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Well, as expected, the old Flopmeister failed her MOT today, although on
surprisingly few things.

1. Number plate lights inop (thump em, they always come on then)
2. Handbrake efficiency poor (that old chestnut - nip em up again....)
3. Emissions sky high (knew that was coming, its eye watering to stand behind my car).

My car has been a sod to get to run right all the years (8) that I've had it, so
we've decided we're gonna get a gas analyser and try and set it up on that -
I think I over richened it trying to stop the revs dropping and the car cutting
out at junctions, so it needs to find a happy medium - the engine also 'hunts'
all the time too at idle, the MOT man wondered if the car has a vac leak somewhere.

So all being well, I can sort it out over the next week, and get it back in for
re-test by next Monday Smile

Happy days!!
I could be wrong (and often am) but I thought the emissions were only a visual at that age?

Chris
I just had LEX back into the same garage today that "allowed" me to pass my M.O.T due to the Chirk event (with the promise that i'd bring it back in again in Sept, hence the visit again today)

The reason i should have failed, but didn't nudge nudge :wink: :wink: was down to the handbrake. I bought new handbrake pads, and got tem fitted today, with the intention of allowing the cables to be adjusted from a fresh new line drawn in the sand. Unfortunately, it didn't work out like that. The old ones had been wearing (why!?) at an angle, to clamp fully on to the discs, but now that the new ones are on there, they ar not angled, and therefore are basically hitting the discs with only corners, and giving NO braking capability what so ever! (worse than with the old pads) The cables had no room for adjustment as they were already dragging a sufficient amount with the handbrake lever pully off. The garage have suggested that i now drive around a bit, with the handbrake pulled on a bit, in order to wear the new pads down, so that they can then have an attempt at adjusting the cables, possibly next week.

Am i not going to score the discs doing this? And WHY are newpads not sitting flush with the discs in the first place?!!! Why should handbrake pads, wear? Especially at an angle!?

The handbrake issue is going to be an on going saga every year for M.O.T i think, and the thing is, if they'll never work, then am i going to have to persuade a garage every year that its ok, and that they should just, PLEASE, pass it!? (likely to happen? i think not)

Incidentally, i also got one of Martn's radiators fitted today too, to basically get rid of the coolant leak i had down in Chirk (if people remember). I think its done the trick, but will have a better idea over the next few days.
that sounds weird Rissy, because handbrake pads shouldnt wear (in the same way normal brake pads do), and especially in the way you describe.

I wonder if there's a problem with the rear calipers or the 'arm' that does the handbrake pads.

AFAIK the rear calipers are similar to a Jaguar XJ6, but not exactly the same.

I'm sure someone a bit more techie will be able to advise you better then I can in my simple terms lol.

Welcome back to the UK btw too!! :wink:
Guinney1971 Wrote:that sounds weird Rissy, because handbrake pads shouldnt wear (in the same way normal brake pads do), and especially in the way you describe.

I wonder if there's a problem with the rear calipers or the 'arm' that does the handbrake pads.

AFAIK the rear calipers are similar to a Jaguar XJ6, but not exactly the same.

I'm sure someone a bit more techie will be able to advise you better then I can in my simple terms lol.

Welcome back to the UK btw too!! :wink:


Thanks! It's good to BE back. I'm already 1/2 way through my holiday time though, but have been making the most so far with Lexi up here. Been getting her seen around Edinburgh, Livingston, Bathgate, Ratho, Currie.... even Costco lol!

Good news! My mate and i had a stab at looking at my handbrake functionality, since i was not too impressed with the results from the garage. Had both sides all apart, gave the calipers a good working by hand, greased, sprayed, cleaned up a bit, and with also replacing one brand new brake pad with one of the old ones i had already taken off (worn down shape, more appropriate for gripping the disc) i can now say that i'm convinced that the handbrake now not only works as it should, i think it should pass an M.O.T properly now. I tested it on a pretty darn steep hill, facing up the hill, and the car held no problem. I'm sure i could still have pulled at least one more click up on the hand lever too! I'm pretty impressed with my mate and me. Born mechanics! lol!

Bad news now though is that i've discovered that i have a slightly warped back right hand side disc. Booo! It can stay like that until it causes me problems!
lol, well its always satisfying when you've got your mitts mucky and got a
good result in the process Big Grin

How long are you in Korea again for until you can come home again/for good?
My car failed the emissions a couple of times too......

I know the tester, so his advice is to keep the revs on 3000 for about 60 seconds, then re-test...... passes fine then.

Trouble is, most testers test it once, and thats it..... It needs to be explained to some testers, as does the handbrake efficiency.... If it holds the car, then whats the problem?

My trick is to use the footbrake when pulling the handbrake up..... Unless the tester is looking at the back of the car, he'll never know! LOL

Number plate lights?

When do you use the car at night? LOL

Smile

Hope you get a ticket soon, Mine's booked in 29th Oct..... If it passes it'll be 4 year running!

Ben

xx
hiya Ben,

well Flopsy is now off the road and SORN Sad

The normal CO emissions are fine (0.19%), but its the hydrocarbons. The car is p'ing unburnt fuel out of the exhaust - and to be honest, its been like this for ages and despite having had hundreds of pounds thrown at it over the years, the car has never run right, its had a new oil pump, but still shows dangerously low oil pressure, the oil pressure switch (I assume) is leaking really badly again, and tbh, with it running so badly all these years, you dont know what horrors are lurking in the engine ....

So, 99% made my mind up - the engine is coming out and its being replaced with a 'new' one - the current engine has no provenance as it was replaced in 1990 by the prev-prev owner in the USA. Obviously we'll keep my old engine and use it as a source of parts.

So, anyone got a Volvo 760 surplus to requirements? Wink