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MOT fail thread

JonRGV250 said:
Good, the current fee is ridiculous compared to rising costs.
Whether the govt listen is another matter..

www.autoexpress.co.uk

MoT test price could almost double under new proposals | Auto Express

The IGA says raising the price of the test will counterbalance rising business costs
www.autoexpress.co.uk www.autoexpress.co.uk

What the article didn’t mention is if we have to log EV mileages for the incoming tax, then it’s even more work for MOT stations.
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They have scrapped the idea of you doing interim milage checks for EVs/PHEVs.

Cars under 3 years old will be purely self-assessed now, no scope for any buggering about there….

You’ll still be turned into a tax man though and now have people asking you to log lower mileages on top of passing dodgy cars. Fun times ahead.
 
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Sometimes I get home from work and sit in a dark room, rock back and forth and just cry.
Today was one of those days.

The customers mechanic mate had fitted a new anti roll bar drop link for him and..
(note the cable tie doing it's best to pull the link off the roll bar)




When the car was jacked up and pressure was on the drop link, it was doing it's best to liberate itself from the roll bar..



Obviously the best course of action here was to add cable ties to hold everything together, because a tiny plastic zip tie would clearly be far superior to a metal & rubber drop link which was incorrectly fitted.
I also failed it on the outer CV boot, but was told there was absolutely nothing wrong with it, despite the obvious gaping hole..



I sometimes wonder if you guys think I'm making this **** up, but sadly there's some people that are really this mechanically devoid of common sense, and even worse that there's people who actually trust these imbeciles to repair their cars.
 
JonRGV250 said:
Obviously the best course of action here was to add cable ties to hold everything together, because a tiny plastic zip tie would clearly be far superior to a metal & rubber drop link which was incorrectly fitted.
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educate me - if the arb is attached in the middle to the sub-frame, can you incorrectly install the drop link ? is it just that arb is not inserted far enough through the drop link,
because link is at wrong rotation.


otherwise were the cable ties just something to support the control arm during the install and they forgot to remove them, if they would not have broken anyway as a result of stress.
 
jpaul said:
educate me - if the arb is attached in the middle to the sub-frame, can you incorrectly install the drop link ? is it just that arb is not inserted far enough through the drop link,
because link is at wrong rotation.


otherwise were the cable ties just something to support the control arm during the install and they forgot to remove them, if they would not have broken anyway as a result of stress.
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Seems like a new “drop link” has been invented here. It’s just missing the “drop” and “link” bits. Well, the car might drop and link at some point, just in a completely different context.
 
jpaul said:
thankyou - so cutting the ties is worthless if the part itself is incorrect and doesn't have a drop and bearing at other end.
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Seems the cable ties are there to stop the anti roll bar popping out of its new mount* It’s actually impressive someone went to this much trouble instead of actually just fixing the problem properly.
 
jpaul said:
if the part itself is incorrect
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The part was correct, the fitting not so much so.
I try not to think too much how people have managed to do what they've done, but as a guess I reckon he'd managed to shift the ARB over to the O/S (probably by trying to hammer on the link) leaving not enough length for the link.
There's marks on the end of the ARB where he's tried to grind it down to fit in the rubber, and he's also butchered the lower bush so he could get the washer and nut on the link.
It would take a semi competent home mechanic 10 minutes max to do the job properly.
I start a new job in 2 weeks (also testing motorbikes), and hopefully I see a lot lot less of this sort of nonsense.
 
JonRGV250 said:
The part was correct, the fitting not so much so.
I try not to think too much how people have managed to do what they've done, but as a guess I reckon he'd managed to shift the ARB over to the O/S (probably by trying to hammer on the link) leaving not enough length for the link.
There's marks on the end of the ARB where he's tried to grind it down to fit in the rubber, and he's also butchered the lower bush so he could get the washer and nut on the link.
It would take a semi competent home mechanic 10 minutes max to do the job properly.
I start a new job in 2 weeks (also testing motorbikes), and hopefully I see a lot lot less of this sort of nonsense.
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Are you going to be doing a bit of everything, servicing, repairs etc as well as MOTs?
 
BUDFORCE said:
Are you going to be doing a bit of everything, servicing, repairs etc as well as MOTs?
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I bloody hope not, although my contract states I may have to.
I think it'll be running the office as well as MOT'ing class 2,3,4,5, & 7 vehicles.
That said, I was offered a part time job today just testing bikes, which is extremely tempting (the garage owner who is the sole tester just doesn't make enough money spending all day testing, whereas servicing & repairs pays much much better).
 
Also, some light reading for you guys..

www.gov.uk

Regulating environmental impact of in-use emissions of road vehicles

www.gov.uk www.gov.uk

Our proposal​

To control excess emissions from in-use vehicles, we propose to make it a legal requirement that all road vehicles in-use in GB from 1 January 2001 must have their ECS maintained in such a way that the maximum level of emissions and other requirements of the control system continue to operate as set by law at the time of manufacture.

We intend to update regulation 61A to make use of existing sections of the Road Traffic Act 1988:

  • section 42: use of a vehicle that does not comply with construction and use requirements
  • section 75: alterations to vehicles
  • section 76: fitting or supply of unsuitable vehicle parts
Depending on the circumstances, breaches of these sections can result in fines of between £1000 and an unlimited amount following successful prosecution in the magistrates’ court.

This means that the following will be prohibited:

  • using a vehicle on the road which has been maintained or modified in a way that means it no longer meets the emissions standards that it was approved to
  • allowing a vehicle to be used on the road which has been maintained or modified in a way that means it no longer meets the emissions standards that it was approved to
  • modifying a vehicle yourself, or allowing a vehicle to be modified, in a way that means it no longer meets the emissions standards that it was approved to
We have chosen not to distinguish between excess emissions caused by poor maintenance of a vehicle and those caused by modifications made to vehicles.

Similarly, we do not propose to distinguish unintentional and deliberate modifications made to the ECS, nor whether these are through hardware or software alterations. The environmental and health impacts of excess emissions are the same, regardless of the reason. Such distinctions can also be difficult to evidence and would make enforcement unreasonably difficult.

We also want to encourage good vehicle maintenance, which may avoid more expensive repairs following catastrophic failure.
 
adam cool dude said:
I cannot even present a car for a MOT without being clean and hoovered. The mind boggles what people are happy to present for inspection!
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My last MOT I apologised for the car being a little dirty inside as I'd been at work every day that week and not had a chance to clean it.

When I collected the car tester said it was the cleanest he'd had all week and one had come from a garage after valeting....
 
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