MOT - Bonnet off necessary?

[Pacman1972]

Took my Tuscan into a local test centre today and they had to abandon it because they didn't have time to take the lid off. What's under the bonnet they need to check? Anyone had an MOT without removing the bonnet?

[Rich912]

I'm pretty sure you can do an MOT without the bonnet off. I had one garage want to take the bonnet off to get to the battery to power his emissions tester till i told him he wouldn't find the battery there. That was a fair few years ago though.

[spongy]

Thats two things today that have made me smile,feckin garages where do they get it from.I can tell you now if i lived in America and had a foofin gun i would be in prison.Im sure garages think we all came in on the last banana boat

[Smooth Smith]

Just had my Tuscan MOT'd without removing the bonnet. I did get an advisory though saying the bonnet was bolted on!

Phone a TVR dealer & ask where your nearest 'TVR friendly' dealer is.

[spongy]

3 things now

[jagracer]

I tested one a while back, after faffing around looking for a bonnet release, owner hadn't got a clue, I decided it was a great idea as its less to look at.

[TUS 2 CON]

My MOT guy said they only had to open the bonnet if it didn't require tools to do so

[drivingfroggy]

The guy in my local backstreet garage said he wanted the bonnet off because he had no history of the car and needed to check the chassis number. There was another reason for the bonnet off, but that escapes me just now. I had to go back to the garage three times to show him how to get to certain things, then he went and failed it!

[rm55]

"Didn't have time to take the lid off" It takes maybe 2 minutes at most! I hope they didn't charge you for this?

I only ever had my Tuscan MOT'd once but there was no need to remove the bonnet - why would there be?

[jagracer]

rm55 said:

I only ever had my Tuscan MOT'd once but there was no need to remove the bonnet - why would there be?

Providing the vin number is visible somewhere convenient no need at all, in fact it's not allowed for MOT purposes.

[NCE 61]

jagracer said:

roviding the vin number is visible somewhere convenient no need at all, in fact it's not allowed for MOT purposes.

VIN Number is on the identity plate in the boot, so no need to take the bonnet off to see the one stamped on the chassis.

[m3coupe]

When I was selling mine last year, I had to have the local place MOT my Tuscan insteadof the specialist.

I'd only been gone 15 minutes when I got the first phone call asking how to take the bonnet off. Told the guy, 20 minutes later another phone call asking the same thing again.

Ended up the only thing it needed for the MOT was a connector for the washers and they put an additive in the petrol for the emmissions.

Total cost was circa £200 which was a joke. Safe to say I won't be using them again for anything.

[Pacman1972]

m3coupe said:

Total cost was circa £200

Holy Smoke!! - I think given the comments above, if any MOT centre suggests removing the bonnet I shall politely tell them to "go poke it"

[jeast]

I was told by my local MOT station that they were not allowed to remove the bonnet due to it being bolted in place. They recorded that they could not access the engine compartment and passed the car.

[330p4]

On a normal eurobox i think they stick a temp probe down the dipstick hole to measure temperature for emissions test
Ian

[jagracer]

330p4 said:

On a normal eurobox i think they stick a temp probe down the dipstick hole to measure temperature for emissions test
Ian

Mainly for diesels or if a petrol fails the BET test but you can bypass it.

[Magic919]

jeast said:

I was told by my local MOT station that they were not allowed to remove the bonnet due to it being bolted in place. They recorded that they could not access the engine compartment and passed the car.

I've also heard they are forbidden to remove or dismantle in any way. I'm sure VOSA could confirm this.

[RichB]

Do they not check the pipework around the master cylinder?

[Magic919]

They do not check parts where they would need to dismantle the car in order to see. They can't fail for items they can't see either.

[RodMod]

Had my Tuscan for 6 years now and been to 4 or 5 different MOT places and never once been asked about removing the bonnet, to be honest i've never really even thought about it, cant see why they would need to ?

Rod.