If you own a car,
you are surely familiar with MOT testing. If you aren’t already aware, an MOT Coventry test is an annual examination of your vehicle by a qualified MOT tester. During this examination, the mechanic will assess the safety and roadworthiness of your car. If your car fails its MOT, it may be irritating and expensive. Today, we’ll go through some typical MOT failures. In addition, we will advise you on how to avoid them.
Signalling and lights
Blown bulbs are the single most common cause of failure and one of the easiest and cheapest to repair. Before the test, enlisting the assistance of a friend to ensure that all of the lights – front, rear, indicators (including side repeaters), brake lights (including central repeaters), and fog lights front and back – are operational.
You can also fail if your headlights have deflectors installed for driving in Europe and you haven’t removed them. Check to see whether they’ve fallen off when you arrive home.
Suspension
Britain’s potholed, patchworked road surfaces put a strain on our cars’ suspensions, and suspension failures are becoming more regular, appearing in more than one out of every ten tests. There’s nothing you can do before the test, short of crawling beneath the car, to prevent a failure; instead, time your yearly service right before the test, and an expert may let you know.
Brakes
Keep an eye out for spongey pedal feel and the car pulling to the left or right when braking; these are signs that the brake pads need replacing. Brakes should get refreshed every 50,000 miles on average, although this may be sooner or later depending on your driving behaviour.
Tyres
Because your tyres are the only element of your automobile that makes direct contact with the road, they should get examined regularly throughout the year to ensure they are in excellent condition. Check the tread depth with a 20p piece across the whole tyre width and all the way around. If you can see the outside band of the coin, your tyres may be under the legal limit.
View on the road
Because being able to see all around is critical, your automobile may fail if the windscreen has a fracture or if you just leave a windscreen-mounted phone cradle in place for the test. Your windshield washers must also function normally, so fill the reservoir and check that the pump is still operational.
Remove any cradles or stickers, and get any windshield chips filled with resin before they turn into cracks. You should also make sure that at least one rearview mirror is functional and adjustable; new, stick-on mirror surfaces are inexpensive.
Exhaust and fuel
Emissions, particularly in diesel automobiles, are becoming a more common cause of failure. It has grown so frequent that ‘Pre-MOT’ fuel treatment packets are now available, which aid in cleaning up the fuel system before the test. It’s also a good idea to give the car a long pre-test run at high rpm (such as on the highway) to warm up the engine and clear any cobwebs.
Steering fluids are not usually examined during an MOT test, but power steering fluid is – the quantity in the reservoir must be at a minimal level. Give it a check before time and get it topped up if required.
Airbags and seat belts
Seat belts must retract, so spend a few minutes resolving any twisted or knotted belts and ensuring that they are all securely in place without detaching. A missing airbag (or an airbag warning light on your dashboard) will also fail; warning lights that have illuminated inadvertently may typically be reset at a shop for a nominal price.
Registration plates
Your license plates must be visible and readable, or your automobile may fail merely because it is unclean or the light illuminating it at night has blown! Check this while monitoring the other lights, then wash the plates down with a moist cloth.
Structure and body
Rust is unavoidable (other than cleaning the car frequently throughout the winter, when corrosive grit/salt can accumulate in wheel arches), but any loose, sharp edges will fail. As a result, fix any accident damage, such as flexible bumpers, as soon as possible.
If you have any questions about any of the aforementioned common MOT failures, we advise you to get in touch with a team of experts who can examine any of the aforementioned issues, offer suggestions for what might cause an MOT to fail, and give you guidance on how to proceed for Car Service Coventry.
