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''Suspension arm ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt, Offside Front Lower'' Supplied and fitted, MOT retest, wheel alignment adjusted on SLK 2012, £ 271.88p. Remember having a brake master cylinder on a Volvo needing replacing. Main dealers cost a lot just for the part. Luckily one of my pupils at the time was a technician for Saab, supplied and fitted one for a fraction of the dealer quote. Apparently the part was made in the UK, shipped to Sweden, boxed as a Volvo part and supplied to the uk. What is stamped on the part is no guarantee as to it's origin. Rolex anyone?
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When I fitted the Zetec to the Caterham (to replace the crossflow) the clutch kit that matched the gearbox and flywheel that was supplied was genuine Ford. But both the cover and drive plate had not only the Motorcraft number but also the LUK number and Valeo number.
Never did find out who actually made it.
A few years later I had to take out the engine to get a gearbox issue fixed and spotted I had a rear crank seal leak and the drive plate was contaminated by oil so whilst apart sort the leak swap the drive plate. Then found out that the part was extinct, it originated in a Sierra 2 litre with the DOHC 8 Valve engine which was long since out of production. Valeo said they could make one but could not give me a timescale. A drive plate from a Pinto engined Sierra was no good since it was slightly thicker.
Contacted an old racing chum who had a AP racing franchise and sent him the plate to see if it could be matched. Turned out that the AP racing plates were exactly the same as the DOHC plate, result (and cheaper than any of the OEM parts). Just hope next time I need one they still make those.
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Not related to the repair quote but the MOT test as about as consistent as a random number generator in my opinion as to how it is implemented. Before it went electronic have had many incidents in which my vehicle failed and when tested in a differing garage the issues were seemed satisfactory and a pass. These days of late the changes are not related to safety but it has become nothing short of a money making scam (my opinion) whilst many other countries opt to test vehicles every two years.
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Have some sympathy with this view. Toyota Hi Ace camper advisory on rear shock absorber noted but left it alone, same garage next year straight pass with no mention of the shock absorber. Same place said a headlight on my SLK needed adjusting, ok, sorry but the adjuster is broken you need a new headlight, ''I suppose you think we broke it" mmmm. don't go there anymore. Do these mot stations get checked? People on this site obey the rules and pay their tax, get their mots and services done and insure their cars, how many drivers on the road just ignore the lot?
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''Suspension arm ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt, Offside Front Lower'' Supplied and fitted, MOT retest, wheel alignment adjusted on SLK 2012, £ 271.88p.
I do wonder if all these dust cover failures are justified. Seems to me it's an opportunity for garages to make a fast buck. This is car apparently only seven years old from a maker with a reputation for durable cars. The ball joints on our 18yr old Focus (139,000m) and nearly 40yr old TR7 (71,000m) have needed no attention yet. Possibly they don't have dust covers?
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With the current system being that you are not allowed to drive away a car with a dangerous failure, choosing the MOT station with this in mind makes sense for older cars. Do you really want to be held to ransom by the fast-fit establishment?
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This was the second MOT as another opinion. This repair was £100 cheaper than the first quote. Ignorance of the law is no excuse but I didn't know you couldn't take your car away if it had a major. However in this case the dust cover was the problem, the actual suspension part was ok.
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If the suspension part was ok, why did they not just replace the rubber boot .? The “dangerous “ category is a bit of a gray area as far as the mot goes. It may be illegal to drive with this failure , but the mot station cannot prevent you taking the car away , by however means you want.
Edited by elekie&a/c doctor on 11/07/2019 at 17:48
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Dust covers on items like drop link bars causing failures just seems wrong, interestingly if that item was covered in underseal and could not be examined fully this would not be a fail? The car makers have a vested commercial interest for the MOT test to be tough and we all know how big business can influence the pathetic and corrupt government.
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Be grateful it wasn't an air suspension equipped W215 CL or equivalent SL, bottom ball joint an integral part of the strut, last time i heard well into 4 figures for one new strut.
MB have form for this, my own W124 coupe, because it is the 320 model the bottom ball joints are part of the lower wishbone @ £££, smaller engined models have a replaceable ball joint which last time a looked was £12 from the main dealer, no rhyme nor reason to any of this...dread to think what the parts for the very rare 500E would be.
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I inquired at both MOT centres why the cover could not be replaced, they both said it was not possible, it was not sold separately. Interestingly neither said I couldn't drive the car but I should really have known this. I wonder how tough other countries are on MOTs.
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There is a difference between a major fault and a dangerous fault. Only the latter make it illegal to drive away. Having said that, less than 1.6 mm of tread is classed as dangerous even if the sun is shining and no chance of rain.
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I inquired at both MOT centres why the cover could not be replaced, they both said it was not possible, it was not sold separately. Interestingly neither said I couldn't drive the car but I should really have known this. I wonder how tough other countries are on MOTs.
You can buy ball joint dust covers - ebay or amazon.
I believe that the UK is the only country in europe that has the testing station also allowed to do repairs.
It's not allowed in france, testing station just do tests, and the car test is every two years after four years old from first registration.
How tough are they? Don't really know compared with the uk, but the test report doesn't come back with a load of silly advisory stuff like uk mot's.
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I inquired at both MOT centres why the cover could not be replaced, they both said it was not possible, it was not sold separately. Interestingly neither said I couldn't drive the car but I should really have known this. I wonder how tough other countries are on MOTs.
You can buy ball joint dust covers - ebay or amazon.
I believe that the UK is the only country in europe that has the testing station also allowed to do repairs.
It's not allowed in france, testing station just do tests, and the car test is every two years after four years old from first registration.
How tough are they? Don't really know compared with the uk, but the test report doesn't come back with a load of silly advisory stuff like uk mot's.
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If the actual joint is OK, I would wrap a few layers of clingfilm round it, secure it with duct tape, and resubmit it. Should keep the dust out for a bit....
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I inquired at both MOT centres why the cover could not be replaced, they both said it was not possible, it was not sold separately. Interestingly neither said I couldn't drive the car but I should really have known this. I wonder how tough other countries are on MOTs.
You can buy ball joint dust covers - ebay or amazon.
I believe that the UK is the only country in europe that has the testing station also allowed to do repairs.
There are (or were) some test-only UK options.
When I lived in London I used the London Borough of Enfield testing station.
I believe this also maintained the fleet of refuse lorries, but they didn't do any private repair work.
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I inquired at both MOT centres why the cover could not be replaced, they both said it was not possible, it was not sold separately. Interestingly neither said I couldn't drive the car but I should really have known this. I wonder how tough other countries are on MOTs.
You can buy ball joint dust covers - ebay or amazon.
I believe that the UK is the only country in europe that has the testing station also allowed to do repairs.
It's not allowed in france, testing station just do tests, and the car test is every two years after four years old from first registration.
How tough are they? Don't really know compared with the uk, but the test report doesn't come back with a load of silly advisory stuff like uk mot's.
Checked this out, you are right. Been told some porkies I believe.
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