MOT day blues

J

justin

Member
Had my P6 booked in for its first mot in 13 years today. Spent last night sorting out last minute jobs ready to be dropped off at the garage on my way to work this morning and you guessed it.... wouldn't start :oops:
We had a bit of a downpour in north essex this morning and it was the first time the car wasn't parked under cover so I'm guessing something got a wee bit damp.
Came home from work tonight and what a shock.... started first time! :roll:
 
I booked mine in last thursday and I never even made it down the drive.
it hadn, t been driven much to be fair cos its never wanted to run right no matter what I tried.
still, then water appeared ., it wasn, t pre mot nerves either so I set about having a look.
It wasn, t too bad,, only the one sheared water pump bolt, oh, and a sheared manifold stud too. Yup, the slight blow in the exhaust proved a bit more so another exhaust was needed.
and so it goes on, whatever I touch turns to rust.
 
The midget once had abject and complete electrical figure on the way back for a retest on the same day. Cue embarrassing phone call - can we come back next weekend cos it's thrown a wobbler and won't drive anywhere....
 
I usually get problems with dodgy fuse contacts on MOT day. Windscreen wipers wouldn't work one year, just touched the fuse, and they sprang into life. :roll:
 
it's always difficult when the car isnt in use. When you use it every day it'll start every day.... get it through drive it and then all will be good...
 
Also noticed there is no ignition light on the key but when i left the engine running to warm up the ignition light came on bright as you like and stayed on :cry:
12.5v at the battery no matter what revs, when the lights were switched on it dropped to 11.6v. The mot garage is 8 miles away so I think I should make it :D then worry about charging issues afterwards (is ign light mot fail?)
 
sounds alternator/relay related... it wasnt a fail for the ign light to be on when the car was new so it shouldnt fail would be my guess. maybe phone them and ask before you drive it down? I seem to remember that warning lights are a fail now for modern cars... and they read the obd port for emissions issues too if it has one!
 
Hi, No, not a fail point. However if the battery goes flat and won't start during the test,
you may not get a pass because they are unable to complete the test. It depends how
forgiving the tester is and gives it a jump start.

Colin
 
rockdemon said:
so get the battery on charge tonight?
Click to expand...
I thought about doing that but think I'll play it safe and order an alternator tomorrow, looks like around £50 for a new one and could probably spend that on an auto-spark checking/repairing the original thats sat for 13 years. Bit gutted as I haven't driven it more than a few yards since I got it last year :cry:
 
Too hasty. It could be a relay fault or indeed a regulator fault. ( I don't know if the V8 has a relay in the circuit, or a separate 4TR regulator but lots of cars of this era do do e.g. MGB, E type Jaguar etc)and just changing the alternator may not be the answer in which case it's a waste of money. I should do as suggested, and give the battery a good charge to get you through the MOT phase and then investigate at leisure
 
All sorted :D , fitted new alternator. Now have ignition light on the key and now charging the battery at 14.2v.
Also it may be my imagination but it seems to be running much smoother
 
It just gets better :roll: . MOT rebooked for this morning, car ran great for about a mile then started spluttering and then conked out. This happened again about 3 or 4 times before I gave up and parked it around 4 miles from home. I spoke to the aa who agreed to transport it to my local garage after my work..... sort of :shock:
I returned to my car at the agreed time and obviously it started no problem and ticked over lovely just as the aa man arrived :oops: I know they are supposed to try and get you going on your way again but I had already explained on the phone the car would start then cut out so i was a bit disappointed there was no breakdown truck, just a transit :cry: So it was basically an identical return journey home except for the AA escort stopping every mile or so for a cough-splutter -cut out!!
I'm starting to think this old girl doesn't want to get back on the road :D
 
Your not having much luck, sounds like a fuelling/carb problem to me but someone older and wiser will point you in the right direction.

Pete
 
i had exactly the same when mine was laid up for a few months... Conked out right near the mot station then was a b*****d to get home again...

Once the pipe was blown through the fuel came out at an easy flow. Before hand it was just a dribble. Easiest place to disconnect i found is where it goes over the bellhousing.
 
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