hi tabetha, thanks for the thoughts

i thought it may also be a lambda sensor aswell, so for the second time i put a different one in (was still second and so not sure if it actually worked still lol). im afraid i have no means of testing the switching speed, i only have a multimeter. i did however disconnect the sensor whilst the engine was running and it made no difference. does this mean that the sensor in is duff, and the engine is already running on the failsafe map (and so, really rich?) ?

As for the temperature, the test sheet said oil temp was 83 degs, not sure how hot everything else was though. the car had been standing around for ages though (2 months) without use, and only drove a mile down the road to the test centre. you think taking it for a spin and heating it up will actually help it pass? what about using redex aswell?

really unsure on this one lol so many possibilities! i hate emissions haha

cheers, chris