Just passed my MOT

[soup dragon]

Just had my 88 a year now so today was its MOT (ministry of transport) testing time.
The car before mine a 95 reg mitsubushi FTO had just failed on 3 counts,so i was aprehensive - i knew the basics on my car were ok but unless you have the luxury of a workshop you dont know too much of the other stuff.
I paced up and down as the tester stuck probes up the exhaust, prodded and levered things and after a very long hour he announced it was a pass with only a mention of slight corrosion on a mounting bracket on some suspension part.
Good for another year and £35 lighter

[cowtown]

Congrats! Happy driving, and 35 pounds doesn't sound too bad.

[eddiehotrod]

I failed this year on wiper blades. They really built these things.

[soup dragon]

I thought they would just mention that you will need to new blades rather than fail you.
My local mot station is good as there is no workshop facilities just mot`s.
Ive been ripped off before where they say it needs this and that to pass and we happen to have the parts in stock etc etc.
Just need to sort my insurance out the the coming year its the time when i wish my car was 20 years old rather than 17 !

[ruf-porsche]

Originally posted by cowtown
Congrats! Happy driving, and 35 pounds doesn't sound too bad.

According to most speed freaks on this board you can save close to a 100 pounds if you just yank out the a/c system.

Oh were talking pound sterling not weight. I thought you guys went to the euro?

[soup dragon]

The Uk still uses pounds stirling but for how long....no idea
Most uk carreras dont have air con or catalytic convertors and have 231 bhp but would swap it all for your gas prices !

[ruf-porsche]

Originally posted by soup dragon
The Uk still uses pounds stirling but for how long....no idea
Most uk carreras dont have air con or catalytic convertors and have 231 bhp but would swap it all for your gas prices !

Premium gas price is over $2.60 a gal in Chi-town

[DJQ911]

Soup Dragon

Congrats on the mot.

I'm from Jackfield in Shropshire. Where are you?

[soup dragon]

Donnington telford m8,been out and around buildwas to old A5 atcham today too many sunday drivers though

[DJQ911]

Soup Dragon

Very local to me

I met up with Bazz55 yesterday, He also lives in Telford.

Small world

[911mot]

OOPS...

I failed a really nice 1990 Carrera 2 yesterday. Both front brake flexi pipes bulged and N/S steering rack boot split. Nothing major but a shame as it was a sweet car. Rear seat deleted, RS door panels, big reds, strut braced, lowered, adjustable anti-roll bars... you get the picture. He kinda cheered up when I explained it was the perfect time to fit braided steel brake lines...

[304065]

Fellas, for the benefit of those of us across the pond, could someone explain the types of things they're looking for on the MOT inspection? For example, I know that you can't have rust in certain spots-- this is WAY more stringent than US safety inspections, which many states here don't even have-- one often sees total rustbuckets driving down the road held together with duct tape.

What other types of things are they looking for?

Cheers

JFC
(St. Catz Oxon '90-'91)

[soup dragon]

They do :-
emissions test (smog)
check operations of all lights including headlight aim even tap lenses to check for poor connections.
check wipers/washers
check brakes on a rolling road machine front and rear and handrake
check windshield for cracks/chips that could affect drivers vision
check operation/integrity of seatbelts
check horn
lift car on ramps check for dangerous rust
check all parts of suspension steering brake lines
check wheel bearings
im sure theres more ask 911mot
overall a mot is a bit like a cheaper version of a ppi

[Glasgow 911SC]

My SC just passed it's MOT on monday. All I had to change was a dodgy indicator bulb. The night before I broke my interior door pull so had to change that in the dark in case it failed me. Not sure the tester would like opening the car from the outside only.

[911mot]

Soups got it right apart from one crucial area: An MOT pass means that the car, on that day, AT THE EXACT TIME IT WAS ON THE RAMP, conformed to the MINIMUM required standards of the Road Traffic act. And nothing else. Just because a car has an MOT it does not mean it is a good car. A very very very cheap ppi indeed


Broken interior door handle is a fail if there is no obvious way of opening it.

Corrosion is the hardest part of an MOT to assess. A vehicle can fail with respect to corrosion for:

Excessive corrosion in a 'prescribed area' — within 30 cms of certain safety related components, e.g. brakes, steering, suspension, seat belt mountings etc.
Excessive corrosion not in a 'prescribed area', but which is likely to adversely affect the vehicle's brakes or steering. 'Excessive corrosion' can mean a hole or a significantly weakened structure.


A bulb is easy, either it works or it doesn't.

Some tips from an insider:

A split wiper blade is NOT a reason for failure. It must be worded on the failure sheet ' wiper does not clean screen'. If a split wiper works and cleans the screen it's a pass.

If you fail because of a chip bigger than 10mm just inside the windscreen swept area, you can cut the wiper blades shorter to make the swept area smaller. There is no requirement for the size of the swept area - but dont take the pi55. A 3 inch wiper blade won't cut it I'm afraid. If the chip is bigger than 40mm your stuffed.

Reverse lamps, spare tyres and centre brake lamps are not part of the test. Neither is the speedometer, odometer or any guages.

Overall engine/gearbox/clutch condition is not part of the test. As long as it can drive on and of the ramp that is fine.

Sharp edges are only a failure if caused by corrosion or damage. Which means you could remove the front bumper, grind the irons down to points and it would still pass, but a rusty wheelarch with a jagged edge would fail. Just put some duct tape over it and your good to go.

Anything mounted forward of the windscreen is not part of the test. IE Landrover tyres on bonnets, merc badges etc.

If your car fails on the front passanger seat belt - take the seat and belt out! The rear seat behind where the front seat was is now considered the front passanger seat and this then must meet the belt requirements dependent on year of manufacture.

Same with rear seats - take them out and there is no belt needed.

A push on fuel cap is a failure - it must seal against the filler neck. There are some emergency ones that you push on and twist to tighten down - these are fine.

Any questions feel free to ask

[jph83]

Thanks for the tips 911mot, i always dread MOT time but it's never as bad as i think it's gonna be.

Regards,

Jon