2023-09-18 09:02:52
September 18, 2023 Today at 07:34
The new machines supposed to detect fraud with particle filters are failing a series of cars that are nevertheless equipped. In Wallonia, one in three diesel Fords less than nine years old are failed.
Faced with the new fine particle emissions test for diesel vehicles, it is a small scandal that is emerging within the automotive world Belgian. This new machine, installed in the technical control centers, is capable of measuring the particles emitted and no longer just the opacity of emissions. A testing system which will have to be implemented across the entire European continent and which therefore has nothing specifically Walloon regarding it.
Since its introduction in Walloon technical inspection centers in July 2022, for many customers, it’s a grimace soup. This test only applies to Euro 5b and 6 diesels, registered since January 1, 2013. These are therefore relatively recent vehicles. The results are striking: more than 5% of the vehicles tested exceed the threshold of one million particles per cm³ and must be repaired or they will no longer be able to drive within three months.
31,62%
More than 30% of inspections carried out on Ford diesel cars less than nine years old display particles in excess of one million.
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A third of Fords failed
But above all, the situation is very different from one brand to another. The prize goes without hesitation to Ford. The American brand sees almost one in three diesel cars fail with this new machine. Clearly, 31.62% of inspections carried out on Ford diesel cars less than nine years old display particles in excess of one million.
In second and third positions, Volvo sees 13.41% of its diesels up to nine years old failed and Mitsubishi 12.61%. No other manufacturer exceeds 8% refusals.
Before passing the inspection, “it is recommended to warm up the engine properly. We recommend 45 to 60 km on the motorway at a high engine speed, for example 120 km/h on the motorway in 4th gear.”
Customer relations center
Ford Belgium
But the where Ford Belgium does even stronger, it is in its lunar recommendations that it recommends to its customers. “It is of paramount importance that the customer’s vehicle is presented for inspection with the engine at (warm) operating temperature,” Ford explains to customers in letters that we have seen.
“So, it is recommended to warm up the engine properly. We recommend 45 to 60 km on the highway at a high engine speed, for example 120 km/h on the highway in 4th gear,” adds the manufacturer’s customer relations center.
Lhe controlled vehicles have been approved to comply with the maximum emission thresholds.
End of moratorium
As we are reminded in the office of Valérie De Bue, Minister of Road Safety, it is just the testing machine that has been changed, not the standards. Flanders has dealt with this problem and is now content to issue a warning on faulty cars.
Wallonia, for its part, has planned a one-year moratorium current until next February for manufacturers to offer a solution to aggrieved customers. For the moment, the problem is therefore postponed until the next technical inspection.
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Because solutions can range from a simple change of particulate filters, to replacement of the emission system, to changing all parts of the exhaust pipe. Considerable costs for vehicles which should normally pass this type of test, because they have been approved with these emission thresholds.
“The maintenance, repair and provision of a vehicle that complies with traffic standards are the responsibility of the car manufacturer and its representative, the dealer/garage.”
Valerie De Bue
Walloon Minister of Road Safety
The new test was to, basically, used mainly to spot fraudsters who deliberately removed their particle filter. It turns out that a series of cars equipped with the filter do not pass it either.
Who is responsible?
“The maintenance, repair and provision of a vehicle that complies with traffic standards are the responsibility of the car manufacturer and its representative, the dealer/garage owner,” underlined Valérie De Bue in a response to the Walloon Parliament. last November.
At Ford, we see things differently: “Since the cause of the problem, in particular the change in the measurement system, does not come from Ford, there is no financial intervention planned on the part of Ford”, the brand responds to its customers.
As the deadline for ending the moratorium approaches, customers who have not found a solution in their garage will make themselves heard more and more.
All pollution standards combined, the fleet of diesel passenger vehicles in Wallonia exceeded 826,000 cars at the end of last December.
“I insist on the fact that this extension of the deadline is exceptional. Fine particle pollution constitutes a real public health problem. If not filtered correctly, these fine particles released during the combustion of diesel in vehicle engines cause annual 7,600 premature deaths in our country”had warned Valérie De Bue in the Walloon Parliament.
The summary
In Wallonia, one in three diesel Fords fail the new test for measuring particle emissions. The brand refuses any compensation for its customers and advises them to drive at 120 km/h in fourth gear on the highway before taking the test. At the office of the Minister of Road Safety Valérie De Bue, we remind you that it is just the measuring machine that has been changed, not the standard. The vehicles concerned are less than nine years old and must respect, according to their approval, a particle threshold.
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