View Full Version : Car off for MOT!
Worked very hard to get it up to standard, and today is 217's big day!
I have a tiny chip on windscreen, headlight beam may be out, emissions may be a bit high.
Will it pass, or fail? Taking bets now!
If the chip is less than a 1/2pence, or outside od the wiper sweep, it should pass. if it's a friendly garage the headlight adjustment is really easy, and the emissions should be ok if you get the temp up.
Good luck Wobba.
Pass [-o<
white16valver
17-02-2009, 12:00
Good luck ;) lol
Thanks guys! The chip is about 2mm. They've not moved the car yet so it will be cold when they test it hehe.
I had to fit a new bonnet latch, fit new rear light cluster, change back to CAT, fix seized brake bias valve, replace leaking aux tank, replace fuel lines, bleed brakes, fix passenger door so it opens from outside, replace worn rear pads, replace both horns. I replaced tyres, checked pressure, replaced suspension and all parts associated with it including welded column (and had AVO's repaired), replaced top mounts, new sparks and HT leads and dizzy cap/rotor arm, new air filter, 2 oil changes and filter, new fuel filter, new transmission fluid, new reg plate screw covers and various other miscellaneous bits like new wipers.
Even cleaned it!
Fingers crossed.
white16valver
17-02-2009, 13:43
I might wash mine this year LOL
MatrixGuy
17-02-2009, 13:50
Epic fail! lol
Only messing mate, lets hope it passes!!
I reckon they will fail it on headlight beam adjustment. Seems fine to me, but tey will have to find something.
Failed on:
Headlight aim (typical).
Deteriorated front nearside brake hose (excuse for braided one I guess)
Welding required near offside rear arch/sill (they say it was been filled and is inside the prescribed safety area for the suspension, personally, I think they are being picky)
Not happy about the welding tbh.
thats a shame mate as i have seen from viewing the forum how much time etc you have put into the car.
They give you any idea as to how much work was involved to sort the rear arch/sill?
white16valver
17-02-2009, 17:27
New sill for me was something lik £400 :?
They don't do major welding, so no idea of cost.
They marked the area on the sill that was filled for me, it's about 2' long.
I guess I'd have to get it prepped ad painted too :( May as well do my arches as well!
gutted mate
god knows what the mot tester will make of my sills :shock:
What is weird is they are failing it because of the sills being a 'suspension component mounting prescribed area'.
Never knew my suspenion was fitted to the sills....I must need glasses, or maybe hallucinogenic drugs.
Can't really afford £400 right now. Scrap time!
i think the rule is that of there is corrosion within 30cm of any suspension mounting point it is a fail?
i think the rule is that of there is corrosion within 30cm of any suspension mounting point it is a fail?
Excessive corrosion. To be honest I really would not estimate mine to be excessive.
Take it somewhere else mate and get a second opinion...
Ok, so here is the car today:
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w102/barneywobba/Williams%20217/DSC01111.jpg
The rear sill there is what they are on about.
Here are some pics of the sill, which they have marked. Can you tell me if you think this is 'excessively corroded' please? I may go for a second opinion. It is solid to the touch and does not flake off if i poke it:
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w102/barneywobba/Williams%20217/DSC01113.jpg
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w102/barneywobba/Williams%20217/DSC01114.jpg
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w102/barneywobba/Williams%20217/DSC01115.jpg
Any opinions please, and have any of you had this problem? I have to sort this fast as my MOT expires midnight tomorrow, and I cant afford it to be off the road.
go somewhere else me thinks!
Do you think I should point this area out pre-MOT and ask if it's a fail or should I just ask for a complete retest?
I honestly don't think the sills are anything like as bad as most peoples.
white16valver
17-02-2009, 20:58
Have you looked behind those, where they join the inner sill? (I think that's what it's called?) Mine failed where they join that, you could push the outside and it would move :shock: lol
Going by the pictures, though, if that's excessively corroded mine is being held together by rust LOL
Here are some pics of behind the sills:
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w102/barneywobba/Williams%20217/DSC01118.jpg
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w102/barneywobba/Williams%20217/DSC01117.jpg
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w102/barneywobba/Williams%20217/DSC01116.jpg
Sure, it's not pretty, but I don't see any holes other than the slot for the jack, and it is solid.
i would wipe the chalk off and try again somewhere else mate, if there is no holes it should pass. I have had surface corrosion go through fine for years
its worth £40 to save £400 lol
MatrixGuy
17-02-2009, 22:21
They look fine to me mate, mine look worse! :shock:
Go somewhere else.
Wobba, you need to check it with a small hammer, not a club hammer, toffee hammer sort of thing, or large pliers. If you just tap the area you can hear the difference between solid metal and corroded but fairly solid stuff.
are they saying its rusty or just that that section has been repaired by filling it up with filler rather than cutting out and repairing it with metal..
are they saying its rusty or just that that section has been repaired by filling it up with filler rather than cutting out and repairing it with metal..
Filler sounds different to solid metal as well. It doesn't matter if it's rusty metal or filler, if it's near something structural it will fail. Anything other than solid metal will have a dull thud sound, solid metal has a ring and the harder you are willing to hit it, the more noticable it gets.
are they saying its rusty or just that that section has been repaired by filling it up with filler rather than cutting out and repairing it with metal..
They are trying to say the whole 2 foot of sill is filler, but it's not. Filler does not rust for a start :roll: It is covered in underseal a bit but the jacking point is solid as I use it all the time!
I am going to speak with them tomorrow and get them to explain, or if they can't, a complaint form for VOSA and then get a second opinion.
Ok, well I just used the magnet test on the area in case what they said about it being filler was true. Magnet suck on solid npnp all over the area. This along with no holes, the jacking point supporting the weight of the whole car, no sharp edges for poor stupid pedestrains on the bodywork to be mauled byand the fact I have seen much much worse pass MOT I reckon the tester is being gay.
I forgot last night so just logged on to suggest magnet test. small magnet will show if filler is covering small imperfections (could still fail if structural integrity impaired) larger magnet (speaker) to see if good metal below.
Thanks kenny.
I am going to get a brake pipe today and tweak the headlight and get it tested elsewhere, after ringing the garage and telling them what I think and see if it has any effect.
Does the fail MOT show up on records for other MOT testers when I take it to them?
Well, I have a set of new brake line hoses to pick up today at lunch and popping in to get a second opinion at another MOT garage. Be interesting to see what they say!
fasterthanjesus
18-02-2009, 13:07
its a million times better than mine was.
if you know a good body shop ask them what they think. it may be the start of something bad?
catch it early and it saves fortunes?
then again, it may be fine. either way, find out and if it needs work, now is better than later.
its a million times better than mine was.
if you know a good body shop ask them what they think. it may be the start of something bad?
catch it early and it saves fortunes?
then again, it may be fine. either way, find out and if it needs work, now is better than later.
Yea, I've seen a lot of peoples far worse, and not just on Clio's, and they passed.
I was planning on having the arches done over summer anyway, and it is in the same area, but they are not so bad - just showing signs of starting to go. They are nothing like as bad as my valver (which had passed it's MOT), and that was at the stage where I didn't want to jack the car there as it was weak. The Willy is fine with jacking the car there.
i do mots and if there is no holes there it cant be failed.
report them to ministry of transportation.
Tell them to go on with that one imo. I thought you were going to post pictures of rust.
Hehe!
Yea it's not that bad at all.
I just got a second opinon, and a third. Both said there was a hole in the sill now, but the original garage had made the hole with a screwdriver. They all said it was a pretty tight decision to fail me and make a hole, but with it there it is a failure.
They all LOVED the Williams though :D
it decided it had had enough while being inspected and not to let the cooling fan kick in, so I had to switch off as the coolant started pouring out the coolant bottle cap all over their floor...why is fan not cutting in I wonder...will do usual tests tonight.
They will patch weld it and pass it for MOT tomorrow night as they couldnt find anything wrong with it other than headlight beam.
white16valver
18-02-2009, 17:16
*paranoid thought*
The garage that failed you wouldn't have unplugged the fan or done some other form of bizarre and unnecessary sabotage, would they...? :shock: :?
Did you have the fan cut in between leaving the first garage and having it up on the ramps at the next?
*paranoid thought*
The garage that failed you wouldn't have unplugged the fan or done some other form of bizarre and unnecessary sabotage, would they...? :shock: :?
Did you have the fan cut in between leaving the first garage and having it up on the ramps at the next?
I am a bit suspicious, yes, and I could smell petrol as well and found my injector rail clamps were loose...which is odd as we only fitted them the other day (in the snow lol) and I had tightened them just the next day to make sure they were on solid...
Also, the wiring on the rad sensor has been tampered with. Definitely. I checked this area recently to ensure all was as it should be and having just had another look I can see where the tape has been tugged back and the wiring pulled. Not exactly an MOT area is it?
The fan cut in after I turned the car off both time, so it must just be poor wiring at the rad sensor. It has never done this before since the first MOT.
I think I narrowly avoided HG failure or head warpage.
Right. It will pass MOT tomorrow at a different garage.
The guys there were mega fans of the Willy :D They are going to put a patch weld over the tiny hole made by the other garage and do my headlight, but the guy said he would prefer it if I did the brake hose as they are pressed for time.
I have just started with trying to get the union off the hose, and of course, its rounded off with a brake hose spanner...
Justin is coming over to save the day with a new olive thingy union and a brake flaring kit, so I will sit here in the dark and rain in the street doing another Wobba epic mission to fix it. Not that it needs fixing, I can see nothing wrong with the hose whatsoever, no deterioration at all, but I have to fix it :(
SIMONCLIODIMMA
18-02-2009, 21:17
as the prake pipes are in a green coating you can clean them up with henry cloth and put some green paint on. if there is no corrosion or bad pitting in the pipe then it can't fail. this is just a easy way of getting round it.
It's the brake hose itself they are moaning about. Cant see any problems with them tbh.
I've rounded the union off completely now. I was going to saw the pipe and put a new union on but the spring that holds it on wont come off so I tried to saw it off...2 hacksaw blades later and I am screwed as I have no more :(
GAME OVER.
SIMONCLIODIMMA
18-02-2009, 22:48
SOUND LIKE A JOB FOR DREMEL OR GRINDER. HA
IS THE PIPE PERISHED ???
SOUND LIKE A JOB FOR DREMEL OR GRINDER. HA
IS THE PIPE PERISHED ???
Brake line looks fine, apart from the scratches i made. Brake hose looks fine too, but they say its shagged...
SIMONCLIODIMMA
19-02-2009, 10:21
Think you have some dodgy mot stations down your end of country thats all i can say. ha
Think you have some dodgy mot stations down your end of country thats all i can say. ha
The place I am going to today is going to give me another opinion on this as well. Thing is, I was going to replace the hoses anyway with braided R19 16v ones which are arriving next week...
white16valver
19-02-2009, 13:51
I would seriously consider informing VOSA that you think the MOT garage you went to first are up to no good. You know your car inside out and for it to come back with suspicious faults isn't right - especially on the petrol front; what if it had gone up in flames and you had a child in the car?
You can also inform them of how they recommended work on the rear and highlighted such an unnecessarily large area. It will be on the computer that they failed it, you'd just have to supply the pics you took.
I wouldn't let them get away with it - dodgy ****ers are the one who cause such distrust of garages in the general public :x
This is why I don't trust garages I am afraid. I've been ripped off so many times and seen poor work and heard so many tales...
They could justify the rear corrosion by saying if they can punch a hole in it with a screwdriver then it wont take an impact etc.
It would be very hard for me to prove the wiring had been messed with or that the petrol lines had been loosened too.
white16valver
19-02-2009, 17:06
True, true, but worth raising your suspicions as they may 'mystery shopper' test it...
I am back from the welders. Got it patch welded.
They did the headlights too but as he did it out of hours the guy could not MOT it or do the brake hose (he said it looked like a shit job lol). He loved the car and did a tiny a weld as possible and undersealed it for me too.
£30.
You can't see the weld at all from the side of the car. When he ground the area back we found other little holes that had been filled with filler! He showed me the tools they use to test corrosion areas, it's abbreviated as 'CAT', corrosion area tester or something.
Gonna leave the car till Saturday and finish brakes myself then, and get it MOT'd on Monday.
Will also do a full work over of the cooling system, as I suspect my radiator is full of crap.
white16valver
20-02-2009, 14:07
Result! :D
Aye! Walking to work was a bit of a wake up call though lol. I've become a wheezing old bag of shite, too used to driving everywhere :D
white16valver
20-02-2009, 21:04
I only walk because I can't afford the petrol atm :( LoL :lol:
Well, I have done the welding, done the headlight adjustment on a special machine and did the brake line yesterday. Had to cut the brake line, put a new brake union on and re-flare the brake pipe itself.
Going back in for them to check the work, and get my MOT hopefully, tomorrow.
Fingers crossed the welding covered all the holes in the sill. When it was ground back we did find about 4 small holes that had been filled, and the brake line I took off was split...very hard to spot it when on the car though!
katbloke
22-02-2009, 09:17
regarding rust detection tools, it should be a rubber tipped dmall hammer looking thing, but we used to just tap along the sills with a flat bar lol and listen for a change in sound
MatBrown
22-02-2009, 10:08
the brake line I took off was split...very hard to spot it when on the car though!
It is a common problem though so they would have looked for it.
Mat.
the brake line I took off was split...very hard to spot it when on the car though!
It is a common problem though so they would have looked for it.
Mat.
Yea I guess! The old one had a hard-to-spot split in it at the bit it curves inwards. The sad thing is I was going to replace them all next week anyway with R19 Goodridge hoses anyway.
I GOT AN MOT!
Hooray!!! It passed :D
white16valver
23-02-2009, 20:40
Sweeeeet 8) :D
Told you it would pass :wink:
MatrixGuy
24-02-2009, 14:30
I GOT AN MOT!
Hooray!!! It passed :D
How much did you pay them mate? lol. only messing :lol:
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