My Turn MOT Fail

Ace Melon

Ace Melon

Well-known user
Aug 10, 2009
895
82
Market Rasen, Lincs
Brake pipes x 3 including the long one.
Turns out the welding I had done before the last MOT is corner tacked and mostly filler. So that's got to be redone.

Advisories......
Wishbones/ball joints. Can you replace just the ball joint or am I better off getting the whole 'bone?
Steering rack,
ABS wiring,
Tyres (didn't last long. Not having sporty ones again. going for rock hard cheap ones next)
Rear subframe corroded
Brake pads (front)

Probably means Harewood is going to be off for me this year :(
 
Sorry to hear your Coug failed.

Advisories are NOT a fail so could you not just get brake pipes and welding done to get the car reMOTed and sort out the other stuff over the coming weeks when you've got the time/money to sort them?
 
I've been quoted £150 to fit the three pipes and do the welding.
Not to scary but more than I currently have in cash. (My local garage dude doesn't take plastic)
 
Al, sorry to hear the news mate. Mine goes in on Thursday, so hoping it will pass, as only done 1,000 miles since last mot and it has a tonne of new parts on it, brake discs, pads, hoses, wishbones, etc. The only thing I'm worried about is the rear subframe, as mine looks pretty rusty, although my garage has said all you need to do is to wire brush it and then coat it in some black wax oil, which I'm going to do on my Coug and Mondeo.

It will be shame not to see you at Harewood, but can understand when money is short. Best of luck.
 
as above, the ball joints are not a big issue. The price for the pipes and welding is not bad, albeit its a kick in a man spheres when cash is short.
 
Sorry to hear the bad luck .Again i hear the rear sub frame problem it was mentioned a while back bout replacing these has the info been returned bout remanufacturing these or some one galvanising them, as i said before pity im this side of pond as i would do this
 
How far gone is the subframe? I've heard of a few failing/being listed as advisories on MOTs just lately, so I got mine up on a ramp at work to have a shufty (technical term!). At first glance it looked horrific, but half an hour with a wire brush had it looking far better, revealing solid metal under a fair bit of initial surface rust. Once I'd shifted as much rust as I could (if I was doing it again I'd definitely use a drill with a wire brush attachment instead, my arms were like jelly afterwards) I applied a couple of fairly liberal coats of Waxoyl. I'd now be surprised and fairly disappointed if it even gets an advisory come the MOT in July, I really do think that some that are failing are doing so because they look bad and the tester isn't bothering to investigate properly whether there's still solid metal under the surface rust.

Of course, some are just genuinely shot, but it's got to be worth half an hour or so of your time to find out before you start spending money.
 
Relliott6879 said:
How far gone is the subframe? I've heard of a few failing/being listed as advisories on MOTs just lately, so I got mine up on a ramp at work to have a shufty (technical term!). At first glance it looked horrific, but half an hour with a wire brush had it looking far better, revealing solid metal under a fair bit of initial surface rust. Once I'd shifted as much rust as I could (if I was doing it again I'd definitely use a drill with a wire brush attachment instead, my arms were like jelly afterwards) I applied a couple of fairly liberal coats of Waxoyl. I'd now be surprised and fairly disappointed if it even gets an advisory come the MOT in July, I really do think that some that are failing are doing so because they look bad and the tester isn't bothering to investigate properly whether there's still solid metal under the surface rust.

Of course, some are just genuinely shot, but it's got to be worth half an hour or so of your time to find out before you start spending money.
Click to expand...

I did mine - likewise it looked horrific, but in reality it was good metal underneath. I started with a wire brush on a drill but that was too much hardwork so switched to a flap disc in the grinder - that made short work of it. Once it was cleaned up to good metal I coated it with chassis paint. I reckon it's got a good few years left in it now - just hope it doesn't rot too much from the top down!
 
Ace Melon said:
Brake pipes x 3 including the long one.
Turns out the welding I had done before the last MOT is corner tacked and mostly filler. So that's got to be redone.

Advisories......
Wishbones/ball joints. Can you replace just the ball joint or am I better off getting the whole 'bone?
Steering rack,
ABS wiring,
Tyres (didn't last long. Not having sporty ones again. going for rock hard cheap ones next)
Rear subframe corroded
Brake pads (front)

Probably means Harewood is going to be off for me this year :(
Click to expand...

Can recommend Falken 452's which are about £90 fitted each mate
 
Relliott6879 said:
How far gone is the subframe? I've heard of a few failing/being listed as advisories on MOTs just lately, so I got mine up on a ramp at work to have a shufty (technical term!). At first glance it looked horrific, but half an hour with a wire brush had it looking far better, revealing solid metal under a fair bit of initial surface rust. Once I'd shifted as much rust as I could (if I was doing it again I'd definitely use a drill with a wire brush attachment instead, my arms were like jelly afterwards) I applied a couple of fairly liberal coats of Waxoyl. I'd now be surprised and fairly disappointed if it even gets an advisory come the MOT in July, I really do think that some that are failing are doing so because they look bad and the tester isn't bothering to investigate properly whether there's still solid metal under the surface rust.

Of course, some are just genuinely shot, but it's got to be worth half an hour or so of your time to find out before you start spending money.
Click to expand...


This was one of the reasons why my last garage advised the Mondeo wouldn't pass. My new garage have found exactly what you found Rich - "surface rust" - they advised clean it up with a wire brush/disc grinder and then coat with black waxoyl and it would be sorted. Need to do the same with my Coug, as is in the same shape.
 
As above Al, subframe is only a fail if any brackets are cracked/bent or if it is perforated, give it a hiding with a hammer to dtermine integrity, if its ok get a flapper wheel or a 'spoke' wheel (plastic hub with lots of steel fingers on it) and get it back to solid metal, also some rough abrasive on the brake lines, if you can still see corrosion, then they are a fail, but if it cleans up ok, then no worries ;-) As for the rack, whats wrong with it? did one on daves on his drive, and yeah it is fiddly but not impossible, deffo lower the subframe tho, and change the bones, ball joints are cheaper option, but you'll need to do the bones next year anyhow lol
 
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