15 replies to this topic

[Sunshine]

brake failures: RBT Service Brake Efficiency : 48%

Tested Items that FAILED:

1) Service brake efficiency below requirement

2) Offside front side reprater not in good working order (not working)

3) Offisde rear shock absorber has negligible damping effect ( ok - what does that mean?)

4) Offside front radius arm rubber bush deteriorated resulting in excessive movement

5) Nearside front track rod end ball has excessive play

6) Offside front upper suspension arm has excessive play in a ball joint

7) Nearside front subframe locating pin locking device missing

8) Exhaust system has a major leak of exhaust gases

9) Exhaust system has a mounting that it does not fully support the exhaust system

10) Exhaust system carbon monoxide content excessive


the brakes I did ask cowboy to sort out since I thought they didnt feel right
the exhsut has beenlike that cine it was replaced at a local garage - when I took it back was assured that there was nothing wrong with it (ie - blowing)


basically looking at what kind of price range to get it all done or should I just says bugger it and get a decent new car that wont let me down

[Don't Panic]

Well i wouldn't go ditching the mini just yet

Many of those problems are relatively minor... im sure someone with more experience of fixing these items will be able to explain more, and someone who works in a garage will give you a price quote but just to explain...

1) Service brake efficiency below requirement...

This could be a number of things, perhaps just incorrectly setup brakes or requiring new pads or disks etc... can't really tell much but brakes wear out and are designed to be replaced 'consumables'

2) Offside front side reprater not in good working order (not working)

could just be a bulb? or possibly a fuse or loose wiring.

3) Offisde rear shock absorber has negligible damping effect ( ok - what does that mean?)

Means the shock absorber no longer performs its job and will need to be replaced... these arn't expensive think standard shocks are £10 or less.

4) Offside front radius arm rubber bush deteriorated resulting in excessive movement

New rubber bush required, these are easy to fit and only a couple of £

5) Nearside front track rod end ball has excessive play

probably worn out... a new track rod end is £4.70 from mini spares i believe

6) Offside front upper suspension arm has excessive play in a ball joint

similar to above.

7) Nearside front subframe locating pin locking device missing

Im not sure what this is, but im sure someone else will.

8) Exhaust system has a major leak of exhaust gases

9) Exhaust system has a mounting that it does not fully support the exhaust system

If your exhaust was recently replaced by a local garage take the car to the garage and show them the MOT failure certificate and the reciept for the work... there should be a warrenty on their work and they cannot argue with the MOT failure

10) Exhaust system carbon monoxide content excessive

I've a similar problem at the moment... is your car a Carb or injection? Think i've also read somewhere that an exhaust leak will cause your emissions to be higher, i'm not certain on this so i'll leave it to someone who knows more to explain.

Certainly allot of these issues can be solved with a few spare parts and someone competent with a socket set.

[miniboo]

I think:

1) just means the drums and maybe the cable for the hand brake needs adjusting might need new shoes though

7) i have also not heard of this!!

10) could just need th mixture leaning off and take it for a good long run before you take it to the MOT station

[Jimmyarm]

If the exhaust is leaking it will suck air into it which mixes with the exhaust gasses, this causes all sorts of problems with the machine they use to measure the exhaust emissions. Get this fixed first then get the mixture set up by a garage (pref a RR)

[minipip]

of the work you cant do (as in everything excluding the exaust) i would say would come to about 50 or so quid, and take less than a day to sort it all, as for the exhaust back to the garage and ask them to fix it, by the sounds of it the manifold gasket hasnt lined up properly and one of the bolts havent been done up properly.
it would work out cheeper to fix them yourself and keep hold of it, and you will have less to regret lol

[neil_g]

its a car, they always go wrong. ive just spent £450 getting a "newer" and "more reliable" car through the MOT.

[Dan]

The service brake means all the brakes except the handbrake Miniboo!

Just needs a brake and suspension overhaul really. Most of the parts that are failed are service parts which need replacing periodically anyway. You should really replace parts like dampers and bushes in axle sets but it's still not too expensive or hard to do.

If your car is younger than '76 it has no subframe locating pin locking devices anyway! If it does need one, it's just the locktab under the subframe bolts. Odd for it to be missing but not expensive or hard to rectify.

Edited by Dan, 24 July 2006 - 12:36 PM.

[miniboo]

oops i thought service brake was the handbrake!! my bad!!

[Sunshine]

thanks for all the input guys

was really pissed off when it failed and upset and everything else. this was after being sat in waiting room for and hour with 2 kids.

did e-mail the list to cowboy and he will be able to get it all sorted out when he comes back from Canada... also mentioned a satge one exhaust system ( we have bene thinking this one over for about a year).

he's also going to overhaul the front end for the faults there, doing both sides. he also has a set of rear shock absorbers in the shed (somewhere) to fit.

thing is that the print-out they gave is not very precise as to where some of the faults actually are. it is narowed down to front/ rear or offside/nearside.

checked the minispares website for #7 - but not much luck there.


good thing i have a new pair of trainers for now

[bananaman]

Does anyone know where this lock tab for the subframe bolt is?

I've never seen one before, unless they mean the top bolt on the teardrop mounts?

It should only take a weekend to sort out if your shed is anything like mine, bits and pieces in boxes everywhere, you are bound to have what you need hidden away somewhere.

Tony

[Dan]

It's not on subframes with teardrop mounts, as I suggested above. Early, solid mount subframes have two smaller bolts in the tower mounting rather than one huge one. These two bolts are locktabbed together, or should be at least.

Part no. 21A1470. On dry suspension it should have plug part no. RFR220 fitted into the tab, doesn't do all that much though.

[The Matt]

................... These two bolts are locktabbed together, or should be at least.

I never knew that, but then again I have never worked on a twin bolt subby!

[bananaman]

Ah right, cheers Dan.

You learn something new every day.

Tony

[jack_marshall]

The computerised MOT's give really non specific and weird things out.

Before they used to write down the exact problem.

Now they have to choose from a list of problems.

[1293clubby]

count yourself lucky if that is your fail list. mine has just failed on rear subframe. big job. it has been on the car for 27 years.