Technical MOT Fail Advice please :) - Fiat Bravo 1.9 JTD

[djrx]

Hiya

My first post on here so be gentle

I'm not really mechanically minded at all.

My Fiat Bravo has failed it's MOT with quite a few points - a few listed as dangerous. The garage reckons "given it's age and mileage, I would scrap it.".

I don't get attached to cars and usually I buy fairly old cars and run them until it's uneconomical to keep them on the road over buying a replacement car.

However that said: I like this car, it's reliable, has never missed a beat - engine is frugal yet feels pokey too. I've had a look at older diesels today and to me it seems compared to repairing this and keeping it on the road - if I scrap it maybe get £150 - I'll still be looking at more than the repair costs to get a replacement, what do you think?

It's is old - 2001 - it is high mileage 165'000
But it's a great runner.

Fail points (the costly ones)

Nearside AND offside (sill) seat belt anchorage prescribed area is excessively corroded.

Brakepipes:

Offside rear - excessively damaged
front to rear both - excessively corroded.
Nearside Rear (to brake valve) excessively corroded

It also failed on headlight aim - I'm missing the retaining clip - if anyone knows where on earth i might get one of these I may well have to marry you, I've been to a heap of scrappies but the only bravos they had seem to be a different fitting - IE you open the pin thing and on those it is held in place (somewhat like a hinge)- mine shot off ping down a drain - it isn't held in place on the topside. :-/

Another fail item was:
Nearside obligatory indirect vision device missing - what the hell is this?
I have all my mirrors - he mentioned the passenger visor? but that's not a nearside indirect vision device is it? and I thought passenger visor wasn't part of the mot if it is this?

Anyway long story short - I have a friend who is a welder - so should be able to get that cheap. I'm a bit confused as to the location tho, seat belt anchorage i cant see it looking under the car - well i cant see any rust? does this mean internal? If so how the hell do they see it lol?

Also I have no idea on cost of brake pipes front to back, I know the parts are cheap and it will mainly be labour, but could someone give me a ball park figure?

Maybe I'm looking through rose tinted specs as the car has served me well.. but scrap it? It seems extreme.. unless the labour on brake pipes is going to be crazy?

Much thanks in advance for any replies.

 

[varesecrazy]

Hi , the 2 important questions..!!,
1, did they test the emissions and pass them ?,
2,do you get 10 / 14 days free retest ?,

if so then you are halfway there..,

seatbelt structure.. = the MOT states corrosion within 30cm = 12 inches..!! of a structural member,
so it is not necessarily the actual piece of metal the seatbelt bolts into (BUT is in the SILL area),

if you've got a tame welder this should be relatively easy / cheap,

brake lines are just nuts + bolts, budget @£120 for this - at a backstreet garage,

where are you based? - maybe find a decent FIAT scrapyard = worth a trip out for parts..!!

I hope that helps,
Charlie

 

[djrx]

Hi,

Thanks for the reply.

It passed the emissions test 0.43 l/m
Not a free retest but £10 (10 days)- it was the only place i could find that would get me in at short notice.

That's great news about the pricing for the brake pipes - that's lifted a weight off my mind.

I'm based in Stoke on Trent - not aware of any Fiat specific breakers around here - but I'll have another look around the yards tomorrow and see what I can land on.

 

[bluejohn125]

Well it all sounds quite reasonable apart from this "mirror" issue, so investigate that..

I can't agree about the brake pipes... it's quite straightforward to replace them and they definitely do fail after 10 / 11 years but it will cost a bit to have it all done. The tricky one is the rear line that goes over the fuel tank... technically you should drop the tank to do it properly but you can fiddle it by running a new pipe around the tank lower down.

Welding should be easy to sort but have a good poke and scrape around underneath, and be prepared to find failing underseal and cavity sealant along the sill area, this lets water hide underneath and rust can fester...

It's probably worth doing since you like they car and they can give good service if you look after them.

 

[CromaFan]

I'd question the tester on the viewing device but I'd think it can only be the visor? If you can get the welding done and you're happy with the car then I'd second the idea of finding one in a scrapyard for the headlight clip and the visor and any other bits and pieces you think of while you're there. Depending on how bad the brake pipes are it may be possible to cut the corroded sections away without replacing the whole lot.

 

[Adrian Bravo]

Hey DJRX, welcome to the forum!

For the headlight, is it one of these your missing? If so let me know which of the two it is, PM me your address and ill post it out right away free. The spring is the same on both these parts.


I had my sills repaired and some of my brake lines changing, wasnt too bad in the end. Very pleased I did have it done and kept the car.

"Nearside obligatory indirect vision device missing" Looking at Google most suggest its a wing mirror, is the glass loose? if the glass cant hold in position i know thats a fail.

 

[Rigby]

I had all the brake lines replaced on my old one for about £200 I think, 2 different garages though as one set failed at one MOT along with the wheel cylinder and the other side failed the next year!

I used to have 3-4 spare headlights when I had it but they went with the car when it died.