Will my car fail its NCT because of this?
Hi,
If the engine management light is on will my car fail its NCT or will they refuse to test the car? I have read online some people saying it will pass and others saying it's a fail, but only on diesal cars. I know in the NCT requirements on dash warning lights it doesn't mention the engine management light.
Mark CorcoranNov 2017 Filed under: NCT
Expert answer
Hi Mark,
While anecdotal evidence suggests that there are differences between NCT test centres (and even testers), they are all supposed to follow the same NCT manual. We've scoured it and there doesn't appear to be a specific reference to the engine management light. However, there is allowance for a 'preliminary check' on the engine and a failure can be because of 'obvious engine defects'. That's quite open for interpretation and a tester could well decide that an engine management light on falls under that.
To be fair, if it is on, then it means there's something up with the emissions control system (or its sensors) and the car is not at the standard it should be. Hence I'd recommend getting the issue sorted before going for the NCT.
Shane O' Donoghue - Complete Car Advisor@Shane_O_D