General It's that time again... MOT March!

[Ucof]

Dropped the car off at my new local garage - place doesn't seem the type to rip people off, they have nice uniforms and offered to make me tea. Anyone who offers to make me tea gets top marks in my book.

Car failed on the following:

1) Windscreen washer provides insufficient washer liquid - the washer bottle is empty, I just need to top it up and it will pass.

2) Exhaust has a major leak of exhaust gasses - there's a hole in the back box I believe, I knew about this however and have been expecting to fail.

3) Nearside (inner wheel arch) Steering system fouling - the plastic shroud just needs screwing to the bodywork. and that'll pass.

4) Nearside constant velocity (that's what CV joint means) joint gaiter insecurely mounted to its' housing - just needs a cable tie to pass.

5) Offside front shock absorber has a serious fluid leak - this was a "light coating of oil" at the last MOT, does anyone have a spare one that they could send me out tomorrow please? I will ask LouieBee and get in touch with my dad, his Mk2 45 (I think - Chas, what is it again?) will have one that fits won't it?

6) Exhaust emissions carbon monoxide content after 2nd fast idle excessive - I hope that this will be related to the exhaust, but the mechanics did say that if it was the exhaust, then that would most likely have excess hydrocarbons, so this excess carbon monoxide could be the Cat that has gone, but they won't know until I get the exhaust fixed.


Thankfully, the local motor spares is 7 miles away, so should be able to get the exhaust sorted. The shock will depend on postage speed.

Only problem - the MOT runs out completely this Saturday, so it really needs to be fixed by then. I just forgot to check when it expired, but at least I caught it in time!

I had advisories on the following:

7) Slight play in steering system - hmmm.. didn't know that.

8) Front brakes are worn - I thought they were, I asked them a couple of days ago to have a look at the brake pads on the front.

9) Slight judder from front brakes - I assume this is caused by the worn front brakes!

MOT cost £44 and took about an hour.

 

[Jai]

not too bad, however rather than replacing just the one damper, i'd do both, they are cheap enough new from eurocarparts, and don't take long to swap over.

pads, as you know are literally pennies

btw: tippex is due hers in about 6 weeks, expect to see an epic fail thread the.....

 

[btmaldon]

Once youve got those bits sorted, I suggest you buy a bottle of Cataclean to put in the tank. Take it for a good blast before dropping it in for the re MOT. That should bring your emissions down.

I thought that if the CO reading is to high your mixture is too rich rather than the Cat not working properly. How clean is the air filter?

 

[Ucof]

Cheers Jai, I'm looking that up now. If no reply from Louie, I'll get them hopefully sent out tomorrow.
Looking forwards to your MOT write up!

btmaldon - I'll see what I can find down halfrauds. The air filter isn't too bad, not unacceptable by any standards.

edit - shock absorbers on eurocarparts - http://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/c/F...a528525acc2a40222d9cc391eb0750e923279c8f&SHKA - to me, thats not cheap if I need to replace both.
There's none on shop4parts either.
Ebay however, turns these up: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/FIAT-UNO-SHOC...arts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM?hash=item3ca6afd5e1 - If I buy two, I only need to pay one shipping price. They don't say if they are oil or gas though...

 

[Chas Uno]

I will ask LouieBee and get in touch with my dad, his Mk2 45 (I think - Chas, what is it again?) will have one that fits won't it?

I'm fairly sure it was a 45 model your dad has Ucof. It's a 4 speed FIRE engine so I can't think what else it could be! Bear in mind that all Uno models used virtually the same rear shock absorbers so they should swap over fine. Then again, as Jai says you can buy them new for not a lot anyhow.

How come you're asking Louie to get in touch with your dad for parts you need?

 

[Ucof]

How come you're asking Louie to get in touch with your dad for parts you need?

- My dad will only communicate with me through Louie disguised as a plastic troll these days. He has his moments, but it is part of the inheritance contract.

Wait, I think I meant that I'd get in touch with Louie, as well as my dad. But, as you and Jai have said, I might as well get some new ones.

It's the front shocks I need

 

[Chas Uno]

- My dad will only communicate with me through Louie disguised as a plastic troll these days. He has his moments, but it is part of the inheritance contract.

Wait, I think I meant that I'd get in touch with Louie, as well as my dad. But, as you and Jai have said, I might as well get some new ones.

It's the front shocks I need

Ah, a bit clearer now. Ucof, your grammar is lacking. See me after school for extra work to make your English writing more comprehensible.



Right, generally the front struts (shocks) are the same between models and can be inter changed. The differences come with the springs between the FIRE and the Lampredi models. The FIRE models are lighter at the front so the spring rates are lighter than the Lampredi versions (1116, 1299, 1301, 1372cc). Turbo models are stiffer still and also slightly lower.

In your case a set of struts with springs from another FIRE engined Uno should be fine with your car. If you can get new struts then all the better, though you will need spring compressors to swap over your existing springs onto the new struts.

 

[Ucof]

Getting these http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/New-Kayaba-Sh...arts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM?hash=item3efa141da0 later, in person, at the price on eBay

Their physical address is a 5 minute drive from work, so will swing by and get them.

£25 for a pair of new front shocks is a bargain I think

 

[Jai]

nice work should be up and running in no time

 

[Ucof]

I've gotten the garage to order me the exhaust and I'll be dropping the car by tomorrow morning for them to make ship shape.

I might even see if the shop have brake pads too.

 

[alexGS]

Getting these http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/New-Kayaba-Sh...arts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM?hash=item3efa141da0 later, in person, at the price on eBay

Their physical address is a 5 minute drive from work, so will swing by and get them.

£25 for a pair of new front shocks is a bargain I think

That's FANTASTIC!
KYB is a good brand, used as original-equipment on the Mk2 Punto.

Nice tags on this thread - I'm sure that anyone searching for bargain shock absorbers won't think of checking the eBay watch section, but will definitely do a search for 'malibu' or 'mongoose', even if they're not familiar with the widely-unknown 'mongolia' jargon for an MOT fail - something I wasn't familiar with either until a few seconds ago.

Perhaps there is a secret code for conversation among Uno drivers:
'Mongoose - one on the way, 45S'
'Nah, new, BMF'
'Excellent, oh and mushroom clip, but need to get to malibu too...'


-Alex

 

[a73uk]

Good luck with that mate!

I`m still waiting to hear from your Dad Ucof, do I have to go through Louie too?

I dont know if you`ve seen it yet, but theres an Uno on ebay with your number plate on it (nearly) N330UCF!

 

[Ucof]

I like the numberplate as it looks like "NEED UCF"

Car has had shocks and pads replaced now and that much is fine, but they have said they welded the hole in the exhaust, but it is still just too much over the emmissions rate.
Going to have to get a new cat now



I'll hopefully be having a flutter on that car on ebay, then selling mine to a friend (after stripping the upgrades I made) to get some cash back.

 

[jo0lz]

............ but they have said they welded the hole in the exhaust, but it is still just too much over the emmissions rate.
Going to have to get a new cat now

What was the read out on your emissions test matey?

Don't forget my thread about CAT probs at MOT time....
FucT FIAT Emissions MOT FAIL Thread
Mine was a combination of ignition timing WELL OUT as well as a totally KNackEReD CAT

 

[Ucof]

This is getting expensive now (

Cheapest cat the garage can get is £110.
Will head by the scrap yard today and see if i can get one. Then again, the chance of them having an uno, a panda or similar is very slim.

Not sure what the emissions level is, will have a look at the thread. I dont think the timing is off by that much though, only problem is that the garage doesnt have a timing gun so cant check it.

 

[jo0lz]

..Cheapest cat the garage can get is £110

Check out these guys
Cats2U Website
They were the cheapest source I found before I went the 2nd hand and bodge-it-2-fit route

Not sure what the emissions level is, will have a look at the thread. I don't think the timing is off by that much though, only problem is that the garage doesnt have a timing gun so cant check it.

The MOT emissions test machine should have given an indication of the ignition timing . . . that's how I knew to check my Uno's timing when it failed on its emissions

The big marker was sooty spark plugs......like this

That changed to the right colour spark plugs...like this

once I got the dynamic iginition timing spot on with my own timing light

Best of luck

 

[Ucof]

Ouch..
All fixed from the garage comes in at £248 all inclusive for all work.
Will be picking it up later today.

Joolz - my spark plugs were fine when I took them out to investigate the possible blown head gasket issue. There was no carbon build up at all.

Will be taking a punt on a timing light on ebay today so at least I can get that all sorted out.

 

[jo0lz]

That price is not so bad considering that the purchase of a new CAT and the cost of the MOT test added together have been 2/3s of the amount you have been charged........

 

[Ucof]

Good point.

Cat, I think, was £110 + vat, and the MOT itself was £44.
That's a total of £173.95 for the CAT and MOT by themselves.

 

[jo0lz]

That's a total of £173.95 for the CAT and MOT by themselves.

YuP
As I said that's not so bad as it first appears
Especially for another year of MOT
Our Smart Car cost us nearly a grand to get towards an MOT pass
Then BLEW UP!!!!!