MoT - Fact and fiction

[trigger]

My car doesn't need a VIC test though, I've transferred a private plate over of my old written off car to my current one but the insurance company told the DVLA the wrong number plate so i need to get it changed.

My worry is that the mot centre won't be able to mot my car until the marker is removed, I just wanted clarification if this would happen or not, ie would a message come up on the testers computer saying not to mot it until a VIC test was done?.

[hennabm]

The mot tester does not see anything on his computer about VIC markers, so he will just test the car as presented.

 

 

Looking at the manual I can't see how the tester could fail the rear brakes for imbalance as it only applies to front steered wheels :?

 

Hmmm!! It was definitely a fail, and it was the rears I did not the fronts.

 

Does the handbrake have to balance? As it was drums the handbrake works the same friction surface.

No the handbrake is only checked for overall efficiency and little or no effort. There is no balance check on hand brakes.

 

While we are talking myths - it is also a myth as to how many clicks the handbrake can come up. So long as it does not reach its stop it is a pass for handbrake travel.

[oldford]

A VIC marker shouldn't stop the vehicle being logged on for the test, all that may show up will be a Y under the vehicle damage marker when the the VT40 check list is printed.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

My 1989 BMW 3.0 put out 0.16 CO and 146ppm at the last MOT. Would that pass a test for a Catalyst car (it hasn't got one) ?

[retrogeezer]

My car doesn't need a VIC test though, I've transferred a private plate over of my old written off car to my current one but the insurance company told the DVLA the wrong number plate so i need to get it changed.

My worry is that the mot centre won't be able to mot my car until the marker is removed, I just wanted clarification if this would happen or not, ie would a message come up on the testers computer saying not to mot it until a VIC test was done?.

 

 

Trig, I think the only issue you get with a car you currently own that has a VIC marker against it is that you won't get sent tax disc reminders.

 

I had a Vectra that I ran for 3 years with a VIC marker on it....I'd managed to buy it as a Cat C and get the V5 changed into my name before the insurer had notified the DVLA it was a write off.

[trigger]

Thanks for that, I haven't had a tax disc remider yet so you could be right Simon, I'll get in touch with my insurance tomorrow about getting it changed, I hope it won't come up on a HPi check in the future?.

[Albert Ross]

My 1989 BMW 3.0 put out 0.16 CO and 146ppm at the last MOT. Would that pass a test for a Catalyst car (it hasn't got one) ?

 

Yes. But I would expect it to run like a shack of shit at that setting. But then I hate BMWs. For no reason other than I tend not to like the people that buy them new and spec them so horribly. Anyhoo.

[scaryoldcortina]

Pop quiz (for the non testers)

 

Is it ever possible to pass a MoT with radial tyres on the front, and crossplies on the back? If so, when?

[Doctormop]

Going to make myself look a total tit now but I was under the impression that as long as radials and cross plies weren't mixed on the same axle it was ok

[scaryoldcortina]

Going to make myself look a total tit now but I was under the impression that as long as radials and cross plies weren't mixed on the same axle it was ok

 

[Richard]

I know that the radials should go on the back but I'm not sure if you'd fail an MOT for putting them on the front.

 

Has anybody ever tried mixing crossplies and radials? Does it really have such a dramatic effect?

 

Edit- I'll suggest that it's possible to pass a test with them wrong way round if it's a 4x4, or maybe if it's a car with different sized tyres front and back.

[cms206]

Ahhh! I love MOT threads... I'll head over to the grumpy old man board after leaving these here...

 

Fail Sheet

 

Area relating to Point 001, where the MOT tester chopped bits out of my bloody sound deadening...

 

 

Still working out how on earth I'm going to make it fit again...

[Albert Ross]

As far as I am concerned, that is a nono. If that sound deadening needed damaging to remove it, the tester is in the wrong. Full stop. Just because he knows they rot there, does not give him the right to do that to your car. I mean, I can't even unlatch a child seat in order to check seatbelts, nor can I remove shopping from the boot to check known corrosion spots in boot floors. This bloke wants reporting. Stet.

[michael1703]

Ive got radials on the front and cross plies on the rear on two of my cars an they passed the mot

 

the tester said that it should be the other way around but i explained that its safer to have a bit of wheelspin than have no grip when braking and turning

[Pete-M]

New mot regs are insane. I took an 09 plate, 30k mile Skoda Superb for an MOT on Friday (mot's are often needed on new cars for taxi tests) and it had difficulty passing the smoke test even though I'd given it an Italian tune-up on the way to the test. Smoke test limit pass on an '09 is 1.5 things per wassisface. Car was emitting 2.25 - which is a pass on an '08 turdodiseasel. Eventually the tester took it around the block and thrashed it senseless, resulting in a 1.49 and a pass.

 

Thing is, how many cars are gonna fail this at their first attempt next year? The car in question had only been serviced the day before, hasn't done much more than average miles and has been maintained money no object. It's got the 1.9 115 bhp tdi lump, and runs perfectly.

 

"There may be trouble ahead...."

[CreepingJesus]

I've had a few fails over the years, for various things. I usually take them in good part, and get the car fixed or scrapped.

There was one, however which left me spitting feathers. D+G Autocare, up in Dunfermline was nominated by Kwik Fit to test the old LDV 'bus I had, after their tester fell ill. Their tester failed it on a 'leaky injector', which I pointed out to him was merely an existing mucky mark from the breather above the said injector; he also informed me that my starter didn't work properly, and that I could have both problems fixed that afternoon. I reattached the control wire (yes, draw your own conclusions), and pissed off back home...

Phoned Kwik-Fit, who weren't interested; went to the garage down the road (which I should've done in the first place), and had a good moan. They booked it in, and failed it. But when Jim tells me there's a crack in the front crossmember, and a damaged brake pipe beside it (the 'bus had been used on a site for a year before we bought it), I trust him. No leaky injector, and the starter was perfectly behaved. Brake pipe replaced, crossmember welded, and engine cleaned= pass issued. Excellent.

In the end, I sent an angry email to VOSA (or the DofT, whoever it was), complaining about D+G, and their incompetence, but nothing was ever done about it, to my knowledge. Opinions?

[AnthonyG]

Always thought this was nonsense, but my garage owning friend swears its true (he's not a tester BTW)

 

If you have a cracked windscreen, and you just remove it entirely, does that mean the car will pass?

[hennabm]

Pop quiz (for the non testers)

 

Is it ever possible to pass a MoT with radial tyres on the front, and crossplies on the back? If so, when?

 

The standard way if mixing types is Cross plies to front and radials to the rear EXCEPT if you have twin wheels on the rear axle. Then so long as they are all the same across an axle it's OK either way.

 

It's amazing what that manual contains.

[worldofceri]

My Volvo has a small hole in the exhaust. It's been like that for a while now and isn't getting bigger; it doesn't sound loud even when you rev it. Will it fail?

[dollywobbler]

My Volvo has a small hole in the exhaust. It's been like that for a while now and isn't getting bigger; it doesn't sound loud even when you rev it. Will it fail?

 

My Landy got an advisory for 'minor exhaust leak' but I'm not sure that's actually correct - it should have been a fail I think. If it's really small, just a blob of weld should sort it.

[Timewaster]

In the end, I sent an angry email to VOSA (or the DofT, whoever it was), complaining about D+G, and their incompetence, but nothing was ever done about it, to my knowledge. Opinions?

 

Utterly futile unless you are prepared to leave the vehicle unrepaired snd unused for months on end waiting for further inspections and deliberations, and other than grief for the garage, nothing useful to you will come of it.

If the vehicle is repaired then there is nothing to inspect.

[TagoraSX]

Does a car have to be driven to the MOT station?

 

I bought a car unseen with a new MOT, the furthest it ever drove without spluttering to a halt was 300 yards, due to a petrol tank full of rust.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

My 1989 BMW 3.0 put out 0.16 CO and 146ppm at the last MOT. Would that pass a test for a Catalyst car (it hasn't got one) ?

 

Yes. But I would expect it to run like a shack of shit at that setting.

 

The thing is though, it doesn't. It idles at a rock steady 800 and picks up very crisply. The idle CO has never been more than 1% in all the years I've had it and the PPM's always under 200 - if it ran at all badly, the PPM's would be far, far higher of course.

It's good on fuel and the plugs are always a nice beigy brown colour.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

New mot regs are insane. I took an 09 plate, 30k mile Skoda Superb for an MOT on Friday (mot's are often needed on new cars for taxi tests) and it had difficulty passing the smoke test even though I'd given it an Italian tune-up on the way to the test. Smoke test limit pass on an '09 is 1.5 things per wassisface. Car was emitting 2.25 - which is a pass on an '08 turdodiseasel. Eventually the tester took it around the block and thrashed it senseless, resulting in a 1.49 and a pass.

 

Thing is, how many cars are gonna fail this at their first attempt next year? The car in question had only been serviced the day before, hasn't done much more than average miles and has been maintained money no object. It's got the 1.9 115 bhp tdi lump, and runs perfectly.

 

"There may be trouble ahead...."

 

The problem is the ridiculous EGR systems on modern diseasels. You would not believe the amount of carbon build up in the inlet manifold and valves after 20'000 miles - I've seen 50k cars needing a top end overhaul and decoke. What they need is a proper caning twice a week, proper red line foot to the floormat stuff to clear the shit out. VW's are as bad as anything else and I'd suggest an EGR bypass kit - the best thing you can do for a diesel.

[michael1703]

My 1989 BMW 3.0 put out 0.16 CO and 146ppm at the last MOT. Would that pass a test for a Catalyst car (it hasn't got one) ?

 

Yes. But I would expect it to run like a shack of shit at that setting.

 

The thing is though, it doesn't. It idles at a rock steady 800 and picks up very crisply. The idle CO has never been more than 1% in all the years I've had it and the PPM's always under 200 - if it ran at all badly, the PPM's would be far, far higher of course.

It's good on fuel and the plugs are always a nice beigy brown colour.

 

one of my customers has an 87 325i and that runs at about 0.fuckall on the co2 meter but it always has, it got an advisy for 'running excessively lean' but is still going strong to my knowledge

[hennabm]

My Volvo has a small hole in the exhaust. It's been like that for a while now and isn't getting bigger; it doesn't sound loud even when you rev it. Will it fail?

 

My Landy got an advisory for 'minor exhaust leak' but I'm not sure that's actually correct - it should have been a fail I think. If it's really small, just a blob of weld should sort it.

 

The manual words a fail as "a major leak of exhaust gases". I wouldn't have thought a small hole would have been a major leak.

 

If a cat equipped car it may affect emissions and then it might fail under that but not for a leak of gases.

[scaryoldcortina]

Always thought this was nonsense, but my garage owning friend swears its true (he's not a tester BTW)

 

If you have a cracked windscreen, and you just remove it entirely, does that mean the car will pass?

 

Yes. You can also remove the wipers and washers, but may (depending on vehicle age and type) have to find somewhere else to stick the rearr view mirror. Expect an advisory that says "windscreen is missing"

 

The standard way if mixing types is Cross plies to front and radials to the rear EXCEPT if you have twin wheels on the rear axle. Then so long as they are all the same across an axle it's OK either way.

 

It's amazing what that manual contains.

 

Well done, top of the class. And yes, the manual is full of amazing stuff, the VTS device (computer) even hyperlinks each RFR (failure item) to the relevent page of the manual so you can check up too.

 

Does a car have to be driven to the MOT station?

 

I bought a car unseen with a new MOT, the furthest it ever drove without spluttering to a halt was 300 yards, due to a petrol tank full of rust.

 

No, it can arrive on a trailer, they sometimes do. It does need to run for long inough to pull in and out, and do the emission checks, but it doesn't have to arrive under its own power. In fact, it doesn't even have to be a road vehicle to go for a test... it is possible to MoT site and plant machinery as well. (some firms use this as part of their QC/H&S/whatever procedure)

 

New mot regs are insane. I took an 09 plate, 30k mile Skoda Superb for an MOT on Friday (mot's are often needed on new cars for taxi tests) and it had difficulty passing the smoke test even though I'd given it an Italian tune-up on the way to the test. Smoke test limit pass on an '09 is 1.5 things per wassisface. Car was emitting 2.25 - which is a pass on an '08 turdodiseasel. Eventually the tester took it around the block and thrashed it senseless, resulting in a 1.49 and a pass.

 

Thing is, how many cars are gonna fail this at their first attempt next year? The car in question had only been serviced the day before, hasn't done much more than average miles and has been maintained money no object. It's got the 1.9 115 bhp tdi lump, and runs perfectly.

 

"There may be trouble ahead...."

 

The problem is the ridiculous EGR systems on modern diseasels. You would not believe the amount of carbon build up in the inlet manifold and valves after 20'000 miles - I've seen 50k cars needing a top end overhaul and decoke. What they need is a proper caning twice a week, proper red line foot to the floormat stuff to clear the shit out. VW's are as bad as anything else and I'd suggest an EGR bypass kit - the best thing you can do for a diesel.

 

You also get trouble sometimes when a modern diesel puts out so little smoke the K meter thinks you are cheating and refuses to read! Whispers from the ministry say that diesel emission tests are going to go down the gas anylysis route sometime next year (2012)

[Tayne]

New mot regs are insane. I took an 09 plate, 30k mile Skoda Superb for an MOT on Friday (mot's are often needed on new cars for taxi tests) and it had difficulty passing the smoke test even though I'd given it an Italian tune-up on the way to the test. Smoke test limit pass on an '09 is 1.5 things per wassisface. Car was emitting 2.25 - which is a pass on an '08 turdodiseasel. Eventually the tester took it around the block and thrashed it senseless, resulting in a 1.49 and a pass.

 

Mine was emitting 0.2 at its last MoT and the slip states that 1.5 is the pass rate.

My car is a '98.

[scaryoldcortina]

Actually... fast pass for diesels is one reading of less than 1.5 (for vehicles registered since 1/8/79) if it doesn't meet that, you take a further 2 readings and average the three, pass for non-turbo is 2.5, turbo is 3.0. If it is still too high, you can try to blow it up a further 3 times before it has failed...

 

http://www.motuk.co.uk/manual_740.htm

 

I particularly like this bit though...

Older vehicles, particularly pre-1960, sometimes emit unavoidable smoke due to their design. Such smoke is not a reason for rejection

[Albert Ross]

Don't I know and use that one well, with a Land Rover 2286 under the bonnet. It failed this year. Tweak the pump, a set of used injectors, and wahey! (I don't test my own, company policy)