Upper Links - Failure then Pass!

Mar 11, 2005 5 Replies

With regards the upper links on my 1994 Nissan Primera...



I either have a car that was wrongly failed last time, or a car that's now wrongly passed!



I've been to a couple of garages, both whom have said they wouldn't fail the suspension on my car, one even said that the play on one side, is the same as the other.



I've been back to my original MOT place to argue the toss, to point out the facts that 1) My car drives fine, 2) The item in question is covered by an MOT special notice, 3) two garages have said they'd pass it, 4) If one side passed, so should the other because the play is the same on both sides.



So they took my car round the back, checked it out apparently, without even putting it on the ramp, I saw them flipping through a book, then they came back and issued a pass certificate quoting that they'll give me the "benefit of the doubt" but the upper link will fail next time.



They proceeded to tell me it's not the front part of the upper link (as covered by the special notice), but the back part which bolts on to the inner wing.



That then got more alarm bells ringing as I recall the area they marked white was the front part of the upper link! They also suggest the bushes can't be changed, but the bushes in question, appear to be bump stops on the outside of the joint... like washers... and they're saying the whole arm has to be changed!



Maybe Im talking bollocks, but something smells fishy.



Anyone got any words of wisdom?



Cheers Simon


if the [;ay on the top link is less than a quarter inch then it is ok

From what I've read over the years it's true that the whole top arm has to be changed. FWIW I can't feel any play at all in mine ('97 checked at

40,000m) but I can still hear them knock at slow speeds over concrete ridges in hot weather. It seems this is fairly normal and best ignored. I've actually seen the MOT bulletin about the 7mm of play allowed, so it's real enough. I had a '94 model same as yours that had slight play (1mm?) in the top joints at 70,000m but they never got any worse up to 158,000m and always got through the MOT.

Is this the play at the back of the top link, or the play at the front of the link?

That bulletin refers to the front of the link though, not the back of the link... that the garage alluded to being the problem, not the front of the link as they marked...

I used to hear knocking from my suspension, but now I don't hear anything what so ever, and I can't feel anything out of the ordinary.

Cheers Simon

Its winter, mines quietened down now too, just wait till the summer comes!!!!

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