Mot passed - is it too lean?
 

Just had the MOT done on the car - 245GL 1988 2.0l. The CO is recorded as 0.71% This seems lean to me - my experiences are with weber carburettors though which should be about 2%. I cant find any info on what the mix should be on this car, and I'm not sure what fuel injection system i have, so can't look anything further up.

Can anyone help with this at all? I also don't have access easily to an analyser, so there would be a little bit of guesswork involved in this.

Also, see the MOT certificate attached, anything serious on this list of advisories?

Thanks

It is a touch weak 1.5% would be preferable but if it is running smoothly i wouldn't worry too much . 3.5% is the limit .. you have Bosch K-Jetronic .

All those items should have been picked up on your last service , if you neglect them you will have to get them all done at once which is what has happened ..

Due to the design, all 240 front wheel bearings should have a little play in them - if not, they are wound up too tight and will destroy themselves prematurely.

The inner rack ends were possibly checked in the wrong position, knowing what MOT testers don't know! Can you feel any clunks or knocks when driving/turning?
Rock the steering gently and see what can be seen in both the rack ends and the TRE? Slight play is nothing to worry about.

That's not an oil leak! That's a automatic chassis lubrication system!!

I agree - they are only very minor faults, and possibly not even faults at all.

I used to have the same annual discussion with the MOT tester over taper roller bearings. Modern cars use pre-loaded bearings - there is no play. Taper bearings should have a very small almost imperceptible play.
I've always found the best way to set them is to take the bearing cap off and tighten the nut with the wheel on, rocking it until the play has almost but not quite gone.

Tightened properly and greased once in a blue moon in my experience they never wear out.

Haynes book of lies say 1.0%, with an acceptable range of 0.5-2.0%, for your B200e (k-jetronic).

Inner rack joint might be perfect, tester could be feeling slop in the rack. Had an identical advisory, felt it myself when the car was on the inspection
lift (with both front wheels in the air). Back in my garage, with only one wheel up it was perfect...

"The inner rack ends were possibly checked in the wrong position,"

The inner joints move in two planes - up and down, and horizontally with the steering. They tend to wear slightly unevenly. Often if you rotate the ball slightly it bears on an unworn section, and you get a new lease of life.

Thanks for all the advice, sorry I've been away for a bit. The car is new to me, hence still finding out a few things about it. My dad has had it since 1992, and recently allowed me to have it, at last! I've wanted it for 30 odd years. Its not perfect, but I am enjoying it for now.

As i say its new to me, so i could be wrong, but i expected it to run a bit better. It basically is a little rough at idle (dad says it did it with a warm engine, but i'm finding it with all temps), and smells quite strongly of fuel. It does idle quite slow (rev counter is intermittent so cant tell you what!). I am tempted to give the CO a 1/4 of a turn? Just don't know which screw.... done it on the Weber carb a fair few times, so not completely unfamiliar with the process.

As to the rack ends, i really have no clue about them at all... is there a symptom i should look out for, it seems to drive ok, if a little tail happy around corners (which i suspect are the bushes?)

Thanks, I'll try and get some pics up too, see if anyone is interested?!