Repair immediately (major defects)
 

Suspension arm pin or bush excessively worn Nearside (carrier arm bush) [5.3.4 (a) (I)]
Suspension arm pin or bush excessively worn Offside (carrier arm bush) [5.3.4 (a) (I)]

Just had my 2004 v6 fail its MOT for the first time not bad for a 15 year old car!
I’m assuming that the carrier arm is what we would call the front wishbone but I don’t know what the numbers mean , is there any one can help me with that?
I have watched the YouTube film on replacing the wishbone and feel confident enough to attempt the job myself!
I just need to source and order the parts, any suggestions would be gratefully received as well as anything to look out for doing the job, it looks like a straight swap over but I’m sure it not!!!

The numbers refer to the paragraphs in the testers manual I believe. Looking at those fails, there's no need to change the lower arms just the front arm rear bushes.

Could you not ask the tester what exactly the part is they refer?

Well I wouldn't call it a wishbone, but it is in the same place where wishbones are fitted to some cars. :}


Before buying any parts you need to establish exactly where the play is. It could be in the hub itself at the bottom where it clamps the lower arm outer balljoint.


Jack up and secure the each side in turn and then waggle the wheel whilst looking at the balljoint and see if it is moving in the hub, or the play is in the balljoint itself - if that is the case you will see the play between the lower arm and the balljoint.

As already said , surely the tester refers to the rubber bushes and not the balljoints ? :shrug::}

I'd say the fail refers to THESE

A quick test to see if these are indeed the problem, fit the wheel brace to one of the front wheel nuts, then place a foot on the wheel brace and attempt to tighten the bolt.

If the wheel moves fore and aft within the wheelarch, the track control arm rear bushes have failed.

To replace the bushes, and I have explored every different way of doing this job, and by far and away the easiest is by using the following method, with the car driven onto ramps, both sides can be replaced in under an hour, lying on your back on your drive.

Tools Needed
18mm combination spanner
'Large' ring spanner
18mm flexible head ratchet spanner
10" Shifting spanner
Lump hammer
Piece of timber (as a wedge)

The two securing bolts are best undone by fitting the 18mm combination spanner upside down and another large ring spanner looped through the jaws to gain extra purchase.

Once you have cracked the two bolts, undo them by a couple of turns and spray some releasing oil on the bolts and on the hexagonal end of the lower arm where it goes through the bush.

Leave it all to soak.

Tighten the rear bolt back up, then undo the front bolt. You can wind it up by around 3/4" using the ratchet spanner, but no further as you'll get the spanner stuck on the anti roll bar

Wind the front bolt out the rest of the way with your fingers

Now undo the rear bolt.

The arm at this point will now be free to articulate, so with your piece of wood, wedge it in place against the subframe.

The old bush can now be knocked rearwards off the arm.

Clean up the lower arm and noting the place where the old bush was located, lubricate it with a water soluble product, Liguid soap, swarfega, etc.

Now fit the new bush to the lower arm, aligning the fore and aft position with the clean part of the lower arm. Orientate it correctly on the hexagon so the mounted position is correct. Position bush holes to match subframe.

Next fit the rear bolt into the subframe, when entering the bolt, rotate anticlockwise until a click is heard, then with fingers only, tighten it to ensure it's not cross-threaded

Once you're sure it's entered correctly, it can be tightened down to a "just nipped" position, which while holding the bush absolutely parallel with the subframe, will allow it to be rotated around the bolt.

Here is where it becomes slightly tricky. Open the jaws of the shifting spanner to place it over the parallel sides of the loop of the bush housing.

This allows for easy alignment for the front bolt. Drop the bolt into the bush and wiggle the housing until the bolt enters the subframe hole.

Again, rotate the bolt anticlockwise until the click is heard and start off with fingers until you're sure it's not cross threaded. Spanner it down tight.


Since you won't be able to apply the torque wrench, use the 18mm combination spanner with another looped through the jaws to apply the final nip. Make it as tight as you can.

Brian :D

I got a "Major Fail" on my motorbike because the number plate letters were slightly too small under:
Major: Central Rear Upper Registration plate does not conform to the specified requirements (0.1 (d))

I made it home okay. :D

Did you get an advisory for the tinny horn too Bob?

Brian :D

I had a similar one on one of my customers cars, they had put a yellow number plate screw through one of the letters and I cant remember the code but it failed. It wasn't like they were trying to make an E into and F or anything it was just what they had I suspect. I was back in under 10 mins for a retest. :D

I don't use this tester anymore for obvious reasons, he could be an 4rse on occasions.

A touch up brush of black paint is always handy for the situation where the plastic screw and the numbers fight for space.;)