Its The Dreaded M.o.t

[SPipower]

My car a 1.2i mk 2, its the dreaded m.o.t season and just wondering if anyone can advise me on the things to check over the car, i have been throught the previous sheets but my idea of fine is probabily completly different to the testers,lol so if there are common faults apart from the hazard switch, it would be appreciated!

Thanks

Simon

[Stuart]

the back of the haynes manual has the mot checks
Or jsut put it in for it and see what fails

[Adam]

Whats dreaded about it?

As long as the cars solid, should be fine :)

Check brake pads/discs, tyres, cv boots, brake lines/pipes, exhaust for blows, check for any rust on sills/ around rear spring/ on chassis sections etc.
All lights, wipers etc.

The only thing you cant check is the emissions

IIRC haynes tells you exactly what to check at the start of the manuals.

[Welsh Dan]

The main thing on ours last time and the time before was rust. The back section of the Haynes manual has a list of checks, I imagine the tests are slightly different now since the time of printing, but the principle will be the same.

If you're not blowing any smoke when its warmed up, and the handbrake works ok, the main thing will be rust.

Things I can remember are no play in the steering wheel, brakes(discs, drums, calipers, lines etc..) working and looking ok. No damage to the windscreen directly in front of the driver. Then the obvious things like seats and seatbelts being secure, and all the lights working correctly.

Emissions wise, it shouldnt be subject to the new stringent rules. The valve seals (I think) could do with replacing on ours, so it burns a little oil, and emits a bit of blue smoke on startup. I took it to the garage where we get our MOT's and repairs done and asked the head guy there if they emissions would be ok, his reply was along the lines of "if there's no or very little visible smoke when its warm, it'll be fine, we don't rev them very high anyway" :thumb:

[R1CH]

Just had my trusty diesel 106 MOT'd today and it passed no probs !!! :D
Things to check, Tyres, jack the car up and check theres no play in any of the bearings / bushes / ball joint ect ..., check brakes (make sure there not excessivly worn), handbrake (make sure theres not loads of travel on the lever), check all bulbs, wipers, then try and have a poke around underneath for the dreaded rot / rust (chassis legs / sills / mounting points ... everywhere realy !), give it a good clean as well, makes them think its better looked after than it is (they might not look as hard for faults ?)

Good Luck

Rich

[R1CH]

I need to type faster, there were no replys when i started !!!

Rich

[orange_andy]

thats when you find out if some idiot has just used filler on big 10inch rust holes haha

[jbowman]

Cor its a Nova, where to begin lol - looks like everyone got here before me.

-Tap around both sill/arches/wheel well for any rust holes - get any holes welded
-Same for the rear suspension and if a screwdriver will poke through the centre of the top spring mount & around backbox mounts - get it welded
-Take the front and rear bumpers off to look for rust holes (esp bottom of front wings) if there are a few surface bubbles jus give it the wire brush treatment then underseal the whole lot.
-Take out boot carpet and have a poke around.
-Check around front suspension struts for rust and battery area.
-Check headlights can still be adjusted manually or electrically.
-Tighten/adjust hanbrake cable
-Check no excessive move in seats and seatbelts are'nt frayed
-Wipe away oil around the sump
-Give her a good service, oil, brake fluid, plugs,filters (if you've a standard air box take out the filter - breathes better for emmisions)
-Check CV boots + jack car up (proper jack) and rock wheels to check bearings - shouldnt be excessive movement.
-While you're there check the exhaust for excessive rust and holes.

The rest are just simple checks and common sense, like bulbs, wipers, shockers, tyres etc.

If you give it a good clean inside & out, somtimes "bull**** baffles brains"
If she looks good underneath - no major rust, a good clean and underseal top up wont go amiss once she passes. :D

[Adam]

Just had my trusty diesel 106 MOT'd today and it passed no probs !!! :D
Lol, thats a diesel tho, for the emissions on that you just rev the engine and see how much black smoke it can shoot out.

Its always cool when your car passes straight through tho :D

[jbowman]

Its harder for a diesel to pass the mot as they are more polluting than petrols,
Tester revs it 3 times to about 5000rpm which is pretty much read line, so the engine has to be pretty efficient to pass with little or no black smoke.

[Adam]

Its harder for a diesel to pass the mot as they are more polluting than petrols,
Are they :confused:,i've always been told diesels are less polluting, even with the smoke.
Which is why they just get a visible smoke test, and not a strict emissions test.
And they are a lot more efficient than petrol engines.

[jbowman]

Older diesels like petrols that dont have a cat, like my Nova TD can be more polluting. I agree that diesels are more efficient than petrol but when they fall out of sinq they can be more polluting esp the older models.
With a carbed petrol you just have to turn the screw until its within the limits - sorted.
With the diesels you have three attempts or 'blips' if u fail you re-book + it doesnt help if you have a leaky turbo.

[Adam]

OOoo right.
I've never owned or MOTd a diesel to know exactly how they are tested.

[mikey14sr]

Best thing to do with a diesel before an mot is to rev it like hell down the nearest bypass, thats usually enough to clear out most of the soot in the exhaust, as it's mainly the density of the smoke coming out that is being tested. As for giving the car a good clean, I had replaced both front wings, both sills, both rear arches and the rear panel and it was all nicely re-painted and they still hammered away trying to find rust!!!

[Riggy]

lol i love mot's lol

specialy when you take you car in and when you come back they tell you how they couldnt find anything wrong with it lol , (dont you just love granny shells)