Ford Galaxy Failed Mot

[vinny]

hello

i took my car for an mot today passed on the things i thought would fail on .but it has failed on the following

1 back light not working

2 exhaust has leak (the back box is gone)

3 because of the above he could not test it for emissons

4 nearside & offside front macpherson strut has excessive movement at the upper attachment this is the ones i worried about as i,ll asked the mot bloke and he said they can be a pig to do as they rust badly.i asked him for a quote and he did,nt really want to say but said around 3hrs could be more(for all of the above)does this sound right .

 

i,ve took the long panel above the struts so you can see it and true to form they look really rusted one side even had water in it is this an easy job to do once if i can undo the nuts does the whole strut need to come off

 

i,m also thinking putting on the back box first get emisson test then start on dreaded struts (as he did say you could do all this and it still fail on emissons

thanks(sorry about my grammar)l

[sepulchrave]

Vinny, there's almost certainly nothing wrong with your front strut, the MOT tester is likely a total muppet since top mounts do not rust badly because they are made of rubber!

 

The strut has to be tested with the cars full weight on the front wheels on turntables, take the car somewhere else and ask for a refund of your fee if you feel brave or notify VOSA if you get bullied or bullshitted.

[tiny]

For what its worth, yes the strut tops are a pig to change because of the way they rust. the rust being confined to the thread at the top of the shock absorber chrome rod and the associated nut inside the upper mounting cup (and I am speaking from experience there).

 

I would agree with Sepulchrave in the fact they are unlikely to be worn, a common mistake seems to be the examination of these items when the car is off the ground (usually on a two post lift).

[sparky Paul]

There's a thread here with some VOSA info regarding the front suspension MOT issue.

 

http://www.fordgalaxy.org.uk/ford/index.php?showtopic=4919

Edited January 20, 2009 by sparky Paul

[vinny]

For what its worth, yes the strut tops are a pig to change because of the way they rust. the rust being confined to the thread at the top of the shock absorber chrome rod and the associated nut inside the upper mounting cup (and I am speaking from experience there).

 

I would agree with Sepulchrave in the fact they are unlikely to be worn, a common mistake seems to be the examination of these items when the car is off the ground (usually on a two post lift).

ii,m soaking wd40 stuff in the cup things at the moment am i write in saying you have to us an allen key and dropped ring spanneron the nut to undo

[sparky Paul]

am i write in saying you have to us an allen key and dropped ring spanneron the nut to undo

Yes, hold with the allen key and undo the nut... and hope that the hex socket in the top of the strut isn't too corroded. :D

[skippy 2]

am i write in saying you have to us an allen key and dropped ring spanneron the nut to undo

Yes, hold with the allen key and undo the nut... and hope that the hex socket in the top of the strut isn't too corroded. :D

can I just ad Vinny when you eventually sort your struts out do yourself a favour and fill the cups up with grease so they don't fill up with water. Thats what Ive done anyway as others have suggested on the forum. It can only help in the future if you need to do it again.

[vinny]

hello again i,ve left it in wd40 and having a go weekend am i write in saying all i have to do is hold allen and undo the nut and replace the rubber and not touch the strut sorry for sounding like a dummy again.if it does need to take the strut of what are step by step simpleton instructions many thanks again a great usefull site(helps you stop getting ripped of by some garages. Edited January 22, 2009 by vinny

[tiny]

Nope, Sorry, the mounting is under the car body, to change the top mount you have to remove the strut completely.

 

Dont be tempted to try to lock the chrome rod with molegrips from underneath if the allen head rounds out, that'll knacker the shock.

 

The job from memory requires the car jacked up, wheel off, pinch bolt at bottom of strut removed, (you may need to remove the caliper and the track rod end from the hub, cant remember!), release the strut from the hub, then at the top you need to remove that nut, and believe me it can be a right ba....d to remove!

The mounting comes in 2 parts, the metallastic mount and a bearing, replace those and refit in reverse bearing in mind that the bolt at the bottom of the strut should be replaced (but invariably isnt) too.

 

I ended up cutting away at one nut with a dremmel to remove it, the usual problem is the nut picks up on the rusty thread on the shock and you end up rounding out the allen key hole so you cant lock the shock to stop it rotating.

I cant remember whether the mount retains the spring or not in which case you would need spring compressors, I was changing the shocks, so I needed spring compressors anyway.

 

And when youve got that done, pop round the otherside and do that one too!

Edited January 22, 2009 by tiny

[sepulchrave]

Nope, Sorry, the mounting is under the car body, to change the top mount you have to remove the strut completely.

 

Dont be tempted to try to lock the chrome rod with molegrips from underneath if the allen head rounds out, that'll knacker the shock.

 

The job from memory requires the car jacked up, wheel off, pinch bolt at bottom of strut removed, (you may need to remove the caliper and the track rod end from the hub, cant remember!), release the strut from the hub, then at the top you need to remove that nut, and believe me it can be a right ba....d to remove!

The mounting comes in 2 parts, the metallastic mount and a bearing, replace those and refit in reverse bearing in mind that the bolt at the bottom of the strut should be replaced (but invariably isnt) too.

 

I ended up cutting away at one nut with a dremmel to remove it, the usual problem is the nut picks up on the rusty thread on the shock and you end up rounding out the allen key hole so you cant lock the shock to stop it rotating.

I cant remember whether the mount retains the spring or not in which case you would need spring compressors, I was changing the shocks, so I needed spring compressors anyway.

 

And when youve got that done, pop round the otherside and do that one too!

 

All this is true, except that when I tried to release the pinchbolt it bloody sheared and was an utter, utter bastard to repair.

 

I therefore recommend you remove the brake caliper carrier, brake disc, driveshaft nut, bottom ball joint (two 8mm allen bolts) and track rod end then you can remove the entire strut with hub still attached. If the allen bolt starts to round you can whack a Torx bit in there which will hold it fine.

 

When I did all this work and replaced the top mount I found there was nothing wrong with the old one, so I took it back for re-mot and showed them the old mount together with the VOSA handbook ammendment and they passed it with no retest fee.

 

Bet there's nothing wrong with yours either.

 

Edit: No spring compressor required for the top mount, only the bearing.

Edited January 22, 2009 by sepulchrave

[vinny]

Nope, Sorry, the mounting is under the car body, to change the top mount you have to remove the strut completely.

 

Dont be tempted to try to lock the chrome rod with molegrips from underneath if the allen head rounds out, that'll knacker the shock.

 

The job from memory requires the car jacked up, wheel off, pinch bolt at bottom of strut removed, (you may need to remove the caliper and the track rod end from the hub, cant remember!), release the strut from the hub, then at the top you need to remove that nut, and believe me it can be a right ba....d to remove!

The mounting comes in 2 parts, the metallastic mount and a bearing, replace those and refit in reverse bearing in mind that the bolt at the bottom of the strut should be replaced (but invariably isnt) too.

 

I ended up cutting away at one nut with a dremmel to remove it, the usual problem is the nut picks up on the rusty thread on the shock and you end up rounding out the allen key hole so you cant lock the shock to stop it rotating.

I cant remember whether the mount retains the spring or not in which case you would need spring compressors, I was changing the shocks, so I needed spring compressors anyway.

 

And when youve got that done, pop round the otherside and do that one too!

 

All this is true, except that when I tried to release the pinchbolt it bloody sheared and was an utter, utter bastard to repair.

 

I therefore recommend you remove the brake caliper carrier, brake disc, driveshaft nut, bottom ball joint (two 8mm allen bolts) and track rod end then you can remove the entire strut with hub still attached. If the allen bolt starts to round you can whack a Torx bit in there which will hold it fine.

 

When I did all this work and replaced the top mount I found there was nothing wrong with the old one, so I took it back for re-mot and showed them the old mount together with the VOSA handbook ammendment and they passed it with no retest fee.

 

Bet there's nothing wrong with yours either.

 

Edit: No spring compressor required for the top mount, only the bearing.

hello i went down the mot station the bloke was quite defensive about it and said he knows about vws but the galaxy should have no play in it.and it will need a spring compressor(even thou i went to a nother mot station 2 minutes away and he said yes that if theres play up and down it should not fail but if theres play side to side it would.

[sepulchrave]

The Galaxy IS a VW vinny, all the suspension is the same on all of them.

 

If you test the strut with no weight on the wheels the rubber top mount can drop down and will then rattle around in the tapered strut tunnel, if you then rest the car back on it's wheels the mount wedges back in the top of the tunnel with no movement which is why it has to be tested with the front wheels on turntables on a four poster.

 

Mine failed on one side but not the other because that strut happened to drop down when the car was lifted and the other side didn't.

 

Some MOT testers simply have no idea how all this works and assume something must be seriously wrong with the strut top, you are perfectly within your rights to sit and watch the MOT test being performed so you can see if he does it right or not.

[the-boss]

so he failed it on top mounts ive done a few of these and they can be a sod of a job the best ive done 1 in is an hour and that was with a gas torch to heat the nuts up with so this doe's sound about right.

hello

i took my car for an mot today passed on the things i thought would fail on .but it has failed on the following

1 back light not working

2 exhaust has leak (the back box is gone)

3 because of the above he could not test it for emissons

4 nearside & offside front macpherson strut has excessive movement at the upper attachment this is the ones i worried about as i,ll asked the mot bloke and he said they can be a pig to do as they rust badly.i asked him for a quote and he did,nt really want to say but said around 3hrs could be more(for all of the above)does this sound right .

 

i,ve took the long panel above the struts so you can see it and true to form they look really rusted one side even had water in it is this an easy job to do once if i can undo the nuts does the whole strut need to come off

 

i,m also thinking putting on the back box first get emisson test then start on dreaded struts (as he did say you could do all this and it still fail on emissons

thanks(sorry about my grammar)l

[vinny]

hello

i took my car for an mot today passed on the things i thought would fail on .but it has failed on the following

1 back light not working

2 exhaust has leak (the back box is gone)

3 because of the above he could not test it for emissons

4 nearside & offside front macpherson strut has excessive movement at the upper attachment this is the ones i worried about as i,ll asked the mot bloke and he said they can be a pig to do as they rust badly.i asked him for a quote and he did,nt really want to say but said around 3hrs could be more(for all of the above)does this sound right .

 

i,ve took the long panel above the struts so you can see it and true to form they look really rusted one side even had water in it is this an easy job to do once if i can undo the nuts does the whole strut need to come off

 

i,m also thinking putting on the back box first get emisson test then start on dreaded struts (as he did say you could do all this and it still fail on emissons

thanks(sorry about my grammar)l

just to let you know i had a renault in the last six months the cambelt went so i though i try to remot the galaxy at another mot station good luck no mention what so ever on struts (you folks were spot on)it only failed on wiper blade,bulb,side mirror cracked(not bad after being of the road 6 months)