Any MOT Testers Here?

[Region3]

If so, I have a question or 2 for you please.

I took my car for an MOT today, and it failed on the front O/S brakes working 27% better than the N/S ones.
To me, that sounds like it could be dangerous and would pull the steering to one side when I braked hard, but on my way home I stood on them as hard as I dare and it never pulled an inch.
Does that sound right that I wouldn't notice if there were that much difference between them?

The other thing that peeved me a bit was that when I collected it, the guy said to me "It's got a bit of poke hasn't it!" I don't even think he was the tester but could be wrong.
A) Is there any reason someone would discover that during an MOT test?
B) How long does the engine need to be running for an MOT test, because if they've put their foot down without it being warmed up I'm going to be even more peeved, but I don't want to go ranting if there's a good reason for it.

Thanks.

 

[Smiffy]

The other thing that peeved me a bit was that when I collected it, the guy said to me "It's got a bit of poke hasn't it!" I don't even think he was the tester but could be wrong.

Thanks.

Can't answer your brakes question Gary, far too technical for me.
But the bit above????
As far as I am aware, they don't drive your car at all during the MOT test, everything is done on the ramp.
Sounds like he nipped home to dinner in it.

 

[USER1999]

Would the pulling of the brakes not be masked by the abs?

 

[woosey]

Can you confirm it's 100% the front brakes where the bias issue is? If so i can only guess it's a caliper issue. What car is it?

As for driving it - they have to move it around the yard/on/off ramps/emissions testing but that shouldn't mean going above 2krpm.

Out of intrest - where did you have the MOT done?

 

[woosey]

Would the pulling of the brakes not be masked by the abs?

Nope - ABS only kicks in then the disk stops rotating.

 

[USER1999]

Nope - ABS only kicks in then the disk stops rotating.

But if you stamp on the brakes, the one with the better performance will lock up quicker than the other one, which may not be locked. The abs will then mask this?

 

[woosey]

But if you stamp on the brakes, the one with the better performance will lock up quicker than the other one, which may not be locked. The abs will then mask this?

But the op didn't state there was any ABS kick in (should be rather obvious!) I wouldn't say you would feel a swerve to the direction of the brake with poor performance on one side (unless the difference was huge!) as it's not affecting the geometry of the front tyres, the differential will also assist in equaling out the difference in drive shaft rotation.

Either way waiting back on what car it is (and age)

 

[Region3]

Thanks for the replies.

To try to answer some questions...

100% front brakes.
Apparently the MOT limit for imbalance is 15% and mine were 27% (N/S weaker).
They did say most likely it would be a slider sticking in the caliper, but worst case scenario new discs and pads.

When I tested it on the way home I didn't lock the brakes and the ABS didn't cut in.
I didn't give it as much as an emergency stop, but very firm. Probably 70 down to 40 in a couple of seconds.

It's a 2007 Seat Leon Cupra, with 51k on the clock.

I'm going to stay schtum on where it was for now, because there was also something else (worse imo) that happened which makes me not want to go back there, and it might all kick off.


Thanks again.

 

[G1BB0]

a good garage is hard to find these days, too many rip off merchants around imho. I had a bad experience with a couple and they have never had my custom since. I have one now who is spot on and was recommended by my dad.

Take it elsewhere Gary, they may have been swinging the lead and to say its got a bit of poke is a pi** take!!! Obviously they dont respect customers cars and have taken it for a spin!

Hope you get it sorted

 

[Region3]

a good garage is hard to find these days, too many rip off merchants around imho. I had a bad experience with a couple and they have never had my custom since. I have one now who is spot on and was recommended by my dad.

Take it elsewhere Gary, they may have been swinging the lead and to say its got a bit of poke is a pi** take!!! Obviously they dont respect customers cars and have taken it for a spin!

Hope you get it sorted

Yep, it's very difficult to find someone you trust. I was ok until I started my new job, but now I have to find somewhere close to my new place.

One of my many failings is that I find it hard to think bad of people, and if there's even a 1% doubt I usually give people the benefit. This seems bad from start to finish though.

 

[woosey]

Hi,

Yeh i would second the caliper sliding bolts as the first port of call - just a bit of grease and 10 mins work

Certainly when you take the calipers off it's easy to tell if they were the issue.

Do you know what caliper type you have? Hopefully it's a big single or twin pistons, if it's small 4 pots you can have 1 seize causing this issue, meaning you need to refurb the caliper.

Either way you should be looking at <£100 to fix this, hopefully with it just being the sliding bolts meaning it's about £10

 

[Region3]

Hi,

Yeh i would second the caliper sliding bolts as the first port of call - just a bit of grease and 10 mins work

Certainly when you take the calipers off it's easy to tell if they were the issue.

Do you know what caliper type you have? Hopefully it's a big single or twin pistons, if it's small 4 pots you can have 1 seize causing this issue, meaning you need to refurb the caliper.

Either way you should be looking at <£100 to fix this, hopefully with it just being the sliding bolts meaning it's about £10

I've no idea what type of calipers I have, except they're huge - and red.

They quoted me £75 for a couple of hours labour if they were they problem.

Either way I've cancelled the booking I had with them. It will cost me to get the MOT done again somewhere else but I'm not leaving my car with them again for sure.

Thanks for your help woosey.

 

[woosey]

I've no idea what type of calipers I have, except they're huge - and red.

They quoted me £75 for a couple of hours labour if they were they problem.

Either way I've cancelled the booking I had with them. It will cost me to get the MOT done again somewhere else but I'm not leaving my car with them again for sure.

Thanks for your help woosey.

A couple of hours, lol! No chance. Do you have anyone handy with cars nearby? Shame your so far away!

As i say it should take <10 mins a side to grease the sliders, and as i say they should be able to tell you if they were seized.

I can't tell from google what calipers you have - but again if the sliders are moving freely chances are you have a sticky caliper (if using a 4pot caliper) or you have glazed pads perhaps.

Either way a garage is your port of call

 

[Doc]

http://www.motuk.co.uk/manual_370.htm

http://www.motuk.co.uk/manual_380.htm

HTH,

Cheers

Steve...

 

[GreiginFife]

Last year the wife's car failed on a brake efficiency test. Turned out the near side front disc was slightly warped.
Only thing I would say about a sticky calliper may cause uneven wear in the discs and pads so rectifying the sticking calliper may not rectify the uneven braking.

 

[Mungoscorner]

I'd say almost 100% that the carrier pins are seized/sticking.Sometimes they just need cleaning and greasing,but they can be an absolute nightmare if they have nylon liners (Volkswagen).

 

[Slime]

The ONLY time a tester has to take the car out is to do a brake test, but ONLY if the car has permanent 4WD, which a Cupra doesn't. A permanent 4WD vehicle can't be tested on the brake rollers as it would possibly damage the diff. Even so, if the garage has a decent car park the vehicle would not to leave the site as the car only has to be driven at a few mph to test the brakes.
Go to another MOT centre....................and name & shame.

Slime.