MOT Failure

[surebet]

Took my w203 C180 for MOT to MOT station that does not do repairs, car failed on front coil spring and rear brake pipes (they advised me it was the small metal ones attached to the flexible hose). I duly took the the car to a local garage to have the work done. The mechanic looked at the spring and sure enough it was completely broken ( I'm amazed I have been driving the car and never noticed any problems), however when he inspected the brake pipes he said he couldn't believe they had failed , he gave they a rub with his cloth and said the problem was paint had furred off , however no leakage and no real corrosion, he also stated they were going from the flexible right to the front of the car not as the the MOT station had stated. He renewed the coil spring and advised me to take it back to the MOT station and explain what he had found regarding the corroded pipes( he wrote this on my receipt).

My first question: Do you think the MOT station will accept mechanics findings with regards to corrosion, and secondly if they are sticky and require pipes to be renewed should I get the section that is corroded only replaced( approx. 12inches per side ) and connect onto pipes coming from front, mechanic says this can done, or is this bad practice.

I would appreciate any or all advice regarding this. thanks for reading.

 

[Dieselman]

The MOT inspector MAY take another look and listen to the mechanics advice, however they are the inspector and get to make the decision regarding the condition of the pipes.

You can always challenge their decision with VOSA.

 

[bolide]

The MOT tester won't care about what the mechanic days one way or the other. If the brake pipes look OK to him he'll pass it. If they don't he'll fail it or give an advisory

Nick Froome

 

[SilverSaloon]

if they really arnt rusty then he cant fail it. get him to show you the rust... no rust, no fail. rust=fail.

 

[mct_cars]

Remember that the tester will only look at the pipes, not fiddle with them. If they "look" rusty, they won't investigate further just fail it.

 

[jay1983]

Bmws have the same problem with surface rust on brake pipes. The pipes themselves are fine with no corrision. Bit of a clean up and a lick of hammerite shud be fine.

 

[bedwards1966]

Tell the tester (prior to him looking at them) that they've been looked at before you got them replaced, and upon closer inspection with the muck removed they aren't rusty.

If it then fails on them get him to show you the rust which does not exist. If they aren't really rusty and he still won't budge, photograph them and speak to VOSA about it, but chances are that when he sees that he's made a mistake by not inspecting them properly, he'll be fine about it.

Yes, you can replace short sections of pipe, in some places it's much easier than replacing a long length of awkward pipe.

 

[surebet]

Thanks to all who responded

Good news, took car to MOT station today, explained to inspector the findings of mechanic and showed him the receipt for the work done. He quickly put car on ramps then proceeded to print out MOT( not even an advisory ), result. Will now make sure pipes are well greased so no chance of rust coming back. Thanks to all for advice.