Amendment by Parliament

8.2.2.2 Opacity

Vehicles registered or put into service before 1 January 1980 are exempted from this requirement (a) Exhaust gas opacity to be measured during free acceleration (no load from idle up to cut-off speed) with gear lever in neutral and clutch engaged. The tailpipe testing shall always be the default method of exhaust emission assessment, even if combined with OBD. (a) For vehicles registered or put into service for the first time after the date specified in requirements(1),

For vehicles equipped with OBD in accordance with requirements (1), reading of OBD information and checks (readiness) on the proper functioning of the OBD system at engine idle in accordance with the manufacturer's recommendations and other requirements(1).

(b) Vehicle preconditioning: opacity exceeds the level recorded on the manufacturer’s plate on the vehicle;

1. Vehicles may be tested without preconditioning although for safety reasons checks should be made that the engine is warm and in a satisfactory mechanical condition. (b) Where this information is not available or requirements(1) do not allow the use of reference values,

2. precondition requirements: for naturally aspirated engines: 2,5 m-1,

(i) Engine shall be fully warm, for instance the engine oil temperature measured by a probe in the oil level dipstick tube to be at least 80 oC, or normal operating temperature if lower, or the engine block temperature measured by the level of infrared radiation to be at least an equivalent temperature. If, owing to vehicle configuration, this measurement is impractical, the establishment of the engine's normal operating temperature may be made by other means, for example by the operation of the engine cooling fan. for turbo-charged engines: 3,0 m-1,

(ii) Exhaust system shall be purged by at least three free acceleration cycles or by an equivalent method. or, for vehicles identified in requirements(1) or first registered or put into service for the first time after the date specified in requirements(1),

(c) Test procedure: 1,5 m-1.7

1. Engine and any turbocharger fitted, to be at idle before the start of each free acceleration cycle. For heavy-duty diesels, this means waiting for at least 10 seconds after the release of the throttle. or

2. To initiate each free acceleration cycle, the throttle pedal must be fully depressed quickly and continuously (in less than one second) but not violently, so as to obtain maximum delivery from the injection pump. 0,5 m-1 (3)

3. During each free acceleration cycle, the engine shall reach cut-off speed or, for vehicles with automatic transmissions, the speed specified by the manufacturer or if this data is not available then two thirds of the cut-off speed, before the throttle is released. This could be checked, for instance, by monitoring engine speed or by allowing a sufficient time to elapse between initial throttle depression and release, which in the case of vehicles of category 1 and 2 of Annex 1, should be at least two seconds.

4. Vehicles shall only be failed if the arithmetic means of at least the last three free acceleration cycles are in excess of the limit value. This may be calculated by ignoring any measurement that departs significantly from the measured mean. Member States may limit the number of test cycles.

5. To avoid unnecessary testing, Member States may fail vehicles which have measured values significantly in excess of the limit values after less than three free acceleration cycles or after the purging cycles. Equally to avoid unnecessary testing, Member States may pass vehicles which have measured values significantly below the limits after less than three free acceleration cycles or after the purging cycles