Mot Fail

[xavier]

Well, had the old Gal in for the MOT today, failed on a few things, plus 26 advisories! Do I bother fixing her? Been quoted £500 to do the work, which is :

 

n/s outer CV rubber

n/s ball joint

both rear springs

... and a bulb.

 

Helpfully the've already replaced the bulb, leaving me the easy stuff. Now I figure the rear springs should be straightforward as the shocker is separate, and the ball joint can't be much more than what I removed to do the reluctor ring, which just leaves the cv boot. Do you need special tools for that?

 

Anyway, looks like I better hope for good weather for the next 2 weeks! Plus point though, looks like the new caliper is a-ok!

[daddyfixit]

springs are about £40 each from motor factors; 

get the back end up on an 2 axle stands, undo 1 bottom shock absorber bolt at a time so the rear arm drops enough to pull the spring out. you may need a lever/trolley jack to lift the arm back up again to get the bolt back in.

 

 wouldn't bother with a balljoint, I would get whole suspension arm? about £60

 

cv boot; cut it off with side-cutting pliers--I cheat and use the stretchy cv boots, but you have to buy a special cone to fit them £10---£15 and it saves fighting with a circlip inside the joint.

 

probably take a novice a day to do ??

[sparky Paul]

Nothing wrong with stretchy boots, I've fitted them in the past on other cars and never had to replace them again.

 

You can get the complete stretchy boot kit, including cone, lube, CV grease, clips and the neoprene rubber boot on eBay for just over a fiver, or the same kit with two boots for 8 quid.

 

A ball joint is about £10.

Edited September 19, 2013 by sparky Paul

[xavier]

guys, got a link to the stretchy boots? Do they come in different sizes? The kit I've just bought requires the joint be removed. It came with the boot, big bolt to fit the hub back on and the grease and circlips (all for £8 - not bad considering I paid £6 for a bolt from VW for doing the reluctor ring!). If I could I'd prefer to save myself the hassle of removing the joint if possible I was considering a new driveshaft at one point! Thanks!

[sparky Paul]

Here you go

 

Stretchy boot kit with one boot

 

Stretchy boot kit with two boots

 

£5.49 for the one boot kit, and £7.99 with two boots.

[xavier]

Magic paul, that's that ordered. Made a start on the ball joint today, though looks like I'll need to invest in a ball joint splitter to get the thing out the wishbone. It's not fur movin! No sign of the springs yet, hope they arrive tomorrow. £55 for 2 from ebay - used the co before and they're carparts4less's ebay outlet. Oddly carparts4less's website was showing the anschler springs as out of stock but they have them on ebay and are apparently on their way to me.

[daddyfixit]

dirty big lump hammer  whacked against side of balljoint usually shocks them free ??

[acecard]

Bear in mind 'advisories' are often subjective opinions and can come and go depending on who tests :35:

[a18nkd]

hi Xavier I done my inner and outer cv boot (had to take drive shaft out) on passenger side its only the second time I done one and only took 2 hours and this would have been quicker if I got the drive shaft out gearbox a bit easier found the circlip (circlip pliers) easy to open and just pulled off end off and the reverse to put back on as for the advisories last mot rear n/s brake pipe badly corroded not changed it but this year not even a advisory so depends on who does the mot

Edited September 20, 2013 by a18nkd

[viperclive]

As acecard points out about advisories, ensure you take back to same tester for re-test and they stay as advisories, otherwise!!!!!!!!!

[acecard]

As acecard points out about advisories, ensure you take back to same tester for re-test and they stay as advisories, otherwise!!!!!!!!!

true but

 

I was just thinking again about this.

In the same way that an individual can check their own MOT history, can a garage also see old advisories? Obviously they have access to the old certificate expiry date now that its all online but can they see old advisories from the previous MOT or indeed from an MOT failure certificate.

If so, makes it more difficult to take a car elesewhere for a retest as they will know what to look for - if they don't find the same advisories on their test (assuming it isnt patently obvious that they were repaired) then they could be subject to scrutiny by the regulators.

Did that make any sense? If not forget it - gone to lie down.

Edited September 20, 2013 by acecard

[viperclive]

Just had a word with my brother (mot tester), he informs me that any advisories are not put on database, therefore it you went to another garage it's classed as a new test and you pay full amount, if you manage to do any of the advisories inform the old tester and he will remove them from your pass certificate, hope that's readable n clear!

[Jaysm1]

As viperclive says this is correct (being an mot tester) just when it comes to next years mot don't bring the old mot ticket with you!

 

Lots of people think we need to see them but we don't, the only benefits we get with that is we can then see the old advisories and look a bit closer into them.

[xavier]

Thanks for the tips guys, if I have time tomorrow I might try and do the cv boot taking the joint off. Having said that, already been 3 hours on the ball joint today. Bloody locktite!

 

Interesting that advisories aren't put on the database. Last year I had 2 :

 

bonnet safety catch siezed

rear indicators white

 

this year, 22:

 

ns rear sock slight corrosion

os rear sock slight corrosion

ns front brake fluctuating

os front brake fluctuating

front reg plate deteriorated (yeah, fair enough!)

ns rear indicator discolored

ns rear brake disc worn

os rear brake disc worn

ns front brake pipe

os front brake pipe

ns front to rear

os front to rear

os track rod end ball joint cover

ns and os rear seats missing

undertrays fitted obscuring some underside components

engine covers obscuring some components in engine bay

play in steering rack inner joints

ns and os front brake discs worn

ns and os front wiper blades slightly deteriorated

ns and os tyres cracked on side walls

ns front and ns and os rear tyres cracked in center tread

ns and os front lower sills damaged (- no s*1t sherlock!)

[xavier]

oh, and I've done just under 3000 miles last year. Hard, hard miles those.

[acecard]

Thanks for clearing up the advisories guys - very useful info

 

As for this below, looks like the garage is seriously short of business :lol: - good luck!

ps - assume the the cigar lighter is fine :D

Thanks for the tips guys, if I have time tomorrow I might try and do the cv boot taking the joint off. Having said that, already been 3 hours on the ball joint today. Bloody locktite!

 

Interesting that advisories aren't put on the database. Last year I had 2 :

 

bonnet safety catch siezed

rear indicators white

 

this year, 22:

 

ns rear sock slight corrosion

os rear sock slight corrosion

ns front brake fluctuating

os front brake fluctuating

front reg plate deteriorated (yeah, fair enough!)

ns rear indicator discolored

ns rear brake disc worn

os rear brake disc worn

ns front brake pipe

os front brake pipe

ns front to rear

os front to rear

os track rod end ball joint cover

ns and os rear seats missing

undertrays fitted obscuring some underside components

engine covers obscuring some components in engine bay

play in steering rack inner joints

ns and os front brake discs worn

ns and os front wiper blades slightly deteriorated

ns and os tyres cracked on side walls

ns front and ns and os rear tyres cracked in center tread

ns and os front lower sills damaged (- no s*1t sherlock!)

Edited September 20, 2013 by acecard

[viperclive]

Chuffing hell, your tested must have been having a bad day lol

[xavier]

I drove it in, handed the keys to the guy at the desk and the MOT guy stopped me on the way out :

"is that a petrol or diesel?" me : "diesel"

"has it had a good run" me : "nah, just brought it down the road"

"they need a good run before a test, you should've taken it out and good 1/2 an hour to warm up" me : "I just brought it down, I didn't know"

"it'll probably fail on the emissions, I need to take it up to the max and hold it there" me : "well, just see how it goes"

 

she passed the emisisons....

[viperclive]

Good luck with all the work, keep us informed.

[acecard]

she passed the emisisons....

well geez, there must be something good about the car

 

but how did she manage that on a cold engine?

[sparky Paul]

That's some list of advisories. :blink:

 

Looks like he got a bit carried away, but theres a few things there I would probably check out... particularly the tyres, brake discs and pipes, see if they are actually that bad.

 

Tyres cracking around tread roots is never good news, I just replaced the rears on mine for that. Once off the rim an deflated, they were actually worse than they looked blown up.

[xavier]

Am planning to get the tyres replaced one she passes. If I can get this bl**dy ball joint off! Invested in a splitter from halfords (cup type) but it's just mullered the bolt. Think I need a bigger hammer!

[seatkid]

I drove it in, handed the keys to the guy at the desk and the MOT guy stopped me on the way out :

"is that a petrol or diesel?" me : "diesel"

"has it had a good run" me : "nah, just brought it down the road"

"they need a good run before a test, you should've taken it out and good 1/2 an hour to warm up" me : "I just brought it down, I didn't know"

"it'll probably fail on the emissions, I need to take it up to the max and hold it there" me : "well, just see how it goes"

 

she passed the emisisons....

 

What a wazzock, they do not take it to the "max and hold it there" anymore - that is old MOT instructions of 2 or 3 years ago. Now they do not take it above 2500rpm see http://www.motuk.co.uk/manual_740.htm

 

 

Corrosion of brake pipes? Try cleaning them with an oily rag, I believe they are alloy pipes and should not corrode, they are probably just covered in salt and dirt.

[xavier]

> Corrosion of brake pipes?

 

Would be inclined to agree seatkid. I thought the rears were in a poor state until I had to do the caliper, when I had to clean the pipes they looked brand new.

 

Ok, problem appears to be halfords splitter is too small. Can anyone suggest one of a suitable size? one I have is a laser 1793.

[acecard]

What a wazzock, they do not take it to the "max and hold it there" anymore - that is old MOT instructions of 2 or 3 years ago. Now they do not take it above 2500rpm see http://www.motuk.co.uk/manual_740.htm

As I understand, the engine is accelerated to governed speed?