Booking Northern Ireland MOT advice thread

[Airhead]

Should be grand.

"Reasons for Rejection":
An obligatory main or dipped beam headlamp

a. Inoperative, not in good working order, excessively damaged or deteriorated or light source so that:-

• The light output is well below that required to illuminate the road ahead, or

• The beam image is adversely affected

b. Insecure

c. an obligatory headlamp shows light that is not substantially white or yellow

d. adversely affected by the operation of any other lamp.

e. Flickers or extinguishes when tapped lightly by hand

f. The headlamps provided to form a, matched pair.

• Do not emit light of the same colour

• Are not the same size

• Are obviously not correctly positioned.

g. Does not emit light that is either substantially white or yellow.

 

[NI_Volvo_Nut]

How fussy are they about sunstrips? I have MOT tomorrow and am debating whether to try and go with sunstrip or whether to just take it off. It's not really deep or anything. No deeper than my sunvisor. It's not opaque it's a mid tint.

Any advice?

Has to be 70% transparent and not within the swept area

Probably a stupid question

I have yellow tint on the headlights, take it that would be a fail?

Yellow tint is fine as long as it doesn't effect the beam pattern or intensity

 

[Tinners]

Has to be 70% transparent and not within the swept area
Yellow tint is fine as long as it doesn't effect the beam pattern or intensity

They are still plenty bright so I'll fire it on and see. Knowing my luck I'll get an ass of a tester lol

 

[bmurf]

They are still plenty bright so I'll fire it on and see. Knowing my luck I'll get an ass of a tester lol

I had a slight ass of a tester a couple of years ago. It passed the actual light test, he just thought it was too yellow and wasn't for giving me the pass cert until I took it off. Ripped it off, got pass cert went home and put more back on again lol

 

[Jamesc]

Bit of a random one, my new suspension struts dont come with the anti roll bar/drop link brackets, early models of the strut did 5+ years ago but as 80% of people who fit them just do away with the anti roll bar completely, and they also share the same set up with cars that dont use the same drop link mounting, so now dont offer the struts with the brackets pre installed,

Third parties have made brackets to suit but, Would a bracket such as this be ok for MOT here, as the drop link is mounted the bracket is clamped tight around the strut to stopping it from moving,

Welding a tab on is another possible option but then causes warranty issues ive been told, but ive been told before welding and suspension components are a big no no anyway.

Any advice?

 

[NI_Volvo_Nut]

Yes, welding is a no no!

I don't see any issues with them, tbh they look factory in the pic

 

[Jamesc]

Yes, welding is a no no!

I don't see any issues with them, tbh they look factory in the pic

Cheers for your reply, that's what I thought.

 

[Jason_NI]

When checking the rear lights - if one set of leds are out is this a fail?

I have an E92 - and the LED strip is out on one of the 4 lights, as per below photo.
N/S Outer Led is out - its not a straight forward bulb swap to fix - either have to replace the full cluster, or crack open and try to resolder or replace the faulty led.

<a href="LED"><img src="https://preview.ibb.co/ciR0A8/LED.jpg" alt="LED" border="0"></a>

 

[sickomotorsport]

When checking the rear lights - if one set of leds are out is this a fail?

I have an E92 - and the LED strip is out on one of the 4 lights, as per below photo.
N/S Outer Led is out - its not a straight forward bulb swap to fix - either have to replace the full cluster, or crack open and try to resolder or replace the faulty led.

<a href="LED"><img src="https://preview.ibb.co/ciR0A8/LED.jpg" alt="LED" border="0"></a>

Minor defect

 

[mikey]

Hope someone can advise as I can't find anything obvious in the MOT testers manual. I am putting a 1974 USA import Honda motorbike through its first MOT for registration over here. As per US regulations of the time, when the dip beam headlight is switched on the front indicators illuminate as 'marker lights'. These flash independently and function as normal indicators when needed. I'd rather not have to modify this factory wired feature on the bike and lose originality if not totally necessary. Thanks in advance! @NI_Volvo_Nut

 

[sickomotorsport]

Will be dead on

 

[sickomotorsport]

Additional lights

 

[NI_Volvo_Nut]

Should be fine

 

[Marty Lad]

Can anyone tell me if I need to have a motorbike insured to take it for Mot if I bring it in the back of a van? Thanks

 

[stevieturbo]

As long as it is not taxed and not on a public road etc...isnt any need for it to be insured.

 

[RevT]

As long as it is not taxed and not on a public road etc...isnt any need for it to be insured.

Won’t matter if it’s taxed or not.

As long as it’s not being used on the road you won’t need it to roll it out of the van and into the test centre.

 

[Bryan]

What's going on with the MOT system? It's over a month wait at most centres. I've been trying to get a cancellation for the past few days but any cancellations that do pop up are still weeks away. What was the wait when they had to issue those exemption notices in the past?

 

[sickomotorsport]

Waiting times always particularly bad in summer months. Main reason is that more staff are on annual leave at this time of year. Less staff... Less vehicles being done.... longer wait. Simple.... always allow 6 weeks in summer months if you can

 

[DaddyCC]

Also what adds to the backlog is that remember about a dozen years ago there were strikes going on by the MOT guys for a couple of months and it was around this time of year everything started going through again. So that doesnt help.

 

[dddrrift]

its been a nightmare recently, iv got lucky and got a few close ones, just keep checkin the online system from 10am and 2pm

 

[Airhead]

When i started working in the MOT centres (long time ago) a wait of a month seemed like an impossible dream! 8-10 weeks was normal and 12 weeks wasn't uncommon. They eventually got it down to almost nothing and we have come to expect that now. As said above, annual leave etc has an effect and too short a waiting list isn't particularly desirable from DVA's perspective (e.g. staff not fully employed, increased number of failures and FTAs (fail to appear)). I've put a couple of cars through in the last few weeks and was able to get short notice cancellations fairly easily (without using contacts in DVA).

 

[brendy]

I went on to book Zoe's 3 series on Wednesday, saw nothing, left it 20 mins and refreshed usual local centres, boom, Friday in Ards 19.35, done and dusted. certainly pays to keep refreshing.

 

[gpaevo]

What's the easiest way to get a cancellation??? I'm f*@ked as there is a 3 week gap from my expiry to test date. First time I've even been caught out

 

[thefool1983]

What's the easiest way to get a cancellation??? I'm f*@ked as there is a 3 week gap from my expiry to test date. First time I've even been caught out

Just book it and search for cancellation every day. There are certain times the website is updated.. around 9am and then just before lunch. 12ish I think it is

 

[Bryan]

Just book it and search for cancellation every day. There are certain times the website is updated.. around 9am and then just before lunch. 12ish I think it is

I think it's a live system. Ie. when someone changes their appointment their original one becomes available instantly. I've noticed that when I've had multiple vehicles to book whereby my old appointment time was available straight away when I went into the second vehicle.

Trying to book an MOT again myself and it's giving me the 17th of October. It's getting beyond a joke. Yes I might be able to get a cancellation but I don't have time to sit in front of the computer refreshing the screen all day.