It's not that hard to jack it up onto blocks/axle stand, then jack up the wheel station, undo the bottom suspension ball joint, pop out the joint and give it a wiggle to see if in fact it is knackered, or that the tester is an asshole.
General Doctor Death vs Gerrard
- Thread starter Ralf S.
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General Doctor Death vs Gerrard
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The arms were brand new just 3 weeks before the MOT so they can't be worn out. I fitted them on 2nd Jan, had the tracking adjusted the week after, and then the MOT on 21st Jan, so there isn't anything to see there.
Meanwhile the Track Rod End lock nuts were *^$"@-tight and almost impossible for me to shift when I went to change the TRE's after the MOT so I doubt they had been adjusted conventionally. I had to get a blow lamp on them and half-hourly/in-between cups of tea doses of release spray to shift them. The lock nuts somehow only rounded off a little.. but I fitted new ones all the same.
I can only imagine the Doctor meant the *TRE* pin was "worn" (it looked like it had been hammered during the tracking adjustment, since it was slightly deformed). He also wrote the TRE had some play in it, which might be possible after its battering. Any road up, the arms are already new so I don't have to do anything extra there.., and I changed the TREs since one is damaged/difficult to argue against and I still need to get the tracking done (properly). The bigger grief was unbolting the old ones, rather than the £14 each they cost... but we're good now,
Just the "smoke" to overcome... since it didn't fail the emissions test.., the Doctor just didn't test it because of the smoke/previous bad experience when it clogged his machine..
Ralf S.
Unfortunately in this day and age, new parts wearing out within 10,000 miles/1 year is not uncommon, in fact so much so that I now refuse to buy any cheap parts, unless it's for a car that I'm not going to keep .
However that isn't to say the parts you have are duff, and maybe it's that the guy you are using for testing needs to be changed.
Good luck
.However that isn't to say the parts you have are duff, and maybe it's that the guy you are using for testing needs to be changed.
Good luck
Try looking for your local council MOT test centre, seeing as they only do an MOT test and do ZERO work on the car they give you an honest MOT as they aren't looking for work.The MOT form says "Offside Front Suspension arm ball joint excessively worn (5.3.4 (a) (i))" so I assume it's the suspension arm pin where it joins the hub. The arm is brand new, the pin was brand new (came with the arm) and it looks and feels brand new, so I'm not sure what he means, to be honest. I cleaned some grease off the pin and it looks shinier now...
I'll check the drop links.. but they're just 20,000 miles old or thereabouts. I think they're Borg which aren't too shabby... but the Stilo doesn't kill drop links. The previous ones were okay, but I had to replace the dampers (broken spring on the nearside so I replaced both struts with all new parts) at 180k... I replaced the drop-links at the same time since the nut was very stiff on the ball joint and spinning it round.. so new ones was easier. If they weren't changed by the previous owner then they were the ones out of the factory.
Anyhow... next job is to find an MOT place staffed by wiry looking old geezers who remember four star petrol and no catalysts, to check the smoke.
I might try and rig up a phone camera on the exhaust and run it through the MOT test procedure just to have a look at how bad it really is. I seldom just rev the car stationery... the last time was after I replaced the fuel filter but had forgotten to re-connect the fuel line, so the engine was flooded. When it started I had to give it some gas to clear it out.. and the smoke cloud was so thick it made several species of dinosaurs extinct.. but in normal driving, I can hardly see any smoke at all, so it seems a harsh interpretation of the MOT regs, if the Doctor is just being a bit jobsworth.
Ralf S.
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OP
Finally got round to taking the beast for a re-test.
I think the sunny weather, a good run (MOT centre was 20 miles away..
) and a bit of a "boot" on the way flushed out the residual soot from the exhaust. The new turbo boost actuator valve (the electric doodah down by the airbox) seems to have made a huge difference. It's almost smoke free now .. only got a puff of smoke once, when using full throttle under a light load.. hardly nothing at all just revving it up the range).
The tracking still needs to be done.. but I wanted to see whether my new MOT place were going to cooperate before I spent too much more money on it..
Luckily they are "just an MOT place", and I figured nobody goes into business opening a "just an MOT place" if they hate old cars... so I chose them on that basis. And that they were 20 miles away.
Gerrard passed with only slightly worn front tyres advised (obviously the previous/old wishbone arms which I'd already changed prior to the original MOT). Otherwise "it looks 'orrrible... but it's mint under there". Correct answer, and MOT sorted.
Some tinnies in the fridge...
Ralf S.
I think the sunny weather, a good run (MOT centre was 20 miles away..
) and a bit of a "boot" on the way flushed out the residual soot from the exhaust. The new turbo boost actuator valve (the electric doodah down by the airbox) seems to have made a huge difference. It's almost smoke free now .. only got a puff of smoke once, when using full throttle under a light load.. hardly nothing at all just revving it up the range).The tracking still needs to be done.. but I wanted to see whether my new MOT place were going to cooperate before I spent too much more money on it..
Luckily they are "just an MOT place", and I figured nobody goes into business opening a "just an MOT place" if they hate old cars... so I chose them on that basis. And that they were 20 miles away.
Gerrard passed with only slightly worn front tyres advised (obviously the previous/old wishbone arms which I'd already changed prior to the original MOT). Otherwise "it looks 'orrrible... but it's mint under there". Correct answer, and MOT sorted.
Some tinnies in the fridge...
Ralf S.
OP
OP
Springs on the front are nasty. They're much longer than the damper rod, so you need an industrial sized spring compressor to do it properly.
On every other car, the springs seem to be just the right length, so you can compress them a bit with your regular Halfords spring clamps, then put the top mount bearing on and Robert is your mother's brother.. but Stilo ones (and Alfa's of the same generation) seem to be about 20cm longer than the rod. You need 4 spring compressors, eye protection, thick gloves and nerves of steel to compress it enough so it all fits.
My advice is;
a) Loosen the top bolt while the damper is in the car.. otherwise it will just spin the damper rod and you'll need a crowfoot spanner and an Allen key to be able to do it.
b) Replace the damper, top mounts, bearings and dust covers etc. at the same time since it's an epic job and you don't want a leaky damper 6 months down the road and have to do it all again. At least if everything is new, you can get some professional to assemble each strut (they have a big spring compressor and if they get maimed or die it'll be unfortunate but better them than you..) Then you just have to fit them to the car, whenever you're ready.
c) The top mount (notches) need to be aligned in a particular way with the bearings, since the assembly is sloped to allow for the camber when they are fitted. How to do it, is on here somewhere,. If you get it wrong the bearings will get damaged and you'll have to do it all again.
d) New springs/bushes/mounts will make the nose about 3" higher than before.. but it settles down after a few miles, so don't be alarmed.
Rear springs are probably simpler.. but I'd lift both wheels off the ground at the same time to avoid fighting against the torsion beam.
Ralf S.
On every other car, the springs seem to be just the right length, so you can compress them a bit with your regular Halfords spring clamps, then put the top mount bearing on and Robert is your mother's brother.. but Stilo ones (and Alfa's of the same generation) seem to be about 20cm longer than the rod. You need 4 spring compressors, eye protection, thick gloves and nerves of steel to compress it enough so it all fits.
My advice is;
a) Loosen the top bolt while the damper is in the car.. otherwise it will just spin the damper rod and you'll need a crowfoot spanner and an Allen key to be able to do it.
b) Replace the damper, top mounts, bearings and dust covers etc. at the same time since it's an epic job and you don't want a leaky damper 6 months down the road and have to do it all again. At least if everything is new, you can get some professional to assemble each strut (they have a big spring compressor and if they get maimed or die it'll be unfortunate but better them than you..) Then you just have to fit them to the car, whenever you're ready.
c) The top mount (notches) need to be aligned in a particular way with the bearings, since the assembly is sloped to allow for the camber when they are fitted. How to do it, is on here somewhere,. If you get it wrong the bearings will get damaged and you'll have to do it all again.
d) New springs/bushes/mounts will make the nose about 3" higher than before.. but it settles down after a few miles, so don't be alarmed.
Rear springs are probably simpler.. but I'd lift both wheels off the ground at the same time to avoid fighting against the torsion beam.
Ralf S.
