MOT Advisories, thoughts?

[Graham Butcher]

Just had my car go in for its MOT and it's passed but has a list of advisories as follows_

 

Monitor and repair if necessary (advisories):

Offside Front Service brake fluctuating, but not excessively (1.2.1 (e))

Offside headlamp slightly dim - compared to nearside

Offside Front Macpherson strut mounting modified but not seriously weakened not fully seated in hub (5.3.3 (c) (i))

Oil leak, but not excessive (8.4.1 (a) (i))

Front Lower Suspension arm pin or bush worn but not resulting in excessive movement both offside & nearside - rear main mounting bushes starting to separate (5.3.4 (a) (i))

Nearside Front Shock absorbers has light misting of oil (5.3.2 (b))

Nearside Rear Tyre has a cut but not deep enough to reach the ply or cords outer sidewall (5.2.3 (d) (i))

 

The second item, is not an issue, the N/S headlight is brand new one and has a slightly colder colour temperature compared to the O/S. daylight like compared to warm white and this is also reflected in the colour of the DRL's and the N/S even has a year of manufacture sticker on it stating 2024, so I thought it was odd that the tester listed that for attention?

 

The first and third item, I was wondering if there could be any correlation between the two? There is zero evidence in there being anything wrong in the suspension, steering or the braking or in the cars handling. The car had all new discs and pads fitted along with new calipers when I purchased the car last May and the brakes feel perfectly smooth when applied, no judder or vibration or jerkiness when driven.

 

Shock absorbers are the DCC type and I understand that these do suffer from oil misting, but they say it is only light and should be fine for a while, and see what happens next MOT.

 

Suspension bushes, may be OK next time around as well, but are they expensive to have replaced?

 

As to the tyre having a cut on the sidewall, what do you think to applying a dab of superglue to keep this together? There used to be TV advert years ago where superglue was used to mend a fan belt which had been cut in half, good idea or not?

 

The car has to be booked in to replace the drivers door lock as the KESSY fails at times and the door has to be locked manually from the remote and some mornings I have noticed lately the door unlocked. VCDS also shows the door switch to be faulty. So when the part is delivered, I have asked the garage to reseat the O/S/F shock absorber at the same time (probably need to get the tracking checked as well).

Edited 14 April by Graham Butcher

[MarkyG82]

As you plan to do, definitely get the shock seated correctly.  When was the brake fluid last done?  Maybe worth doing and could help with the brake performance.

Lower arms are actually quite easy to replace and worth doing at the same time as the shock seating, depending on cost of course.  The bushes can be replaced but often it's more economical to have the whole arm replaced.  Especially as it sounds like front and rear bushes are going. 

Maybe get the garage to clean down the suspension parts to allow you to monitor the misting?

[Graham Butcher]

I was wondering myself if the brake fluid had been replaced or not when the brakes were replaced last May, but I guess it may not have been. The brake hoses might have been clamped shut while the callipers replaced and just had the level topped up after the bleeding had been done. I think it would make sense to get this done as well, in case it has absorbed moisture.

[JEFF-the-Bowman]

You can buy brake fluid testers for 4 or 5 quid these days so easy to do yourself

[J.R.]

9 hours ago, Graham Butcher said:

Offside Front Service brake fluctuating, but not excessively (1.2.1 (e))

 

Offside Front Macpherson strut mounting modified but not seriously weakened not fully seated in hub (5.3.3 (c) (i))

 

No correlation between the two, the first is a slightly warped disc, in fact its not warping which would not show up on the brake rollers but the disc thickness varying around the circumference or glazed patches.

 

The second is of concern because someone has been bodging, taken with all the other anomalies are you sure that you haven't bought a Cat N write off or an uninsured repaired vehicle?

[skomaz]

6 minutes ago, J.R. said:

 

No correlation between the two, the first is a slightly warped disc, in fact its not warping which would not show up on the brake rollers but the disc thickness varying around the circumference or glazed patches.

 

 

If it's glazed patches, which you should be able to spot after taking the wheel off, I've had that in the past and have been able to clear it by sanding them slightly with some rough wet and dry on a sanding block.  Out of gear you can put a wheel stud back in and spin the disk using the wheel brace while holding the sanding block against the disc.

Edited 15 April by skomaz

[Berisford]

I'd be straight in there with the superglue - but then again, I never drive like I'm fleeing from the FBI........

Were any of these advisories on the previous MOT?

You might just have been unlucky and got assigned tester straight out of MoT school........

[Graham Butcher]

11 minutes ago, J.R. said:

 

No correlation between the two, the first is a slightly warped disc, in fact its not warping which would not show up on the brake rollers but the disc thickness varying around the circumference or glazed patches.

 

The second is of concern because someone has been bodging, taken with all the other anomalies are you sure that you haven't bought a Cat N write off or an uninsured repaired vehicle?

Yes, it would seem that the car has been involved in an accident at the front at some point in its life, as my garage has found some evidence of this and told me about it. They did say however that it was only a minor accident. I did a few car checks on it with the likes of Car Vertical before agreeing to buy the car, and they all came up clean in every respect so the accident was never recorded.

 

With regard to the slight warping, all discs were new when I purchased the car, as were the pads and calipers. The car had failed it previous MOT in Sept 2022 on all 4 tyres below legal limit, offside front and rear pads had less than 1.5mm of material left and the offside front shock absorber had a serious fluid leak. The garage selling the car gave it another MOT on 15th April 2023 and it passed with zero problems. The nearside front shock absorber had slight oil misting as an advisory on its MOT in Oct 2021, not any mention of it in 2022 or 2023 test, so I expect that has not been changed and the last 2 testers decided it was not worthy of a mention?

 

 

[Ootohere]

Good that some what they see.  There needs to be more professionals keeping the rest of us safe. 

Lots have cars and if the Tech / Fitter servicing does not tell the driver stuff then who will?

Plenty owners have Used cars and no idea what was done and when like Brake Fluid changed.  

 

[Graham Butcher]

25 minutes ago, Berisford said:

I'd be straight in there with the superglue - but then again, I never drive like I'm fleeing from the FBI........

Were any of these advisories on the previous MOT?

You might just have been unlucky and got assigned tester straight out of MoT school........

Well, that is what I thought at first, that the tester was somewhat new and being ultra cautious, then I thought about it and just wondered if the superglue might in some react with the tyre and make things worse, being as it's on a sidewall where there will a lot of flexing happening. Also of course as I don't do that many miles, the same tyre is likely to still be on the car at the next MOT, and it might appear like I was trying to cover something up to the tester?

[Ootohere]

If a flap of tyre was to get glued down then Black Bostik has been the Kerb Side Auto way, or vulcanising glue.  Puncture repair glue. both surfaces left to dry almost. then put together. 

 

Bodging R'us!

Edited 15 April by Rooted

[Graham Butcher]

23 minutes ago, Rooted said:

If a flap of tyre was to get glued down then Black Bostik has been the Kerb Side Auto way, or vulcanising glue.  Puncture repair glue. both surfaces left to dry almost. then put together. 

 

Bodging R'us!

I've just ordered a brake fluid tester from Amazon which will be here tomorrow. I'll have a look at the size of the flap in the tyre and then decide on what to do.

[aubrey]

I've heard those resistance based testers are pants. The only good ones actually boil the fluid to give you the boiling point value. Obviously they are not the cheap testers you see sold everywhere.

I've no personal experience on them, just saying what I've heard.

[Graham Butcher]

5 minutes ago, aubrey said:

I've heard those resistance based testers are pants. The only good ones actually boil the fluid to give you the boiling point value. Obviously they are not the cheap testers you see sold everywhere.

I've no personal experience on them, just saying what I've heard.

Here is a test of one of those and it appears to be good.

 

 

[Shuggyboatsuperb]

Ive never understood why testing the water content in the fluid reservoir gives any indication of moisture levels in fluid thats in the important part that gets hot i.e. the calipers ???

 

Im sure fluid may test ok in the reservoir but the portion thats often first bled out from calipers can be dark , with suspended corrosion microparticles  and absorbed moisture. 
 

If in any doubt at all- far better just to bleed the fluid-( and extract most of the old fluid thats in the reservoir with a big syringe and replace with fresh at the start of bleeding operation so you dont have to push a few hundred ml old fluid through the pipes first before the new) 

Edited 15 April by Shuggyboatsuperb
Spelling

[Ootohere]

Yes the Brake Fluid heats and cools and H2o might well be absorbed at the calipers, brake hoses,  but since the brake fluid is hygroscopic you are as well seeing what H2o content there is at the reservoir. 

Funnily till 2010 or so it was Brake Fluid first @ 2 years then each 2 years.   Then that became @ 3 years then each 2, now we are back to @ 2 years and each 2.

All about playing safe with VW Group, or is it easy money / income for dealerships.

 

It is at least bit more towards Servicing & Maintenance than those that say ' have never changed brake fluid ever on any car'.

Probably never killed them selves going off a coastal road either or had brake fade doing track days or anything like that. 

[Graham Butcher]

1 hour ago, Shuggyboatsuperb said:

Ive never understood why testing the water content in the fluid reservoir gives any indication of moisture levels in fluid thats in the important part that gets hot i.e. the calipers ???

 

Im sure fluid may test ok in the reservoir but the portion thats often first bled out from calipers can be dark , with suspended corrosion microparticles  and absorbed moisture. 
 

If in any doubt at all- far better just to bleed the fluid-( and extract most of the old fluid thats in the reservoir with a big syringe and replace with fresh at the start of bleeding operation so you dont have to push a few hundred ml old fluid through the pipes first before the new) 

I suppose the logic is that if the fluid in the reservoir is showing water then it is a safe bet that the fluid else where also has water in it and needs to be replaced. Also of course, fluid being fluid it will never stay in one place, it will work its way throughout the system, especially if the fluid in calipers does get close to boiling point then that will create bubbles which will migrate upwards to the reservoir and these bubbles will be steam which when condensing will become water droplets again.

 

Dark fluid that you will often see when bleeding at the calipers would be heavier metallic and dirt particles suspended in the brake fluid which perhaps don't tend to migrate, being heavier than air/steam bubbles?

[Graham Butcher]

I can now confirm that this tester is in fact pretty good for casual user and would seem to be pretty accurate, mine has arrived and tested it, works perfectly and it seems that my fluid has 1% water content, which is pretty normal for fluid 1 year old. When they reseat the O/S/F shock absorber, I'll ask them to bleed that disc again and check on the fluid that comes out for excessive dirt etc.

[310golfr]

On 15/04/2024 at 10:48, Rooted said:

Good that some what they see.  There needs to be more professionals keeping the rest of us safe. 

Lots have cars and if the Tech / Fitter servicing does not tell the driver stuff then who will?

Plenty owners have Used cars and no idea what was done and when like Brake Fluid changed.  

 

 yes ,some of the advisories listed are probably better done but it also looks to me like they are also looking for work as well

i wonder if it was a mot's for £20 sort of place  😂

i'll bet if you took the car to the local council mot place who dont do repairs, the advisory list would be a lot shorter

[Graham Butcher]

1 minute ago, 310golfr said:

 yes ,some of the advisories listed are probably better done but it also looks to me like they are also looking for work as well

i wonder if it was a mot's for £20 sort of place  😂

i'll bet if you took the car to the local council mot place who dont do repairs, the advisory list would be a lot shorter

I think so as well, I'm not aware of the council still doing MOTs. Years ago they used to service the ambulance fleet and they also did MOTs which is where I used to go all the time. Then the ambulance service was privatised and all of that stopped. 

 

And no it was not a cheap cut price test centre I went to, it was the main Skoda service centre for my area. 

[310golfr]

15 minutes ago, Graham Butcher said:

I think so as well, I'm not aware of the council still doing MOTs. Years ago they used to service the ambulance fleet and they also did MOTs which is where I used to go all the time. Then the ambulance service was privatised and all of that stopped. 

 

And no it was not a cheap cut price test centre I went to, it was the main Skoda service centre for my area. 

not sure about in england but up here in scotland local council mot places deal with the public as well as there own vans/cars.

i take mine every year to the local council mot place,  there's no incentive for them to fail you just for the sake of picking up work as they dont do repairs

[Ootohere]

Which is fantastic if the things checked are safe on the day and the car well maintained.

Not much use if the car never gets inspected and servicing and maintenance by someone that looks and tells you what the car might need doing and you would be best to do.

 

Like cars not getting their first or 2nd MOT, so just 3 or 4 years old. 

 

A new MOT is nice, but preventative servicing and maintenance is 'Simply clever'.  

[Graham Butcher]

2 minutes ago, 310golfr said:

not sure about in england but up here in scotland local council mot places deal with the public as well as there own vans/cars.

i take mine every year to the local council mot place,  there's no incentive for them to fail you just for the sake of picking up work as they dont do repairs

You know what, I just Googled and it seems that the council in my city still do MOT's, albeit £10 more than Skoda, but it might be worthwhile going there next time.👍

[Graham Butcher]

@RootedTotally agree, I always keep my servicing and maintenance upto date, you only ever get one life so never cut corners on servicing, it could be your last corner.

 

My local Skoda garage told me that the dreaded cambelt and water pump change every 5 years is no longer, as of 1st July 2023 they are now saying that is purely miles based at 140,000 miles, so that a huge saving right there, it used around the £700 a time mark. I just had it confirmed by Skoda UK as well.

Edited 18 April by Graham Butcher

[Ootohere]

Is that actually correct about the cam belt for a 2.0 TDI ?

 

As to those that it applies to, it is 180,000 miles. 

 

 

Cam Belt Guidance change (1).pdf

Edited 18 April by Rooted