Hi John
| I took Saskia for her first MOT since I've owned her yesterday and she
| failed! Some of the things that she failed on seem somewhat suspect,
| although I think she was having a bit of an off day, which rarely helps!
Bummer
| For a start she decided that the hazard warning flashers would not work
| on that occasion, and they have been fine previously, and I have tested
| them since, and guess what...they are fine!
Not uncommon, can also be the indicators stop working after the hazards are
used.
| One of the headlamps was aiming too low, I guess that this is easy enough
| to fix myself?
Yep, unless the adjuster is siezed, or the pannel has been eaten by tin
worms!
| One of the steering gaitors had split, I would imagine that a lot of the
| time involed in replacing this would be that spent partly dissasembling
| the steering rack, can anyone comment on how easy this would be to
| replace?
Easy, slacken the locknut holding the Track rod end, unscrew the track rod
from the joint, count the number of threads to the lock nut so you can put
it back in the same place, remove the nut, remove the gaitor, if it is the
near side you can generally use the universal gaitor without cutting
anything off but you have to stretch it over the inner track rod knuckle.
Sometimes you may have to put a couple of turns of tape around the rack tube
to stop the gaitor from sliding off. If it is the off side then you have
to cut the gaitor to fit. Fit the retaining devices (screw clamps or zip
ties) to the inner end only. Replace the lock nut, resetting the position
to where you counted before, then screw the track rod into the track rod
end, this can be a little tricky to line up and get started. tighten the
locknut back up then take the car and have the alignment checked. Then fit
the outer clips after all the twisting has been done. Make sure the gaitor
isn't twisted before you finally fit the clips.
| There's a bit of a problem with the handbrake, I think it just needs
| adjusting, which I told the garage to do beforehand, but they didn't...
No Comment! Most garages where the mechanics weren't brought up on Triumphs
ond in particular Heralds and derivatives wouldn't have the faintest idea
how to do this job! CORRECTLY!
| Another point that she failed on was the wiper blades, there is a gap in
| the middle of the screen that they don't wipe, although I am sure that I
| have the correct size blades and wiper arms. Is this normal on a spit?
This points to one of two things, the first is that the wipers are old and
not very flexible, (is it on the off side wipers teritory bear in mind this
is the one that sits on the curve). The other thing relies on the fact that
glass is a fluid, and can change shape over time especially if something has
been rested on the screen. Only seen this once before
| They claim that both of the front seats are insecure, they are both
| bolted down fine, but just wobble a little, but then this is inherant in
| the design seeing that they are only secured at the rear in one place. I
| can't see how this particular aspect could be improved. Anyone else had
| this problem?
Don't know about this one.
| And the final one is excess exhaust emissions. I think this is due to a
| number of things. Firstly one of the bolts securing the inlet manifold
| is threaded so that needs replacing, is this easy or hard to do, other
| than the obvious problems of gaining access to below the manifold? Also
| the points are burnt out and I have a misfire, I think these two may be
| linked? What else could cause my misfire? The emissions results were:
| Co 5.26%, that passed, it was the Hydrocarbons that failed with 1464.
| There was also low compression on No2 cylinder, although I forgot to ask
| for the actual results.
The emmisions test makes allowances for the SU setup. If the one bit is
right the other can be tested at up to 2000 rpm due to the fact that SU's
are notoriously bad at idle. I can't remember which way round it works
though, it may be that the HC's have to be right.
A missfire will cause high HC's and you only have to get down to 1200 to
pass.
| So quite a few things failed there! Although only the emmisions one
| seems like it could be particularly troublesome, or have I missed
| something in my assumptions above?
|
| Any help you can give me to get Saskia through her next MOT would be very
| much appreciated!
|
| cheers all,
| John
|
Hope this helps.
Graham,
1967 1300 FWD
1968 2000 Saloon
1972 2.5PI Saloon
1974 Sprinted Dolomite 1850
1975 Toledo in restoration!
http://www.triumph-iw.co.uk
http://www.mickdolphin.co.uk Spares Supplier.
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