DPF route, and discovered that the conversion would cost 4k minimum, plus there's a annual service requirement *-) ........ So being a natural lateral thinker, and dedicated Luddite :D .......I replaced my Fanny's 15 year old diesel with a 40 year old V6 and now I'm LEZ compliant B-) ..............and one day my Fanny will get there and back without any AA input...........Current bill's are North of 7k 8-).......although the actual conversion was only 2.5k including a automatic transmission :-> ...... pelmetman, why is your fanny so unreliable ? Does she have electronic ignition ? Thought the Ford V6 was a reliable engine ? Or is it the gearbox ? My experience of Ford automatics have not been good. It's luck of the draw, reckon I've just been unfortunate *-) ..............with hindsight I should have sent both engine and gearbox away to be rebuilt before having them fitted :-| ...........and replaced all the ancillaries like alternator etc......after she comes back from the bodyshop she's having a new carb fitted, and I've managed to track down a higher ratio rear diff, so hopefully the engine wont be doing 120 mph when I'm actually only doing 70 mph 8-) ...... Have to say though her acceleration is surprising many a modern vehicle at the lights :D ....... BTW I have fitted electronic ignition, and the last 4 breakdowns have been due to fuel starvation once warm, but were sent off looking in the wrong direction by the AA man, who suggested faulty fuel pump or dirty fuel.........turns out to be at the carburetter end with the fuel boiling away when stuck in traffic :-S ...... So along with the new carb and chrome air filter, I'm having some sexy louvers put in the bonnet to help prevent heat build up......might have a manual override for the Kenlow fitted to (^) ........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 Dave, have you considered a small computer cooling fan close to the carb? They are cheap, easy to fit and very low wattage all of which makes them very appealing! I may have one from an old computer in the garage and I can post it out to you if it would help? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
euroserv Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 Muswell - 2016-02-08 9:55 AM RogerThat - 2016-02-07 7:48 PM Alas, a new(er) vehicle is completely out of my budget range :( (truth be told, I've gotten quite attached to this one and I already broke the bank to get it!) Understood re the DPF cost, I've been quoted just over £2,500 (fitted). Horrendously expensive, but that equates to about 25 days in London if I were to pay £100 a day. I usually spend around 15 days a year there (spread out over the space of a year) so I'd get my money back in under two years (if that logic applies) and it'd be great to spend it in my trusty motorhome instead of taking the car and rocking up at the local Premier Inn :) I think the risk is that your van would still not be OK on Euro 3 NOX emissions and NOX is now as big an issue as particulates since parts of London exceed the limits by a huge amount. I reckon the restrictions will have to get tighter. I would enjoy the delights of Premier Inn. This is correct. The current LEZ rules permitted the installation of reduced pollution equipment to bring Euro 3 and earlier vehicles up to Euro 4 in terms of particulate matter. The next stage which comes into operation in 2020 for the new 'Ultra Low Emission Zone' (Basically the original congestion zone in central London) stipulates Euro 6 compliance and there will be no conversions available to meet that. IF , and it still is a big IF; this kind of thing gets rolled out to other cities in the coming years it will also be at the Euro 6 level so while you might not think that the new ULEZ will bother you.... it might eventually in other locations. In addition; for any currently modified vehicles there is an annual inspection required at a VOSA test station to check compliance and to get a Reduced Pollution Certificate issued each and every year. This costs about £25 or £17 if done at the same time as an HGV MOT test. It is worth mentioning that if you should accidentally enter the LEZ with a non compliant vehicle, you will get a warning letter on the first occasion, not a fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 Tracker - 2016-02-08 12:37 PM Dave, have you considered a small computer cooling fan close to the carb? They are cheap, easy to fit and very low wattage all of which makes them very appealing! I may have one from an old computer in the garage and I can post it out to you if it would help? That's why I thought of a manual over ride on the Kenlow for when I'm sat in traffic, as the engine block itself is not overheating so the fan is not cutting in soon enough, so where a traditional belt driven fan would still be turning the Kenlow is not :-S .......... At least from what Euroserv is saying, it sounds like once I've got it sorted, it should be sorted for good B-) ........So maybe a Cosworth is on the cards for old Horace? :D......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archiesgrandad Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 Pelmetman, I had the same problem on my Reliant Scimitar, which had the same engine and gearbox. After trying all sorts of tricks to cure the problem, we eventually worked out that the fundamental problem was that the radiator was lower than the water pump, and when the engine was only ticking over the impellor, in what we all refer to as the water pump, does not actually move any coolant out of the block and into the radiator so basically it is not cooling anything. Fitting an electric fan with a manual override did not solve the problem and I would have cold water in the radiator and boiling water in the block. At this time my daily commute was from East London to west London, and I had no reasonable alternative. The final cure was to plumb a bypass pipe into the system between the block and the radiator incorporating a small electric pump so that we were not relying on the main water pump when it was ticking over. It was simple and cheap, so check the relative heights of block and radiator, it may help. AGD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 Archiesgrandad - 2016-02-08 6:41 PM Pelmetman, I had the same problem on my Reliant Scimitar, which had the same engine and gearbox. After trying all sorts of tricks to cure the problem, we eventually worked out that the fundamental problem was that the radiator was lower than the water pump, and when the engine was only ticking over the impellor, in what we all refer to as the water pump, does not actually move any coolant out of the block and into the radiator so basically it is not cooling anything. Fitting an electric fan with a manual override did not solve the problem and I would have cold water in the radiator and boiling water in the block. At this time my daily commute was from East London to west London, and I had no reasonable alternative. The final cure was to plumb a bypass pipe into the system between the block and the radiator incorporating a small electric pump so that we were not relying on the main water pump when it was ticking over. It was simple and cheap, so check the relative heights of block and radiator, it may help. AGD Thanks for the tip, although the water pump is new as is the radiator, which is higher than the scimitars and over sized when compared to the original, plus watching the temperature gauge when in traffic it doesn't get above normal, and as soon as it does get to normal the Kenlow cuts in and it drops quickly.........I'm wondering though as its the old frying pan style air filter which seems to trap the heat under it is part of the problem? :-S ........ But if the problem persists then a electric water pump will be the next purchase :D ........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.