OT: MOT advisory

Likely slight wear in the ball joint on the end of the rack. Can be like that and not get any worse for many a mile.

Cheers Dave

It's not a requirement. The test is purely there to check that items conform, not to do a diagnostic.

Do you think it worth diagnosing further then or not worrying about ? Incidentally, the tyres are wearing evenly.

Andy

I would want to know what it was, then you can make an assessment of the danger, and maybe whether it can ignored for a while, an inner tie rod might outlast the car, but a track rod end or bottom ball joint might suddenly fail with disastrous results.

Mrcheerful

Mrcheerful ( snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

In this context, though, it's very unlikely.

Something's been flagged up as being slightly loose, but not enough to be a fail. Therefore, it's incredibly unlikely to become dangerous in the immediate future. So get it checked the next time the car's being serviced.

if only it was that easy, I advised on a car last year on a top swivel joint, play noted but not excessive, but I advised the customer to get it done as soon as, as from past experience they can pull out from its housing.

a year on & I did an mot on it yesterday and he still hadn't had the swivel joint replaced, it was hanging this year so I failed it & put a dangerous on it !

he was a tad pissed off as his tax is due at the end of the month, we don't issue advisories for the fun of it !!

oh well his problem, not mine.

Not really, 'something' loose could be anything from the wheel inwards. I would have to know what it is,

"Oh yes, officer I knew there was a fault, but I hadn't got it checked as to what it was, I was really surprised when it swerved into that bus queue"

I have frequently recovered vehicles where there was a known fault, such as stiff steering on a Transit, the next stage is that the balljoint shears off and it hits the road on that side. There is NO further warning immediately prior to disastrous failure. Same with Minis and derivatives, their swivels often came to bits on the road, only previous sign would be slightly erratic steering.

Mrcheerful

Mrcheerful ( snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

So get it up in the air, and have a prod and a poke. If you've got the skills to replace it yourself, you've got the skills to diagnose it yourself.

If it were even remotely close to that bad, it would have failed.

For how long?

For how long?

reg ( snipped-for-privacy@ihatespam.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

It is.

Right. But it wasn't bad enough to do that, hence the advisory rather than a fail.

So in the intervening year it hadn't failed, but it had got bad enough to be a fail.

I know it'll pain you, Reg, but I think you just agreed with me.

Hey ho. He could have had the test done at any point in the last month and had the cert start at the same time. The Saab's first MOT in my hands is due on 3rd Nov. I'll probably get the test done in a week or so. I know there's a few things'll need doing (rear bushes worn, one front damper weeping - full rear bush kit, four dampers and rear springs in the boot already), but I want to know what I've not spotted yet.

Umm, quite.

no doesn't pain me, i agree with you. but its the fact he knew it will require replacing at some point before the next mot & *could* have failed before the next test, but does bugger all about it.

brake pads, the minium wear limit allowed for an mot is 1.5mm, not an mot fail but certainly a service item replacment, but the number if times ive advised over the years on pads on minium wear limit & months down the line they come in for not only brake pads but discs as well.

A good reason for taxing the car before the test runs out - at least you can still legally park it on the road then.

I'd say they'd be unlikely just to issue an advisory on trackrod end or suspension balljoint wear for that very reason. I've certainly never had one - but have had fails for this. Steering rack balljoints are rather different in that they get continuous lubrication.

But to the OP - if you lift the front of the car and make it safe with axle stands it shouldn't be too difficult to find out exactly where the play is. Although you'll likely need an assistant.

Not long at all; I recall my dad's Marina having its wheel collapse sideways at a junction due to swivel pin failure.

Swivels on Minis are an annual pre-MOT job for me, even though most of my Minis don't do very many miles, I know that if I don't adjust or replace pre-MOT they will like as not fail.

Because for some (many) people, the MOT is:

1. The only inspection their car will ever have.
2. Viewed as maintenance.
3. Something that failure of isn't taken as 'I'm glad they picked that up, I will have it fixed for safety's sake'.

We are not talking about instanly after the test, but sometime in the next year/ up to30,000 miles (few people do more than that), it has play somewhere, you need to know where, EXACTLY.

A month or two (not a year)

A week or more.

You should never just ignore faults, they could kill, you, passengers or strangers. Knowing what the fault is can mean it can be lived with.

Mrcheerful

very true Chris.

Mrcheerful ( snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Right. Which you're going to find once you take note of the advisory and jack the car up for a good look.

Bloody good job it didn't develop the week after the test, eh?

Many people would not, or even be able to ' jack the car up and take a look !'.

It just struck me as inadequate really, that any steering defect worth noting down, should be treated so cavalierly.

I'll stick it up on some stands and take a look.

Andy