Cheap airbag light fix - brought to you by Bodgit & Scarper

[Phil-T4]

Originally Posted by Jules

Thread revival
An update to this crazy bodge is it will fail the MOT.
NO self test illumination = fail.

Wrong, not coming on at all is a "Minor" error, it is stays on then it is a "Major"

[Jules]

Still a fail though Phil according to both local testers here.

Generally if something is fitted it must work, even headlamp washers are a fail if faulty

[Phil-T4]

Originally Posted by Jules

Still a fail though Phil according to both local testers here.

Generally if something is fitted it must work, even headlamp washers are a fail if faulty

No No No, it is NOT a fail, it is a "MINOR ERROR" and again NO, headlamp washers are not even a testable item on cars prior to 1st Sept 2009 so that exempts ALL Rover 75 and ZT's.

The old fallacy of if it is fitted it must work is just not true.

[Jules]

That makes no sense re SRS.

If light doesn't come on or stays on.......either way SRS is faulty and airbags won't deploy.

[Phil-T4]

Originally Posted by Jules

That makes no sense re SRS.

If light doesn't come on or stays on.......either way SRS is faulty and airbags won't deploy.

Early SRS systems never had a test routine and would only light up if a fault was present so how can you fail it for not lighting up when it was never designed that way?

No one said the MOT test makes sense, e.g. we HAVE to pass & advise tyres that would get you a fine and points if the police stopped you.

Remember a MOT test is carried out using MINIMUM standards and not common sense.

[RogerHeinz57]

True, there are plenty of parts of MOT / DVSA rules that seem to make little sense, but we have to operate within th rules applied by such body.

There have been multiple parts of the rules changed to accommodate the modern vehicles which make it easier for modern cars to pass with rules that exists allowing previous failures to become a pass. This includes headlamp cleaning devices - notably for modern Audi and Mercedes.
Many fitted with xenon / led light sources. Their front bumpers show mouldings where the jet would usually pop out to deliver liquid, but in-fact, they are false caps moulded into the bumper and do not do anything at all. They are false, the bumper was removed on many fails both my colleague and I recorded, with the bumper removed, there is nothing fitted behind it to represent any cleaning device.
The manual was repeatedly checked, and if you read and curve your perceptions slightly, you will see that they allow some compromising of the rule. This is wrong really, but the modern age seems to allow manipulation everywhere.
Just one example of how we have to work with what we have.
The text - last time I checked it pointed out the rule, and suffixed with "If fitted" or "Where fitted"

[Jules]

Well we have higher standards than that and always submit our customers 75's with a fully functioning SRS systems and decent tyres.

Piece of mind all round.

[Phil-T4]

Spot on and as it should be

I generally have to work to 2 different standard levels, the much higher servicing level where components get replaced if nearing end of life or showing signs of wear and the MOT standard of "is it hanging off or broken?" - nope then its a pass and advice. You just know 90% of the time anything that is not a fail will not get done by the owner.

BTW my failure rate over the last 3 months is 40%, national average is 27%

[SCP440]

As I said originally in this post anyone buying a car these days should plug a code reader in and see what is happening.

A dealer I know will always put a car ''in the workshop'' to check the codes before he makes an offer. Over the years he has found numerous bodges some that would have cost a lot of money to fix if he had not scanned the car first. He was telling me of one recently that had the Catalysts had been knocked out and it was only the live data that showed what was wrong, the new catalysts for this BMW were nearly £2k . When he put the car up on the ramp it was obvious the cats had been removed and refitted recently.

[simondhopkins]

Originally Posted by Jules

Sorry Gazcon it wasn't aimed at you but was a general warning to all not to bodge SRS systems !

We've cured 3 similar bodge cases this last 2 months to get cars through MOT correctly.

On my advice one recent new owner to the Marque approached the dealer he bought his 75 from and presented him with our bill for 2 side impact sensors and IPK repair and drying carpets.

The dealer tried to imply he didn't know anything about the coverup even though it was his garage who MOT'd it prior to the sale a few days before the purchase.

These people should be banned from selling cars and the MOT station stripped of their test status where a crucial safety feature has been bypassed.

Report them to vosa with your findings. These cowboys need shutting down.