Disastrous MOT !

[electrokid]

did you give her a Mexican tune up ern route to the MOT station and get her realy hot,

No Malcolm - forgot to do that - I drove my normal staid and respectful way using any rpm between 950 and 1900 (the engine's max torque is at 1800 don't - y - know ) Thanks for the idea to get them to do the smoke test first - I'll try and do that.

Thanks Vince - Ive found some Forte Diesel treatment and done a bit of 'violent cruising' in third gear - hopefully I can fit the new throttle spindle to the diesel pump this afternoon - it's still going in for welding tomorrow and Andy should be able to do the gaiter for me as soon as it's back from welding.

Hand brake cables rubbing on the wheels on full lock IMHO is common on all BX'S, well it certainly has been on all mine no matter what tyres are fitted although wider rims won't help the situation if the offset allows them to be nearer the strutt.

Andy's comment was also 'they all do' - then he looked to see who had done the MOT test (because most of the guys in that area have been around for a long time and they all know each other) and added 'oh it was xxx xxx - he should know that, he's done enough of them - looks as though he just wants old cars off the road' which is how I felt about it as well.

Though it's at a garage I've been using for decades and therefore trust a great deal, the MOT tester is new, the regular guy having retired last year.
I'll do my best with it and if it still doesn't pass I'll try taking it to the VOSA test centre in Guildford to see what they think.

[citronut]

it might be common but they aint meant to and it is a failure,

as i said /\ bash the eye that holds it at the strut/leg towards the inner wing,

regards malcolm

[Defender110]

it might be common but they aint meant to and it is a failure,

as i said /\ bash the eye that holds it at the strut/leg towards the inner wing,

regards malcolm

I did that on mine without any success , it still rubs on full lock no matter how you position the eye on the strut.

[citronut]

i must bash it different to you then


regards malcolm

[mat_fenwick]

Talking of Forte reminded me that it's a while since I've put any injector cleaner through, nearly 50k miles! I did it initially putting neat cleaner in the filter housing which gave noticeable results, but couldn't detect any improvement the last time. I'm always slightly sceptical of claims people make (and even of my own judgement!), as subconsciously the mind will want to justify it hasn't just been a waste of £10 or so...

So I had an idea - if I asked Lana to put it into the tank at some point this week, and not tell me when, I would hopefully be able to judge if there really was some improvement. Well, I thought I could tell that performance was improved today, and I was right - it was put in this morning! It's not a true blind test, as I was looking out for a change. But it has convinced me that it can work.

[electrokid]

Picked up the car from welding yesterday and it looks ok. I asked how long the repair should last - 'it should outlast the car' was the reply and then + 'everything else in that area looks solid' which is somewhat reassuring.

The engine feels smooth and willing until full demand at low revs where it feels flatter than it was before - I'll try to sort out max revs for the MOT and then worry about setting it up properly later.

[electrokid]

And finally...

MOT passed yesterday afternoon

There remains a final problem which could do with being fettled before next year - there are brackets attached to the front suspension which carry the handbrake cables - attached by a couple of allen screws. One is broken and temporarily fixed but I'd like to replace both with new if poss but can't see them on the TIS - anyone know / can find the part numbers please.

I eventually managed to adjust the diesel pump using the throttle 'limit' adjusters but had to also re-set the position of the throttle cable endstop so that when floored it wasn't stressing the throttle cable. The combination of Forte's cleaner, my fettling, and thrashing the nuts off it / keeping the engine running while parked waiting for the re-test (and the tester following my request to rev it a few times before the smoke test all combined to reduce the average smoke from 5.47 L/m down to 0.44 L/m

I also found out why 'snow tyres' was an advisory.

Aparently, if they get over a certain temperature - 15°C I think was mentioned - they are fine on a dry road but can lose adhesion very easily on a wet surface. So now we know !

[MULLEY]

Snow tyres losing adhesion, never ever heard of that in my life, sounds like cobblers to me. In warmer temps they are super sticky, so should be even more grippy. I'd be interested to see some evidence of this

[toddao]

Electrokid wrote

There remains a final problem which could do with being fettled before next year - there are brackets attached to the front suspension which carry the handbrake cables - attached by a couple of allen screws. One is broken and temporarily fixed but I'd like to replace both with new if poss but can't see them on the TIS - anyone know / can find the part numbers please.

Cable Guide part no.96 011 524 - NFP. You'll have to use some used ones or fabricate.

Well done for getting through the MOT..

[electrokid]

Thanks for the part No.Todd - I'll start looking for them.

Snow tyres losing adhesion, never ever heard of that in my life, sounds like cobblers to me. In warmer temps they are super sticky, so should be even more grippy. I'd be interested to see some evidence of this

Yes I agree it does sound very wrong. I've left the snow tyres on from the winter before last when we actually had some snow and I was probably driving around with a smug look on my face

I do remember having a couple of moments last year - serious loss of grip when pulling away on a wet surface - serious enough to have to de-clutch and start again - maybe that was tyres too hot. As you say, normally they stick like glue. I might leave them on this year as well in which case I'll test them in a few different circumstances.

[MULLEY]

I left my old one's on last year as they were too worn to use again for this Winter, they were within the 1.6mm tread depth, but anything below 3mm in winter isn't that brill. They were quite squidgy & squeeled a bit when giving them some stick, but no real loss of adhesion in the rain.

[electrokid]

anything below 3mm in winter isn't that brill.

Or in the summer if it's wet. My dilemma was that the snow tyres are ok with some 6mm tread remaining which I think would be ok if we'd had some snow to check that out - and I've fully refurbished this set of wheels. The other set of wheels which came off the car a year and a half ago have Michelins with only around 4mm of tread - if they were taken off the rims to re-furb the wheels, is it worth the expense and bother to put them back on again - probably not - probably time to get another set of new Michelins.

[Dollywobbler]

Are we talking actual snow tyres or just winter tyres?

[MULLEY]

Snow tyres are winter tyres, unless you are meaning those crap all conditions tyres that are a hybrid of summer & winter? Can't see the point myself, crap in both conditions, just better to have 2 different sets imho.

[electrokid]

Vredestein Snowtrac 3

They're actually marked M+S - mud and snow.