7 replies to this topic

[m3ntalist]

Failed MOT on sat. he said one side of front suspension is resting on bump stop, and needs pumping up. How does this work exactly? It is a 96 cooper.

One side rear brake, the cylinder has gone and is leaking brake fluid. So going to replace that on saturday and shoes.

[mini90]

Sounds like the tester is living in the past. Chances are the Knucle joint is shot.

[Guess-Works.com]

"Pumping up" refers to the hydolastic suspended mini's, and not you '96

For it to be sitting on the bump stops there are a number of possible causes...

1. The cars too heavy.... Unlikely :cheese:
2. You have lowered the car.. Possible, but you'd know about that
3. The Rubber cones have aged.
4. The upper suspension arm, pivot and bearings have worn.
5. The nylon cup which the knuckle sits in has worn.

joking apart, 3 4 and 5 are the most likely causes, in decending order, which basically means striping the top suspension arm, strut and cone out of the car....

To do this you will need a Cone compressor...

[m3ntalist]

"Pumping up" refers to the hydolastic suspended mini's, and not you '96

For it to be sitting on the bump stops there are a number of possible causes...

1. The cars too heavy.... Unlikely  :cheese:
2. You have lowered the car.. Possible, but you'd know about that
3. The Rubber cones have aged.
4. The upper suspension arm, pivot and bearings have worn.
5. The nylon cup which the knuckle sits in has worn.

joking apart, 3 4 and 5 are the most likely causes, in decending order, which basically means striping the top suspension arm, strut and cone out of the car....

To do this you will need a Cone compressor...

Cheers guessworks

Well it shouldnt be heavy and I havent lowered it...

So really I should take this to a garage to get done then?

I knew i shouldnt have taken that speed bump at 20mph.
Also it is a SPi 96 cooper not MPi, dont know if this makes any difference

[Brawlyrox]

I knew i shouldnt have taken that speed bump at 20mph

I have a similar problem with mine, it sits too high on my nearside rear!! prob because i got no fuel in it :tongue:

[Dan]

You can check the top arm bearings by just jacking the car up, if the bearings are shot the arm won't move properly and will rattle around on the shaft. It is most likely to be the knuckle joint I think, which is easy to change. You just need a spring compressor and a big pair of pliers. It is best to go to a garage if you don't have access to a compressor, but they are fairly cheap and very useful tools. Or you can probably borrow one from someone on here.
Check both your rear brakes when you replace one, it would be a right pain to fail again because the other one was dodgy too and it's best to change the shoes on the whole axle at once anyway.

How old is your MOT tester exactly? He is a few decades out of touch!

[m3ntalist]

Yeah have parts for both rear brakes


Not sure how old the tester was, late 30s early 40s something like that

[nomininolife]

I had that I bought a 75 a few years ago it was on one side the salesman told me it wanted pumping up i didnt want to say anything :grin: