MOT advisory - rear axle and suspension arms covered in thick underseal

[davidxzy]

The micra passed its MOT today with these advisories:

-nearside rear (just passes) suspension spring mounting prescribed area is corroded but not considered excessive.

-nearside front macpherson strut corroded but not seriously weakened.

-offside front (just passes) macpherson strut corroded but not seriously weakened.

-milage display fading, suggest having this checked

-rear axle and suspension arms covered in thick underseal


The last one has me confused. The last MOT said the rear axle was rusty, so I cleaned off the loose rust and mixed up some dulux undercoat with a little canton blue gloss and painted the axle. I also used the same paint to do the sills. Are you not supposed to paint the axle?

 

[frank]

you might have covered rustholes with it, and the tester is,nt allowed to scrape it off to see, so he is covering his butt

 

[davidxzy]

you might have covered rustholes with it, and the tester is,nt allowed to scrape it off to see, so he is covering his butt

Thanks for that.

 

[Magpie42]

you might have covered rustholes with it, and the tester is,nt allowed to scrape it off to see, so he is covering his butt

Is he allowed to cover his butt? He could also be covering a rust-hole.

 

[davidxzy]

I just can't figure out the meaning of this advisory:

-nearside rear (just passes) suspension spring mounting prescribed area is corroded but not considered excessive.

Is this referring to the rear axle? If so, I was thinking of removing it and giving it a good clean up and then painting it. If it says "just passes" then if I preserve the condition then it should "just pass" next time.

 

[wehey]

It's probably the cups that the springs sit in and are held captive by. I can't think of the correct name now as I haven't had my morning coffee yet

 

[cdwood2010]

Don't forget that they're describing something within 30cm or thereabouts of what's actually mentioned in the advisory.

I had a vehicle fail with "suspension point excessively corroded". When I shat myself and got them to show me it was actually a hole in the outer sill, but it was so close to a suspension point on the inner sill that's how he reckoned he had to describe it.

Mot is a bit of a farce in my opinion, not all mot testers are strict. I've had advisories for a rusty roll bar on a 3 year old Scooby once. We had words over that.

My current mot tester / garage is really good. They know me fairly well and actually work with me and help me a lot. Worth asking around and finding a good testing station, take some Hobnobs along and make some new friends.



Chris.

 

[davidxzy]

I think I've found the problem. It's the top spring mounts on both sides that need replacing. I'm not sure if they can be replaced as they are part of the suspension, MOT rules say no welds to suspension. If I can't fix them then it looks like it's going to the scrapyard next year. Does anyone know if this part can be replaced and what's it called?

 

[cdwood2010]

Upper spring seat. Probably a part you can buy and weld in.

You might be able to cut the part from a good shell, then graft it in.

Chris.

 

[cdwood2010]

Actually just took a closer look at the pictures. That's not rotten,its just a bit crusty.

Drop the spring, then clean up the area and repaint. Should be fine for a few more years.

C.

 

[davidxzy]

Actually just took a closer look at the pictures. That's not rotten,its just a bit crusty.

Drop the spring, then clean up the area and repaint. Should be fine for a few more years.

C.

I can't locate the part online so I will try as you suggested and give it a makeover.