Guide: MOT Checklist

[306Puggy]

Right, this was going to be my project for Sunday, but since I got banned, I wrote it in Notepad and copied and pasted it over to here.

Okay, Common things to check before an MOT:


Lights
Dashboard instrument cluster lights
Airbag/pretensioner system
Indictators
Tyres
Brakes
Window washer fluid
Horn
Wipers
Suspension/steering components
Interior


Lights

Turn all the lights on, including indictators/hazard lights, foglights and number plate lights (should come on with your main lights).

Dashboard instrument cluster lights

Anything that indictates a safety problem shouldn't be on. Something like a service light isn't a safety critical item therefore it will not affect the outcome of the MOT.

Airbag System

The airbag system is a common failing point on 306s. If the light is flashing there is a problem with the pretensioners, if it is solid there is a problem with the airbag.

If you have either warning, I suggest you look underneath the seat and make sure that the orange plugs going to the pretensioners are securely connected.

Also remove the airbag from the steering wheel (two T20 torx screws at the back) and check that the airbag is correctly plugged in and the rotating squib is correctly seated.

If you have checked the above and the airbag light is still on, disconnect the battery, wait 10 minutes, unplug the airbag module and then replug it.

This will reset the device and all being well make the airbag light go out.

Tyres

All tyres should have sufficient tread which should be atleast 2mm (legal limit is 1.6mm) around the circumference of the tyre. Any bulges in the sidewall will cause a failure. If there is a screw or nail in the tread of the tyre it will lead to an advisory notice (get it sorted as soon as possible).

Generally sidewall damage is more serious than damage to the tread, so if there is a cut on the sidewall you could fail for it.

Brakes

Inspect brake hoses, brake pads and brake shoes.

A common reason for failure of rear drum braked models is the auto adjuster seizing up leading to the brake shoes being too far away from the surface of the drum. To rectify this, remove the drum from the axle and adjust the self adjuster (pictured) to bring the brake shoes closer to the surface of the drum.

You only need to adjust them a little bit at a time, put the drum back on and then see how it feels. They should be binding ever so slightly, so that if you spin the wheel it comes to a dead stop rather than just losing momentum gradually.

For the front brakes, you can remove a front road wheel from one side and check through the slot in the brake caliper. The inner pad will be more worn than the outer pad, this is normal as the inner pad is the one pushed by the piston and therefore has more force exerted on it.

If you have standard DT brakes and they fail even after a cleanup, it is probably as a result of worn calipers which should be replaced with the bigger HDi calipers and discs, as standard the DT is quite "underbraked" so it is not worth rebuilding the standard calipers.

For the brake hoses, slight deteriation of the outer surface of the hoses will result in an advisory, anything more will result in a failure.

Below are pictures of the drum and the adjuster mechanism:





Here is the slot in the brake calipers as mentioned:




Window Washer Bottle


This is a really easy one to check yet easy to forget as well. Make sure that the washer bottle has enough screen wash in it and that the correct dilution is present.

Horn

Test the horn to see that it is working. Note, there are two and if one is broken it will sound really pathetic and probably fail. This is a very simple electrical system, failing points are fuse (which would affect other things as well), instrument stalk, the plugs that plug into the horn(s) themselves, or the actual wiring loom (rare but a pain if it does).

Wipers

Check the rubber of the wipers, ensure that the wipers clean the screen effectively. New wipers can be bought cheaply, although beware of those costing 5 pounds as I bought a set and the metal rusted really quickly. Aim to spend 10-20 pounds for a decent set of wipers that will last. I currently have Bosch ones from Euro Parts and they still look as new after a year.

Suspension/steering components

This is a common area for failure because the suspension and steering components have a lot of dust covers on them. If the covers break and allow entry of dirt then that can be a cause for failure. Steering arms can also be a cause for failure if there is excessive play due to wear of the bushes. Droplinks are another common point for failure, on cheap ones the bushes/dust covers wear out very quickly. They are cheap to buy and easy to replace, but it might be worth investing in some better quality ones depending on how long to choose to keep the car. Also make sure the dampers are not leaking and not allowing the car to bounce up and down excessively.

In some cases, even if dust covers are not broken, the ball joint will be so worn out that the grease inside will turn solid and lead to a notchy ball joint. You can check the ball joint by wiggling it from side to side. This is sometimes easier with the wheel on, you are looking for a notchy movement which is what a worn out ball joint will give.

This is the correct condition for the outside of a steering arm balljoint:



Interior

All seatbelts should be correctly functioning and in place. Pedal covers should not show excessive wear, seats should be secure, nothing (such as fluffy dice) should be hanging from the interior mirror.

Extra considerations for modded vehicles

If you are driving a gov modded XUD, be sure to restrict the throttle lever movement before the MOT so that the tester can't overrev the engine.

For those running coilover front suspension, make sure that they are at a reasonable height so that the car can be driven onto the lift.

For diesels, always have atleast one box in the exhaust system. This does not have to be a functional box but it is important to have a kind of box visable to the tester.

For tuned XUDs, consider reducing off boost fuelling for the duration of the test to reduce offboost smoke. Also consider running vegetable oil as the smoke is far less noticeable than diesel smoke.

Right that's all I can think of but other members feel free to contribute useful information in the thread. Thanks

[Piggy]

just to note, tyres: 1.6mm min across the centre 3/4 of the width of the tread around the entire outer circumference.

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just to add....
consider a thorough check of your windscreen and mirrors.
get cracked mirrors replacements and chips repaired or screen replaced.

chips smaller than 10mm in diameter are generally ok with advisory but worth sorting anyway

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and bodywork:

no sharp edges, wheels should not protrude edges of arches.
rust, typical areas for 306...front floor pan where incorrect jacking has taken place, front chassis rails and rear inner arches.
dont leave it to chance!

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and for windscreens, no stickers other than tax disc should be in the sweep of the wipers, inc sunstrips

[Poodle]

Some corrections and additions if somebody would apply them please, will add anything else i remember as and when.

Front fog lights are not a testable item. Plate lights should come on with side lights. Indicators must flash orange.

Dash warning lights must be seen to come on and go out again when you first turn the ignition on, if you remove the bulb it won't pass.

Removing airbags is dangerous, it's not a good idea to muck about with them and if you do then follow the manufacturers instructions to the letter. If the airbag light is on or flashing it's a MOT failure.

DT brakes are perfectly adequate if properly maintained, if they're not providing enough braking force it'll be down to an issue with old brake fluid, air in the lines, sticking pistons and/or sliders, or cheap/contaminated pads. With the drum brakes you would be better off cleaning them out completely and servicing the mechanism, else they'll seize up again in fairly short order.

Make sure your washer jets actually put a decent amount of fluid onto the swept area of the windscreen, no good having fluid if all your washers point at the pavement lol.

There aren't two horns, one is the siren for the alarm system and completely separate. If your horn doesn't work, get a friend to hold the button while you give the horn a few slaps, often this can dislodge any dirt blocking them and solve the issue. Try giving the plug a wiggle if this doesn't work, a lot of electrical problems tend to be fairly basic issues such as corrosion causing a poor connection etc.

Seatbelts mustn't be frayed, must release under tension and must retract fully, mounting points must be secure. The seat backs should lock in the upright position and be securely affixed to the bases. Any rust within 6" of the seat bases or seatbelt mounting points will fail.

Wing mirrors should be secure, if it's taped/glued back on and doesn't take much to knock off they will most likely fail. You must have at least two working mirrors, one of which must be the os wing mirror.

A hell of a lot depends on how your mot tester interprets the guidelines, you rely on them for the service so it pays to get friendly.

[Niall]

Cheers all for the input on this guide. Ive deleted some of the chat to make it easier for people to read

[ginge191]

Repped for a useful post

[MissTap_GTI6]

This is such a good idea.

I would suggest that this post gets completed with the correct information (at the time) and then gets locked!

[Piggy]

FYI:

REAR fog light IS on the test, as is the warning light for it being on.

And for adjusting the rear brakes, the drum need not come off, this can cause other issues, like pictured where the bearing comes apart and then all dust and crap gets in it.

You can reach the adjuster with a screwdriver by just removing a wheel bolt. A friend putting his foot on the brake while you look through the hole shows how much adjustment is left and makes it a lot easier!

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And front side lights/dip/main must be within the white/yellow spectrum, green, red, blue etc will fail.

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Oh and I thought of this last night:

all suspension components, any nuts should either be a nyloc nut or have a securing pin present, MOT testers have got a bit hot on that lately and it is a safety issue, along with dust boots not having tears/rips in, like on track rod end and ball joint.

[Niall]

Keep all the good info coming guys then ill compile it all into the first post

[Piggy]

Dont think this been mentioned:

REAR BEAM. Look out for bad camber, jack up each rear corner and 'lift' the wheel up n down, if theres play in the arm....fail

Also, check no broken coil springs on front and both front and rear should only bounce up and back down once, no more, when each corner of the car is bounced...this checks the operation of the shock absorber.
FYI: for the rear, pushing down on the edge of the boot, if the back end dont move up and down, you maybe looking at a seized rear beam.

BRAKES: rear load compensator: if you have one (under rear of car, offside) then it should be nice and free and not seized...wd40 and some pliers can sort it if its seized.
BRAKE CABLES, no splits/cracks in the casing!

SPARE WHEEL. You dont need one for MOT, but if you have one, it should be secure and now it does come under advisories if low tread/cracked etc.

EXHAUST:
should not have any blows or holes and not foul the underside of the car or any other components.

DOORS:
all doors need to be able to open from inside and out.

[Piggy]

NUMBERPLATES:
worth googling this if you have a non type standard one.
But essentially, needs to be easy to read, be the right size, spacing and font and not broken. so if the backing is coming off, getting mouldy etc and changing the shape of the digits, then get a new one. cheap easy fix and makes car look much better!

[Mitch]

Driveshaft/cv gaiters must be intact and not leaking a grease, the inner gaiters have recently became a fail-able item too.

This one really depends on the tester, even if a diesel passes the emissions, the tester is able to fail the car if it 'emits excessive black smoke', not to much of an issue though really.

The VOSA guy told us at work that the rear brakes will soon have to be tested for imabalance but he couldnt say when this was coming in.

For the ones who are low low, if it is visible to the tester that the wheel/tyre has being rubbing on any part of the car, it will be a fail.

Cant think of anything else at the moment, but will add if anything comes to mind

[Poodle]

FYI:
REAR fog light IS on the test, as is the warning light for it being on.

Good point, edited for clarity.

[306Puggy]

Removing airbags is dangerous, it's not a good idea to muck about with them and if you do then follow the manufacturers instructions to the letter. If the airbag light is on or flashing it's a MOT failure.

DT brakes are perfectly adequate if properly maintained, if they're not providing enough braking force it'll be down to an issue with old brake fluid, air in the lines, sticking pistons and/or sliders, or cheap/contaminated pads. With the drum brakes you would be better off cleaning them out completely and servicing the mechanism, else they'll seize up again in fairly short order.


There aren't two horns, one is the siren for the alarm system and completely separate. If your horn doesn't work, get a friend to hold the button while you give the horn a few slaps, often this can dislodge any dirt blocking them and solve the issue. Try giving the plug a wiggle if this doesn't work, a lot of electrical problems tend to be fairly basic issues such as corrosion causing a poor connection etc.

Removing airbags is not dangerous, it is often done around these parts, if the correct procedure is followed. Some jobs such as the heater matrix change require this.

It is general knowledge around these parts that DT brakes are very weak for the car. I don't know how you can miss this. My point was that it is NOT worth refurbishing DT brakes when you can get an HDi setup for the same money.

Wrong, there are indeed two horns. I know this since I have done away with my alarm system and there are two horns left. Look underneath the passenger's side front bumper.

[Niall]

Sorry alex but he's right there is two horns as well as an alarm siren. If you only have one horn in your arch, have a look for a spare plug.

My 1.8 only had one installed but I added another. My gti came with two as standard.

[Poodle]

Removing airbags can be dangerous, but as i said, follow the manufacturers instructions and she'll be reet.

You can get HDi brakes for a fiver? Fair enough.

Genuinely not seen one with two horns before, my bad. Where's the alarm siren then, is that the black-plastic-box-with-a-dome-thingy?

Didn't mean to offend dude, just thought i'd offer some contribution since MOTs make up most of my working day.

[Niall]

Removing airbags can be dangerous, but as i said, follow the manufacturers instructions and she'll be reet.

You can get HDi brakes for a fiver? Fair enough.

Genuinely not seen one with two horns before, my bad. Where's the alarm siren then, is that the black-plastic-box-with-a-dome-thingy?

Didn't mean to offend dude, just thought i'd offer some contribution since MOTs make up most of my working day.

Yep alarm siren is the square black box with a brown plug on the back. Horns obviously look like horns and have a white plug each. Yours might have one horn then a random white plug somewhere in that arch liner. Thats another horn plug

[Piggy]

On a standard tune, DT brakes work great. they may fade if you started pushing hard for half hour, but in some circs, they can be more efficient in building heat and thus friction.

they are more than adequate for everyday driving

[Poodle]

Ah i see, fair enough. Yeah i've got the lone white plug hanging around, just figured it was because i didn't have an alarm lol.

Exactly Piggy, although maybe if the op tried some better tyres he might find his car stops better.