Unusual MOT History

[Isaac Hunt]

Been on the rear calipers of our 2005 Fiesta ST150 today. Bloody things siege up on the handbrake mechanism and they need a good fettle for the MOT. I should really strip the calipers and throughly clean and rebuild with new pistons and seals.

 

Returning in form the 'chill' of the day, sat down with a cuppa and had a browse at the MOT history

 

1st MOT in Mar 2008 40200 Miles FAIL on tyres

 

They must have thought 'fecck it, we've had it tested' and carry on driving

 

2nd MOT in Nov 2008 48500 Pass

 

3rd MOT in Nov 2009 60800 Pass

 

4th MOT in April 2010 61000 FAIL on rear pads less than 1.5mm, feck, they wore down quick. 61000 re-test PASS

 

After that, everything settled down into an April MOT Routine which has continued in the five years we've had it in the family. Its failed twice in our custody. Each time on handbrake imbalance / effort due to those pesky rear calipers. I'm wise to it now, hence the pre-MOT fettliing

[paulscavalier]

Maybe they wrote the mileage down wrong and it was 48200 when it failed on tyres and they sneaked in a cheeky 300miles extra?

[dieselassist]

...you often find some 'odd ball shiz' in the history of a car if your the 2nd, 3rd owner; if theres some service history of some sort with the car (no NCT History checker that I know of here in Ireland)...

...the first owner/buyer of the car may have opted for finance, n a limited warranty; after the warranty runs out, but they are still paying off the drip finance (days before PCP) - long story short; after the warranty is up; they don't have coin/cant be bothered/ think all mechanics are crooks etc, they just do the minimum to keep the car going/safe/passing a test... I find the replacing 'just the one tyre' to be common here; one blows out, or is flagged up at the test so they just buy a tyre for that corner; as a result, the wheel bearings wear unevenly on that axle...

 

...so its a bit of an obsession with me; either buying a car for myself or someone drags me along to 'look over a car' - I check at the sellers gaff for jack in the boot etc, n I usually ask ' can we go off for a spin - heres the keys to our car..' - in the hope that the seller doesn't come along as a passenger; and yes; a few miles out the road, I get the jack out n spin the wheels; all 4 of them n check the tyres n sizes - it drives my brother n other family members mad; but with the modern yokes; the wheel bearing is often sealed; so you have to buy the stub/drum etc at the rear, or upright all as one unit...

[Mrcento]

Been on the rear calipers of our 2005 Fiesta ST150 today. Bloody things siege up on the handbrake mechanism and they need a good fettle for the MOT. I should really strip the calipers and throughly clean and rebuild with new pistons and seals.

 

Returning in form the 'chill' of the day, sat down with a cuppa and had a browse at the MOT history

 

1st MOT in Mar 2008 40200 Miles FAIL on tyres

 

They must have thought 'fecck it, we've had it tested' and carry on driving

 

2nd MOT in Nov 2008 48500 Pass

 

3rd MOT in Nov 2009 60800 Pass

 

4th MOT in April 2010 61000 FAIL on rear pads less than 1.5mm, feck, they wore down quick. 61000 re-test PASS

 

After that, everything settled down into an April MOT Routine which has continued in the five years we've had it in the family. Its failed twice in our custody. Each time on handbrake imbalance / effort due to those pesky rear calipers. I'm wise to it now, hence the pre-MOT fettliing

 

It might seem odd, but it could be that the pads were already old, the handbrake seized during the apparent lack of use in 2009/2010 and it was then driven on grotty discs and a partially stuck on Handbrake for those 200ish miles meaning it just ate what was left of the pads.

 

Reminds me of a joke in the world of Cinquecento owners

 

"How do you know when a Cento has been in for an MOT that day?"

 

"The handbrake is working"

 

"How do you know it's been at least 24 hours since it saw the MOT station?"

 

"The handbrake isn't working".

[Skut]

Reminds me of a joke in the world of Cinquecento owners

 

"How do you know when a Cento has been in for an MOT that day?"

 

"The handbrake is working"

 

"How do you know it's been at least 24 hours since it saw the MOT station?"

 

"The handbrake isn't working".

Made me smile. Also true of Y10s and Pandas.

[Mrcento]

Made me smile. Also true of Y10s and Pandas.

 

My Cinquecento doesn't even run Cinq brakes, it has Marea calipers and a rear disc conversion and still can't go 6 months without needing the handbrake mechanism stripped down and freed off.

 

Nobody does shit handbrakes quite like Italians.

[sierraman]

Oh they do! Ford got shit handbrakes off to a fine art with the Mondeo.

[Sir Snipes]

I can't think of any hand-brake calipers that don't seize from lack of exercise...

[Mrcento]

I can't think of any hand-brake calipers that don't seize from lack of exercise...

 

That's where Fiat really excel, they managed to design about 6 different systems that all sieze with regular use. In fact regular use accelerates the problems because it works the crap that's got onto to the joints right into them.

[Timewaster]

I guess the change from Nov to April came at a sale?

Put 12 months on it for ya, 'old aht yer and.

 

That tyre fail, I quite imagine Sid and Dorris thinking "it needs tyres for mot. New tyres fitted so off we're good to go..."

[adw1977]

That tyre fail, I quite imagine Sid and Dorris thinking "it needs tyres for mot. New tyres fitted so off we're good to go..."

I bet that's exactly it, because it wasn't getting the tyres at the garage that did the MOT, the owner didn't realise they still had to go back to get the MOT signed off.

 

I had a fail last year on a tyre (worn on the inside edge) and when I went back for the free retest, the tester just glanced at the car parked 10 yards away and said yep, they're new tyres, come in the office and I'll print off your certificate.

[HillmanImp]

I used the Visa sparingly after it failed its mot in 2015, just running to the shops if I was working on another car or moving it from one storage place to another.

 

It seems I did over 700 miles in it by the time I took it for its retest last year.

 

 

Was quite surprised.

[sierraman]

That's where Fiat really excel, they managed to design about 6 different systems that all sieze with regular use. In fact regular use accelerates the problems because it works the crap that's got onto to the joints right into them.

IIRC the Seicento has the spindliest tinny little handbrake lever ever. Hard use would see the fucker bending.

[Sir Snipes]

I got the last pair of S12 Silvia Turbo handbrake cables Nissan could find 10 years ago. They had to come from a warehouse in Holland or some such.

[captain_70s]

Made me smile. Also true of Y10s and Pandas.

And Triumph Dolomites... I reckon those "self adjusting" drums are so named because you have to adjust them your"self"...

[Tamworthbay]

And Triumph Dolomites... I reckon those "self adjusting" drums are so named because you have to adjust them your"self"...

Tell me about that one! But to be fair all of my cars of the last ten years have had issues, the MGB GT, The VW type 2, the Dolly, the Beemer (that was an utter shite to do), the scooby, the 944 turbo and my present V70 won’t pass I don’t think with it as it is now. It seems to be a VERY common problem across a wide range of makers.