MOT fail with missing heat shield etc etc.....etc!

S

stufree

Member
Just had a major MOT fail last month with my 2000 AUA that I've had for over 15 years. Had nowt mich wrong with it at last MOT and only done 2000 miles since then so bit of an unwelcome surprise!

Date tested 2 February 2022
FAIL

Mileage 91,884 miles

Do not drive until repaired (dangerous defects):

Central Rear Fuel tank exhaust shield missing where fitted as original equipment creating a risk of fire (6.1.3 (e))

Repair immediately (major defects):

Offside Rear Position lamp adversely affected by the operation of another lamp Stop Lamp (4.2.3 (c))

Offside Rear Stop lamp(s) adversely affected by the operation of another lamp Position Lamp (4.3.3 (b))

Nearside Rear Inner Road wheel badly distorted (5.2.2 (c) (i))

Offside Front Inner Road wheel badly distorted (5.2.2 (c) (i))

Offside Front Shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak (5.3.2 (b))



Monitor and repair if necessary (advisories):

Rear Registration plate deteriorated but not likely to be misread (0.1 (b))

Rear Heat Shield Loose

Rear Seats Missing

Rear Tank Strap Corroded

Mil Illuminated Pre 2003

Front Washer Bottle Top Missing

Rear Prevent Further Corrosion Of Rear Axle/Suspension Assembly

Offside Rear Inner Road wheel slightly distorted (5.2.2 (c) (i))

Nearside Front Inner Road wheel slightly distorted (5.2.2 (c) (i))

Front Brake disc worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened Both Sides (1.1.14 (a) (ii))

Nearside Front Inner Tyre worn close to legal limit/worn on edge Uneven Wear To Inner Edge (5.2.3 (e))

Got the 17" wheels from A2Steve 2 or more years ago but carried on running with the 16" SE alloys until last year. Sadly gave the 4 of them away with tyres for £50 (ouch!)
They're about 5mm out of round (47 to 47.5mm) for the 2 worst ones.

I could never get the ETKA stuff to work so can't get part number for the missing heat shield. Seen a few posts about the ruined posts for holding them on but, TBH, never even heard it go (might have been missing for years fo9r all I know).

Any advice/thoughts gratefully received as really don't want rid.

Thanks in advance.
 
My favourite..... Front washer bottle top missing. What really!!!! Rear seats missing not sure about that one.

Buckled wheels well I can understand that. Tyres and shocks again fair comment. Bulb issues - did you check all the bulbs before the MOT?

Mil illuminated pre 2003. Is that even an advisory as it is PRE 2003.


Time to clean some corrosion and try to either powder coat or Hammerite paint them afterwards.

Central rear fuel tank exhaust heat shield missing..a better description or picture would help on this one. Here is the parts page.. Perhaps #3 on diagram.

heat insulation for floor Audi A2 (A2) 2000 year Audi EUROPA 804010

heat insulation for floor Audi A2 (A2) 2000 year Audi EUROPA 804010 spare parts
audi.7zap.com audi.7zap.com
 
.Thanks for that.
After 15 years Inspector Clueless finally spotted the missing bottle top (is there even one? And what was he looking for in there anyway?)
We very rarely have the back seats in it - just when the family visits so that comment has been on all our MOTs.
The wheels look OK - not that obvious- but he must have put a tape on them.
The shock etc is fair enough, can't argue with that but TBH the weather at the end of January and start of February is not great in Edinburgh for rolling around under the car in the street - I'm not keen on freezing to death - but , yes, we did check all the lights the day before the test and one bulb had gone in that cluster so was replaced and checked OK. No idea how the problem got there during their test.
Still got horrible memories of standing in snow changing the MAP sensor last winter - only sorted the problem for a few weeks but, as it's not a fail, just ignore the MIL now. The engine runs sweet as a nut.
The rust will get tackled come the better weather (if we get it through the MOT).
TBH Not sure if it's 3 or not for the heat shield on the diagram but will have another look.
I reckon the MOT guy had one job to do all day. there's no way he got through that list in 15 or 20 minutes.
Anyway thanks for the comments and the diagram, it'll get me started.
 
The bulb could be inserted incorrectly?

Other items would be easily seen from below while on ramp / jacking beam and spinning wheels but are all a matter of judgement
No so to check on the street

All fixable tho
 
Correct Audi never fitted a cap on the screen wash top up. Were your rear seat belt buckles correctly stowed? Hanging loose then tend to check to see if they have been damaged of trapped in the door, then moan about the lack of rear seats.
Heat shields are a bit of a grey area for testers. They can be loose and ratlle and pass , but if they have broken off and can fall off the car it is a fail. The only exception is heat shields needed to prevent fire must be intact, the fuel tank heat shield comes under that category.
 
The seat belts are totally fine. I think they just see previous years MOTs then repeat the words. Not a fail so really not important. If it did become compulsory I'd lug the seats down to the car and fit them no problem.
I'll try to get a new/used heat shield, either on here or thru Audi, then worry about the other bits later.
The bulb's in right, if only it was that easy :)
 
I really really wouldn't worry about advisory items. They are just that - the tester letting you know about minor faults, so you can judge whether you want to do anything about them.
 
I don't bother much with advisories , usually just one guy's opinion ....and some of these guys are not always of sound mind IMHO.
they looked OK to me and nobody else picked up on them until now.
 
My advice is to take your A2 to another garage as well. I've had MOT done few weeks ago, 1st garage was kwikfit, they gave me a list something a therapist would make, cost estimate around £600-700, but after some DIY and another family-owned garage later, it passed MOT with only a few bits on advisory and cost £86. Those advisories still needs sorting, but sometimes it's really worth getting a second opinion.
 
Been using the family garage for the last 12 years or more but won't be going back there again for sure (apart from bike MOTs). Never use the big garages.
 
BTW to Weetank2, thanks for the suggestion. Beginning to think I maybe did screw it in (up!) the wrong way- if that's possible and will check again as soon as I get over this covid nightmare and can be bothered to move!
 
stufree said:
Been using the family garage for the last 12 years or more but won't be going back there again for sure (apart from bike MOTs). Never use the big garages.
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If you’ve used these guys and been happy with them for that length of time then perhaps they deserve some benefit of the doubt - did you ask them to take you under the car and talk through the issues? Looking at the list, all the failures and advisories, they could very well be fair failure points - with the obvious exception being the washer bottle cap comment; but that just shows they don’t work on A2s regularly, I thought mine was missing it’s cap when I first got it.

If all the other points highlighted on that list are a fair cop then surely this garage deserves credit for their diligence? Not meaning to be confrontational with this post, it’s just that the gist of the thread seems to be they’ve been overzealous - but I don’t see evidence that this has been checked.
 
stufree said:
Offside Front Shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak (5.3.2 (b))
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I thought they were gas struts, they don't leak oil. Or rather non of mine ever have. I'd check that out.

Otherwise it is not too bad, you need a heat shield and two wheels straightening. I think you said the lights were resolved?

Get the washer cap taken off the list along with the strut if there is no leak. Work through the advisories when the weather improves.
 
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philward said:
I thought they were gas struts, they don't leak oil. Or rather non of mine ever have. I'd check that out.
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Normally use oil for damping, gas makes them perform better.
Any leak should be easy to see though, usually from the top seal, unless seriously corroded of course.
 
Catnip64 said:
Normally use oil for damping, gas makes them perform better.
Any leak should be easy to see though, usually from the top seal, unless seriously corroded of course.
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Thank you for the correction, it would appear I have been lucky over the years, only oil filled shock absorbers on a classic mini have ever leaked oil. These words are taken from a Bilstein FAQ page:

Gas shock absorbers – The biggest misconception about gas shock absorbers is they are filled exclusively with gas. Not true. Every shock absorber has hydraulic oil.

Nitrogen gas is used to pressurize the oil which prevents the oil from foaming, a term called cavitation. This provides a reliable stable shock absorber, big safety improvement over the oil damper which suffers from a noticeable drop in damping force under load.

So if the strut is leaking rather than weeping, ideally two are required.
 
Thanks for all the advice. After finally getting under the car it does look like the missing section is part # 3 on the diagram audifan sent a while back; thanks again. Of course the fact that there are 3 versions of part ...172, 172A and 172B kinda complicates things but assume that it ought to be 172A as the other 2 are in brackets. Just need to hunt on down now and try to attach it with sky hooks.
 
stufree said:
Thanks for all the advice. After finally getting under the car it does look like the missing section is part # 3 on the diagram audifan sent a while back; thanks again. Of course the fact that there are 3 versions of part ...172, 172A and 172B kinda complicates things but assume that it ought to be 172A as the other 2 are in brackets. Just need to hunt on down now and try to attach it with sky hooks.
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Careful, assumptions are dangerous. The three codes of 172 have three different PR codes on the right of the7zap page, 0M1,0M2 and 0M3, which all translate to 'Fuel Tank'. These probably relate to the different capacity tanks, 42l, 36l(?) and I guess something smaller for the 1.2.

Safest thing is to PM Tom at Crewe Audi on here with your reg and ask which is correct. He is usually very helpful and it may still be available if so he can quote a price.

Andy

Edit. Seems NLA but I would still ask Tom.
 
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I would have thought that any decent exhaust builder could produce an appropriate heat shield without too much bother.
 
Thanks for that and apologies for my stupidity... but how do I go about PMing Tom at Crewe Audi?
I'll try the local Audi dealer, might be some NOS lying around (I wish!).
Not sure it'd be easy getting the part made up from scratch without one to copy. I did look on ebay at blank sheets of the same type of metal but silly prices for even small bits.
 
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