Club 80-90 Forums

hi all mot today on my first year of owning my camper t25 1981 air cooled and its been a few weeks of hard work few penny's and good weather
& she passed mot guy was very patient and put her twice through emissions test just to let engine warm up no adjustment needed 2.8% max 4.5% so pleased
its just has a few advisories 1 is head lamp full beam indicator is red ?( aren't they all that year 1981)
2 is rear fog light switch operating on 2nd position ?( no fogs are fitted on front)
3 track rod ball joint dust cover deteriorated but preventing ingress of dirt ? ( why bother if not at risk of dirt getting in )
4 vehicle is heavily under sealed ? ( that's a good corrosion practice I thought)
what are your thought's on these advisories

one more advisory I forgot 5, parking brake has no dash light ( do they have one as standard)

SILVERFOX2013 wrote: & she passed mot guy was very patient and put her twice through emissions test just to let engine warm up no adjustment needed 2.8% max 4.5% so pleased

That's high if it has the original carbs then it is only 0.3-0.9 CO at idle.

SILVERFOX2013 wrote: 1 is head lamp full beam indicator is red ?( aren't they all that year 1981)

No it should be amber.

SILVERFOX2013 wrote: 2 is rear fog light switch operating on 2nd position ?( no fogs are fitted on front)

That's normal.

SILVERFOX2013 wrote: 3 track rod ball joint dust cover deteriorated but preventing ingress of dirt ? ( why bother if not at risk of dirt getting in )

It probably won't be by next year, I would put a new one on before it does.

one more advisory I forgot 5, parking brake has no dash light ( do they have one as standard)

My van hasn't got one fitted. On later vans they are on the left of the speedo above the head-light switch. Mine used to be blanked off until I fitted a volt-meter in it instead.

4 vehicle is heavily under sealed ? ( that's a good corrosion practice I thought)

It depends if the under-seal has been slapped on to hide un-treated corrosion & holes.

Forget about the CO I've just noticed it's a CT not a CU engine.

Heavily undersealed? as an advisory?

What are they advising with that information? You need to clean it all off for next year? Don't think so, tell them there'll be even more on it by next year

thanks for all your comments guys. I will change dust covers may be a new amber or blue led as for the rest ignore but as for the heavy under seal I spent
many hours welding and reworking and then I seam sealed then wax oiled under body so am not undoing all that more wax oil going on next year

I thought the hand brake indicator light was a fail?

DavidPallister wrote:Heavily undersealed? as an advisory?

What are they advising with that information?

That they might not have spotted some rot, hiding underneath it.

An advisory is just something the tester thinks he should bring to your attention. It's not necessarily any kind of a final warning or a semi-black-flag.

kit wrote:I thought the hand brake indicator light was a fail?

Mine hasn't worked in 11 yrs and always passed, I guess it depends on the tester.

Look like perfectly good advisories to me. The MOT is after all, only a very basic safety test on that particular day. They're for your attention thats all - stuff that you may or may not need to look at. Just be glad he/she does advise. If the tester does not know your level of expertise, they will tend to jot down things like that - to protect themselves as much as you. If they know you well and how well maintained the vehicle is, you won't even get advisories.

I always ask my MOT guy if he can suggest areas I could concentrate my efforts on over the Summer, not so much on safety grounds but to avoid more expensive repairs later on. I find him to be really helpful like that and with the van up in the air he can see way more than I can.

I got one verbal advisory on a tyre with 3mm tread "Keep your eye on that lad - its perfectly legal but you don't want anything that might affect control if you suddenly have to brake in the wet." That to me is spot on, after all the tyre IS legal and is acceptable for the MOT but like many aspects of the MOT it does not mean that the vehicle will be safe next week or even that it will perform perfectly safely under all circumstances.

As it happens I have a brand new set to go on but I need to set steering geometry up so won't swap the tyre until I have that spot on, but pleased he hasn't missed it.

I always truck-wash the underneath before presenting it so he can look anywhere without clods of mud in his way. If you have a lorry, they won't even test one that hasn't been thoroughly cleaned.

Comments on underseal suggest there may be something untoward beneath. He can't see/test it so is letting you know. Well spotted I say. People do use bodyfiller in load bearing areas and cover over with underseal. He's not saying you have, just that its untestable the way it is. If you're confident that its good under that underseal thats fine, but you're driving it not him so good that he's highlighted it for you.

Likewise with the trackrod end boot. Its breaking up slowly. It passed the test (just) but you SHOULD replace it as soon as you can.