cotleigh crasher Posted May 27, 2013 Share Posted May 27, 2013 Hi All Well, the saga continues...... After curing the smoking problems by changing the cylinder head, I started to love my 110 CSW again. Then came the dreaded MOT time. The tester spent an hour and a half doing the test and a further half an hour writing it up. I thought that maybe he was just a slow typist but it seems that there really was half an hours' typing to do! Four pages! He then spent 5 minutes sweeping up all the rust from the testing bay! Good news.....it passed the emissions test Bad news......it failed on just about everything else! Track rod ends, sidelights, brake hoses, brake pipes, body mounts, body crossmember, seat belt mounts, rust holes in chassis leg, handbrake contaminated with oil from drive flange, etc etc. The list of advisories was just as long. AND, he had the bloody cheek to call it a horseshoe !!! So, my bank holiday weekend has been spent under the Landy changing the drive flange, handbrake shoes, body mounts, body crossmember and patching holes in the rear floor which appeared when I took out the old crossmember. What a horrible job changing the body crossmember. Every bolt was rusted up solid and either snapped off (good) or rounded off and had to be cut off (bad). Lying on my back on the garage floor, rust and mud raining down, in my eyes, down my neck and up my nose! The garage was right, there is no way to replace it without cutting it in half, I spent an hour trying! Who was the complete idiot that designed the chassis with so many dirt & rust traps, I can't believe the amount of mud I've dug out of all the nooks & crannies, revealing a nice rusty hole behind. My welder is going to be so busy next weekend! So, tomorrow night I'll be fitting the new crossmember, then I have the track rod ends to do, then weld up the chassis, refix the body panels I've had to remove, then to the garage next Monday to have the brake pipes renewed and re-test. With any luck it'll pass this time and I can start to enjoy it again. Ah! the joys of owning a 22 year old Defender eh! Ralph Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cotleigh crasher Posted May 27, 2013 Author Share Posted May 27, 2013 Oh, and the rear 'A' frame balljoint, what a b*****d of a job that was! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbeast Posted May 27, 2013 Share Posted May 27, 2013 sounds like fun mate haha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maverik Posted May 28, 2013 Share Posted May 28, 2013 You sound the practical sort, you really should do the brakes yourself, its quite easy, a garage will cost you a fortune to do it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluehaze Posted May 28, 2013 Share Posted May 28, 2013 And you thought owning a 22 year old land rover would be maintenance free! Just think of the satisfaction once it passes the MOT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cotleigh crasher Posted May 28, 2013 Author Share Posted May 28, 2013 You sound the practical sort, you really should do the brakes yourself, its quite easy, a garage will cost you a fortune to do it... I would, but I haven't got the pipe, fittings, flaring tools, time or inclination! I've still got to finish the body crossmember, weld up the chassis and change the track rod ends, oh, and I've gone down with man-flu now...oh joy! And you thought owning a 22 year old land rover would be maintenance free! Just think of the satisfaction once it passes the MOT. No, I never expected it to be maintenance free, but I didn't expect it to be a full-time job either. My other half didn't recognise me when I came in from the garage last night, she'd forgotten what I looked like!!! I admit that it will be hugely satisfying once it passes, what worries me is what its going to fail on next year? Incidentally, its interesting to note that last year,(4k ago, previous owner) it passed with two advisories, a worn tyre and corroded brake discs..........dodgy MOT, never! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highlandmist Posted May 28, 2013 Share Posted May 28, 2013 Incidentally, its interesting to note that last year,(4k ago, previous owner) it passed with two advisories, a worn tyre and corroded brake discs..........dodgy MOT, never! I hear you man. Mine passed with the previous owner last year with NO advisories, this time I've went through 1.5 rolls of mig wire and a lot of sweat and tears to get it through. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maverik Posted May 29, 2013 Share Posted May 29, 2013 I think you'll find a fair few stories of the old MOT pass when they blatently shouldn't have been... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cotleigh crasher Posted May 29, 2013 Author Share Posted May 29, 2013 It just goes to show how pointless the mot test really is. The certificate becomes a worthless (but expensive) piece of paper as soon as you drive the car away from the test station. There must be a better way to ensure that the car is roadworthy and give some peace of mind to buyers. Rant over (for now!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dads Toy Posted May 29, 2013 Share Posted May 29, 2013 There is a better way, it's called the ITV and it's Spanish. The only place you can get an MOT (ITV) in Spain is at a government testing station. That's all they do all day long, test cars/lorries/coaches. They don't do any repairs so no incentive to fail, they don't sell any vehicles so no dodgy certificate to get rid of a vehicle - they're just government employees who just test them. They're very thorough and also very efficient. Plus depends how old the car is how long the certificate lasts e.g. newer cars have a longer certificate but anything commercial has only 6 months. Oh and you get a small sticker that has to be displayed on the windscreen to show it's legal and when it runs out. Malcolm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maverik Posted May 30, 2013 Share Posted May 30, 2013 Sounds far to organised for uk government... and thats all I've got to say about that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
western Posted May 30, 2013 Share Posted May 30, 2013 one test a year is enough, twice a year is just overkill, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cotleigh crasher Posted May 30, 2013 Author Share Posted May 30, 2013 I quite agree, one test a year is quite enough. Good idea to have a completely independent organisation do the testing, though Maverik is right, far too organised for a UK government to adopt, it makes much more sense to blunder on with the broken system we already have. Whenever our goverment tries something new they usually make a complete hash of it........they'd probably contract Kwik-Fit to do the testing !!!! Can you imagine? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevie D Posted May 30, 2013 Share Posted May 30, 2013 I quite agree, one test a year is quite enough.Good idea to have a completely independent organisation do the testing, though Maverik is right, far too organised for a UK government to adopt, it makes much more sense to blunder on with the broken system we already have. That's how they do it here in N Ireland under govt control - 15mins in and out typically, big shed, 8 lanes, doors at both ends, and full of time served btec mechanics. No work, just test. 110's are good at keeping you busy ... hat list of advisories is fairly minor lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tacr2man Posted May 30, 2013 Share Posted May 30, 2013 When you see what it costs to go thru HGV test , with UK Govt testers , dont think having your car tested that route woould seem so attractive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cotleigh crasher Posted June 6, 2013 Author Share Posted June 6, 2013 Hello again everyone. Well, things have gone from bad to worse here and I'd appreciate some advice/confirmation. The 110 now has a valid (?) MOT, but the lord only knows how. I'll start at the beginning so it makes some sense........ When I took it to the garage after sorting out all the above woes, the brakes worked fine, there was a fair bit of travel on the pedal but they were powerful and it stopped on the proverbial sixpence. The garage changed the front brake pipes and flexi's and did the re-test, which it passed. They said they had some problems bleeding the brakes and noted on the MOT certificate that the brakes only had 50% efficiency and that there was too much travel on the pedal. Well, the brakes are now absolutely .......I beleive the phrase used on this site is 'ploppy plop plops', An emergency stop is completely out of the question, I'd be quicker sending the brakes a telegram! Also the pedal now goes 3/4 of the way to the floor before anything happens, and if I hold my foot on the pedal with the engine running it slowly goes down to the floor. It doesn't pump up with the engine off, so its not air in the system, and the pedal falls slightly when I start the engine so I presume the servo is working ok, theres a pretty healthy vacuum at the end of the pipe. I phoned the garage and they said 'bring it back and we'll bleed the brakes again', but I really don't want to take it back again, I don't trust them anymore, this whole MOT business has been a right fiasco, it took them 3 days to bugger up my brakes and they messed up my air filter set-up in the process. Another thing, previously when I stopped the engine it used to hiss gently for a couple of seconds, now silence, not even a slight hiss. I'm guessing that the master cylinder has given up the ghost? Anyone any better ideas? Please help, I'm getting close to putting a match under it! if only diesel would burn!!! Ralph Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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