S4's and MOT's

[shineydave]

Had mine in for MOT this morning and once again it passed. it got me to thinking, what issues have people had that caused there's to fail.

to be fair last year i was advised that the rear discs would need changing at some point so i've done them, he also pointed out that one of the hangers for the back box had broken off which i think is a fairly common thing. he tipped me off that if the bracket that mounts to the rear diff is removed then he can't fail it because it's not there to test so that came off this week, lol

just thought it might be helpful for people to be able to see a list of common failure points so they can check them prior to MOT time

[MarkB]

When I bought mine it had advisories for, perrished front outer CV boots ,worn disc's and slight exhaust leak. That was 2 years ago.

The year later I'd replaced all the brakes, they were shocking! But I hadn't touched the CV boots or exhaust. It went through with nothing picked up.

A few months ago one of the perishing boots split so I replaced them both. Mot'd the car last week and nothing picked up. Mine's a 2K model with just under 100K on the clock.

[GrahamS4]

Out of interest do your MOT testers test the brakes on the road with a slide weight (or whatever it's called)? I wonder how observant some places are to what car they are testing.

[MarkB]

Yep, mine never goes on the rolling road brake tester.

[shineydave]

same here, some G-force meter thingy that goes in the passenger footwell. he did mention that he hardly ever had to fail an Audi or VW for emissions, mine were nowhere near the limits.

[rikrose]

Mine didn't go on the rolling road eihter. It's because they're 4WD. I watched the two guys take it out, and come back a couple of minutes later with massive grins on their faces. Aparently, they like the brakes.

[par_s4]

Only outer CV boots on mine, one just before test, the other just after! Previous certs show only a broken exhaust hanger which was repaired by welding.

Experienced similarly grinning mechanics... then noticed scuff on rear bumper when I got home! It polished out, but I won't be going back there however much they liked it!

[shineydave]

so up to press we've got CV boots and exhaust hangers, anyone else care to add to the list

[JEZ99]

The G-force meter thingy is called a Tapley meter (I think).

Mine has never failed on anything or even had any advises!

[JDB]

Exhaust bracket was loose and advisory on the roundabout wheel

[DavidT]

Rear ARB bushes - excessive play.

[Philws4]

Had mine MOT'd on saturday and again as last year no prob's, have only covered 3800 miles since last year

However the rear exhaust mount has come adrift on mine and stricktly speaking is a failure but he didn't seem bothered when i produced a spanner to remove the remaining bit!

Emissions were all A1 and the brake thingy is called a (not sure if i have spelt it correctly) decelerometer. Apparently the guide line on using the rollers to test the brakes on 4WD is a bit vague so to be on the safe side we went for a spin up the road

[shineydave]

seems like we're seeing a pattern here

[woodsup]

drivers side steering tie rod = worn out bush - new ones are twice the size and much better made. removed rear exhaust bracket also no-one has noticed yet!

[imolas4uk]

as being a garage owner and have been in the motor trade all my working life MOT testers are a source of huge irritation,they seem to vary massively in skill,knowledge and abillity,sometimes even eyesight ,at the end of the day the job done is only as good as the man/numpty doing it !!!