The ask an MOT tester thread

[Athlon]

There have been many topics about the MOT lately and I know there are other testers on this site other than me so ask your questions here and I am sure one of us will have an answer for you.

FAQ:

There are no targets for pass or fail.

We are monitored but only to build the bigger picture nationwide as to what is a a common problem.

The ave test time is 45 mins

We are all tested via training once a year

It is a thankless job!


Over to you

[Athlon]

No drinks! I have a family and cars need to be safe to be fair!

I did a car with 3 pages on the old system , today I did a 3 fail, 14 advise, 3 manual advise on one car..

Some of the things we see and what happens post test is eye opening, I did a car for cords showing on a tyre and an advise on another tyre that was almost through, he did the bad tyre , refused the other then paid more than the value of the advise tyre to have his A/C re gassed...

[Athlon]

redandwhite said:

Nice, asked this question recently in my own thread but will repost here for your opinion, cheers;

I have a dash message relating to Alarm System Service (siren issue) and Parking System Service (dud parking sensor) - these can be removed by pressing the stalk and are only present when first starting the car - am i correct in thinking these wont be an issue come MOT time?? The VOSA regs (see im a typical volvo owner) dont seem much help.

They are of no interest to us at all, we may mention them in an advise (not likely) but not an issue.

[Athlon]

funkyrobot said:

Does anyone ever actually use the MOT viewing area?

Yep, a fair few, especially enthusiasts that don't like others messing with the car! I must admit it sets my alarms off if I don't know them as it may be secret shoppers haha!

[Athlon]

the tribester said:

Would you pass this?

Modifications to vehicles must be assessed on their merits, taking account of the nature of the modification and whether the component is critical to safety.

A modification is unsafe if it:

adversely affects the roadworthiness of the vehicle
is likely to cause injury, such as modification to the body
has a disproportionately adverse effect on the environment

yes.

[Athlon]

lord trumpton said:

All this DPF gutting and the clampdown...do you find many that have been gutted and welded back up these days?

Some, although some are really good and hard to spot and to be fair some will pass even when gutted, smoke from the exhaust gives them away

[Athlon]

Coilspring said:

Would you not regard that as a sharp edge ?

A sharp edge is a cut in a panel or broken glass/plastic lens in my opinion, they could cause harm though and would fail on that for me.

[Athlon]

LosingGrip said:

Is there a reason why i took my bike in for a tyre change and MOT that they did the MOT first, fail it and then did it again with the new tyre?

Every station will have their own approach, we as the mentioned test first as it may flag up more faults that need addressing, swapping out the tyre first may seem the best option but if the car/bike fails on a load more later it means a re-test and more ramp time, better in my opinion to treat the test as a job sheet and do it right once.

[Athlon]

Coilspring said:

Athlon said:

A sharp edge is a cut in a panel or broken glass/plastic lens in my opinion, they could cause harm though and would fail on that for me.

I probably mis read or mis understood your post.

You said "yes" which I assumed meant you would pass it.

A sharp edge (at my regular mot station) is deemed to be anything a pedestrian might be affected by, including when vehicle is parked.

Sorry, I meant yes as I would fail it.

[Athlon]

Casa1862 said:

Are the council run MOT places more strict as they are used to testing taxis and commercial vehicles?

They don't tend to do taxi's,they are another level, taxi test is brutal compared to an standard MOT.

All stations should test to the same standard although one thing rarely considered is that some testers in non council stations will let a close one go as they don't fancy doing the repair on a Friday afternoon! Council will work to tighter rules as they don't have to mop up the fail..Most testers are techs as well and test then repair and might not fancy the slightly rough wheel bearing on a transit late on a Friday!

[Athlon]

Monkeylegend said:

I used to take my car to our local garage with a guy I knew well for year.

He used to let me sit in the car on the ramps and wiggle the steering wheel, turn it onto full lock, apply the handbrake and footbrake while he was under the car doing the test.

I also used to start an stop the engine at his request from up high. Never had a fail with him.

Is this really allowed?

Yep, an assistant is fine, most stations are ATL now with shaker plates etc but a helping hand is good, I appreciate the help, especially with specialised cars.

[Athlon]

stevemcs said:

ColdoRS said:

What is the financial incentive to be an MOT tester/have testing facilities in house?

I assume it isn’t big profits, when you see tests advertised for £25 etc...?

No incentive, unless your trying fail stuff and pick up the rework. We charge the standard £54.85 for class 4's and carry out 6-7 tests every day. We have no incentive to fail them as we have a diary thats full and have zero space to carry out any repairs, currently we are booking for 2nd week in September for the workshop.

Why charge £25 for an hours work unless your cutting corners or something else ?

Agreed, we are mostly class iv and there is little profit in the job, it's a service we provide that keeps us busy, I have no idea how they can do tests at £25 to be honest, we charge £45 for class iv and if we are busy break even on the year..

[Athlon]

2002 said:

Have you ever had someone really mad at a failure? Particularly those who put a lot of stock in a blemish free record?

Not really, one or two have had the hump but if the car is not right then...

[Athlon]

funkyrobot said:

How many crappy, misplaced number plates do you see?

People have got wise to this now, I usually find the dodgy ones in the boot with correct ones on the car...As has been said, test as presented.

[Athlon]

borcy said:

What's the worst single fail you've seen on a car?

Ever seen anything with say a big hole in the floor?

I have seen an Audi on runflats where the tread was totally separated from the inner sidewall, TPMS light was on but ignored..

Corrosion is worse now than ten years ago for sure, I tested a 206 the other day and the sill looked fine as they have a rubber based protective layer on the sill but thumb pressure was enough to prove about a foot of the sill was rubber and no longer metal behind.

I have seen some lower ball joints that are really bad, bad enough to not risk bouncing them through the brake rollers again coming off the ramp. Renaults are the worst for this.

[Athlon]

borcy said:

Do you fail them if the plates are mispelt, tinted, different font or not too bothered as long as they are readable?

There are a lot of rules about plates, it is a major fail and if a tester is caught overlooking them then he/she would be in trouble. There are far more reasons for rejection on plates than brake discs ! maybe it is because they want to be sure and catch you being naughty? !

That said, if it can be read easily, is correct to the car and the right colour and font with no naughty bolt placement then you can use common sense.

[Athlon]

davwill said:

As a MOT tester the thing that i can not get my head round is how many cars come in for a test with no water in the washer bottle. Makes you think if they can not keep that topped up what else never gets checked.

This! exactly this, if the washers are empty or the blades are totally finished that sets my alarm off and I fully expect the rest of the car to be poor, this is rarely proven incorrect.

[Athlon]

Baldchap said:

I'm currently putting together a collection of sheds for a banger rally, after which they'll all be scrapped. If I tape over corroded wings so they aren't sharp, is this acceptable, or do I need to source some replacements?

If the 'repair' is solid and outside 30cm of any prescribed area and no sharp bits are present then there should be no problem. Nothing in the rules says what a panel should be made from..

[Athlon]

borcy said:

Athlon said:

There are a lot of rules about plates, it is a major fail and if a tester is caught overlooking them then he/she would be in trouble. There are far more reasons for rejection on plates than brake discs ! maybe it is because they want to be sure and catch you being naughty? !

That said, if it can be read easily, is correct to the car and the right colour and font with no naughty bolt placement then you can use common sense.

Cheers I did wonder.

Didn't the rules on brakes, specifically corrosion, change a couple of years ago?

Fast fits were failing a large amount of brakes back in the day so the rules were softened, the wording for failing a disc now means you could only actually fail one if it is breaking up, I have advised discs with totally rotten inner faces that are solid.

Pads are 1.5mm but there is no way to measure them really so we use best judgement, my DVSA guy advised me that if the pads are scraping the disc they can fail!

Corrosion is as always, any bad metal that weakens the vehicle within 30cm of the brakes is a fail, how you decide this is tricky as the same applies to suspension, seat belts etc so you usually end up with multiple fails for the same problem.

[Athlon]

Baldchap said:

Athlon said:

Baldchap said:

I'm currently putting together a collection of sheds for a banger rally, after which they'll all be scrapped. If I tape over corroded wings so they aren't sharp, is this acceptable, or do I need to source some replacements?

If the 'repair' is solid and outside 30cm of any prescribed area and no sharp bits are present then there should be no problem. Nothing in the rules says what a panel should be made from..

I assume prescribed area means structural area?

Sorry, yes. It's the way the book describes it.