MOT fail: MacPherson strut has excessive movement at the upper attachment

[guest6147]

Hi,

As the title of this post explains, my 02 Jazz has just failed it's MOT because of excessive movement at the top mount of the MacPherson strut on both sides. The garage quoted me about £270+vat to sort this. This broke down as £150+vat for parts, and 2 hours labor. Does this sound right?

Is this a job that can be done at home or does it require specialist tools? Would I need a spring compressor? I'm quite mechanically minded, so am happy to do the job myself if it doesn't need a whole load of specialist tools. Can anyone give an estimate of how long it might take to do.

Many thanks,

Martin

[guest5589]

Hi, are you sure it is an actual failure? have you been to this garage before for MOT? Because Jazz's top mounts are of a different to most of the other cars out there.

 It is well known in NZ for Jazz to fail MOT due to this reason, so much so the VOSA equivalent of NZ put out a guidance as discussed here:

http://clubjazz.org/forum/index.php?topic=8043.msg39432#msg39432

[guest6147]

Hi, this is the first MOT that I've had to put the Jazz through, but the test centre that i use is owned by Kent County Council. They exist to test KCC's fleet of vehicles, and they offer this service to the public too. As they don't do repairs they have no vested interest in failing the car without good reason.

Does anyone else have any experience of their Jazz failing because of this, but then getting it overturned because this is 'normal' for a Jazz? Have Honda releases any guidelines to VOSA about this in the UK?

[guest1372]

Yes, as mentioned Jazz is different to other Hondas - when it's on the jacks with it's wheels hanging down the top mount will move freely (like a few other cars). You could get clarification from official Honda garage if you wish by getting them to examine it if you still have valid MOT to drive, or inform testing garage that they are mistaken and should refer this to senior tester or they should contact their MOT advice service.

Print page 4 of pdf  or https://www.nzta.govt.nz/assets/resources/wof-news/docs/issue-15.pdf

Erroneous fails have been reported in UK & Eire, I guess KCC don't have any Jazz in the fleet.

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TG

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[guest6147]

Thanks for the advice. I'll call the test centre tomorrow and present them with this information. If they don't buy it I'll contact the nearest honda garage and ask them for some advice. Maybe there is a document that they can refer them to.

Failing that, I judge seen that Euro car parts sell a cool sitting compressor for £30, and the top mount bearing for £10. The job doesn't look that difficult to do.

[guest1372]

Hopefully none of this is required but thinking about this a bit:

Compressing the spring is probably not needed as the bush sits on a plate above the spring. Moving the strut low enough to gain access without having to take too much apart is probably the trick. The lower bolts exposed to 14 years of road dirt and corrosion could be tricky, plus there are a few other items attached to the strut.

Instructions: http://www.hondafitjazz.com/manual/A00/HTML/00/SAA2E00B20200019101KBAT00.HTML


Fit Freaks > DIY: Installation of lowering springs on a GD3 Fit

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TG

[guest6133]

if arguing proves fruitless, can be disguised as per recent post Front Suspension Failed Test.Temporarily pack under the top flange.

[guest6147]

I spoke with the MOT tester at the local Honda dealership this morning. He just said that every MOT tester will vary on what they deem as being 'unsafe', but was unable to say that honda recognise this as being a particular issue with Jazz's.

I then called the garage who carried out the test. He said that all their testers know what normal for every make and model (a big claim), so the test decision still stands. I've booked it in for its retest next Monday, so I've got until then to try and sort something.

Thanks for the advice about being able to replace the top mount bearing without needing to compress the springs, and thanks for the tip about temporarily packing under the top mount to remove excess play when the car is jacked up.

[Eddie Honda]

I would of called the DVSA in and put in for an appeal. Then the tester would of got a flea in his ear for not testing the suspension properly.

If you go back to my post about linked above, there is a VOSA YouTube clip linked at the end of my post which makes the point about this and demonstrates it.

As troublesome that it is, the problem if you don't complain is that the poor testers then carry on failing things erroneously when they should be getting a kick up the backside.