WOF Fsck up!

[scott.mohekey]

I took my vr4 in to get a WOF a few weeks ago now, and it failed on the following:


All four front lower ball joints gone (apparently the worse he had ever seen).
After market FMIC requires certification.
Right under-car chassis rail is dented and needs repair.
Spare wheel is dented in and needs repair.
Windscreen wipers need replacing.


Now, the windscreen wipers are no biggy, but the other ones had me a bit peeved off. Especially considering I've gotten a WOF through exactly the same guy twice before with the same intercooler and dent in the spare wheel well (previous owner didn't know how to use a jack).

What REALLY pisses me off though is this; today, after finally getting the money together to buy all four front lower suspension arms, I jacked the front of the car up, put both sides under load to see the ball joints for myself, and could find NO play whatsoever in the ball joints.. The problem is in the rack ends!! I'd only replaced the four lower arms about 6 months ago and used genuine mitsi parts, so I'm not surprised the ball joints are ok. I just can't understand how he would have got it so obviously wrong?

I WAS going to get a clutch, and finally do the manual conversion, but due to buying all these suspension components, couldn't afford to. To find out that I could have done the clutch after all just has me really wound up.

The FMIC requiring certification also has me a bit annoyed. He's passed it twice before and has now decided that it will have too much of an effect on the operation of the airbags. I can see his point kinda, but why did he not fail it on this earlier?


GRRRRRR..

[Gly]

this was th rule as mar 2010, dunno if its changed since

Having had a quick look:

LVV certification is not required if an aftermarket intercooler is fitted and
-the front structure of the vehicle has not been modified
and
- the intercooler is a suitable fitment for the vehicle
and
- the front bumper assembly is unaltered

[scott.mohekey]

Hmm.. what do they mean by "the front bumper assembly is unaltered" ? I had to remove some of the plastic from the bumper, but managed to get the FMIC in without modifying the chassis in anyway.

[Gly]

thats open to how the wof tester interprets it, which is a load of bull imo.

id find a new wof tester, thats what i did last time i got i felt they started getting to picky and anal.

(my car was certed, first they said the sticker i have blocks the vision, **** sake its lower than my gauges, and if someone down there they're already ****ed!! then they tried the cars to low and it doesnt matter what the cert said (whats the ****en point then), told them to wof my car, all that would happen i would raise the car, and the lower it to what the cert said and to stop wasting my time...got the wof then and there... never been back)

too many rules/laws are open to interpretation imo

can you take the parts back you bought?

[Subaru ETA]

Yea I have seen this many times where wof inspectors have mistaken ball joints for tie rods and vice versa. I would take it bake and tell him to show you the fault

[scott.mohekey]

can you take the parts back you bought?

I could probably take the curved arms back (bought via partmaster), but the straight arms I got through a friend's dad that works at mitsi.


Yea I have seen this many times where wof inspectors have mistaken ball joints for tie rods and vice versa. I would take it bake and tell him to show you the fault

The weird thing is, he said that he checked to see if it was the tie rods by turning the steering wheel. I don't reckon he did at all though, as it was bloody obvious when I turned the wheel.

[wintertidenz]

I'm sure that you can sell the straight arms to someone on here. I got told by my family friend mechanic that the play was the tie rods - bought the new ones, pulled the wheels off and it was the lower arms. He also told me that he would fail me on exhaust noise - even VTNZ don't care about the exhaust. Funny thing is that he deals with old school cars all the time that are a LOT louder!

I agree with Carsten, take back what you can and go somewhere else. I now use the mechanic across the road from work - asked him about exhaust noise and he said 'well I can fail you if you like, but it's perfectly fine to me'. He also tells me what's wrong, and is quite happy for me to do the repair work myself as long as it's done right.

As for the front mount - how is he going to be able to tell if there is any chassis modification without taking off the bumper?

As for the dents - the chassis rail on mine is slightly dented as it seems to have had chassis straightening in the past. VTNZ and a few other places have assured me that it's not a WOF issue, and I had it in writing somewhere. The dent in the spare wheel well can be fixed with a hammer, right...? :P

[scott.mohekey]

I now use the mechanic across the road from work - asked him about exhaust noise and he said 'well I can fail you if you like, but it's perfectly fine to me'. He also tells me what's wrong, and is quite happy for me to do the repair work myself as long as it's done right.

This guy is usually the same. It's as if he's suddenly decided he doesn't like me.


As for the front mount - how is he going to be able to tell if there is any chassis modification without taking off the bumper?

As for the dents - the chassis rail on mine is slightly dented as it seems to have had chassis straightening in the past. VTNZ and a few other places have assured me that it's not a WOF issue, and I had it in writing somewhere. The dent in the spare wheel well can be fixed with a hammer, right...? :P

That's good to know, and yes I've already fixed the wheel well as best I can.

[Fully]

LVV certification is not required if an aftermarket intercooler is fitted and
-the front structure of the vehicle has not been modified
and
- the intercooler is a suitable fitment for the vehicle
and
- the front bumper assembly is unaltered

That first point is BS - As they count the intercooler mounting brackets and a after market intercooler a modification to the frontal impact system.
The rules and regulations are so gray at times no one know if its Arthur or Martha.

Too many Muppets out there Scott.

[Subaru ETA]

I'm sure that you can sell the straight arms to someone on here. I got told by my family friend mechanic that the play was the tie rods - bought the new ones, pulled the wheels off and it was the lower arms. He also told me that he would fail me on exhaust noise - even VTNZ don't care about the exhaust. Funny thing is that he deals with old school cars all the time that are a LOT louder!

I agree with Carsten, take back what you can and go somewhere else. I now use the mechanic across the road from work - asked him about exhaust noise and he said 'well I can fail you if you like, but it's perfectly fine to me'. He also tells me what's wrong, and is quite happy for me to do the repair work myself as long as it's done right.

As for the front mount - how is he going to be able to tell if there is any chassis modification without taking off the bumper?

As for the dents - the chassis rail on mine is slightly dented as it seems to have had chassis straightening in the past. VTNZ and a few other places have assured me that it's not a WOF issue, and I had it in writing somewhere. The dent in the spare wheel well can be fixed with a hammer, right...? :P

Hmmm if I remember correctly it was on you car we went to do the tie rods on but I realized there was nothing wrong with them....

Ad for the dents in the chassis rails that is a fail, it's just a case of if the tester gives a ****!

[wintertidenz]

Yeah that was my car - one was brand new and a genuine part, the other had no play but we replaced them anyway.

Hmm interesting - the panel shop I went to also said it was fine and apparently it had happened because it was on a chassis straightener, and they apparently couldn't be stuffed pushing the rail and floor slightly down into the right place to make it flat?

[BEG4ME]

Just going back to first post, you say you put both sides under load?? You'd be hard pressed to find any play with axle stand under the arms. Support the vehicle via stands under the chassis rails or even just leave it on the jack. As for chassis rails not being part of the WoF, wrong. Chassis rails are the part part of the structure of your vehicle and therefore, come under inspection. Exhaust is ****ed up. In the VIRM (Vehicle Inspector Requirements Manual), it's a subjective noise test. If the inspector THINKS it's too noisy, you have to have an exhaust cert thingy. Newer vehicles have a lower decibel rating than older vehicles.

[Kenneth]

You have to support the lower arm to properly check for play. So long as the wheel/tyre is clear of the ground, this allows the hub carrier to rest its weight on the ball joint and "push them together"
This then allows the use of a pry bar to check for play by lifting the hub carrier and seeing if there is movement in the ball joint. Usually it is easier to feel than see.


As I understand it, there is also a big difference between chassis rails and floor stiffeners. the floor stiffeners can have quite a reasonable amount of crush before failure though it does depend on the WOF inspector. I was told by the repair certifier that anything more than 20mm crush should fail.

[scott.mohekey]

I tested the ball joints as Kenneth said; jacking the car up on stands, taking the wheels off, and then jacking the lower arms up until the car started to lift off the stands. There was no play in the ball joints at this point whatsoever. There was however, significant play in the steering rack ends.

I take your point about the chassis rails being a WOF fail.. initially I thought he had meant the stiffening rails which shouldn't be a fail, but after checking under the car he has circled the area on the chassis rail in question and its plain to see that it should be a fail.

[Kenneth]

No, DO NOT take the wheels off! You want their weight to hold the carrier on the ball joint.

[scott.mohekey]

Leaning on the hub isn't enough?

[Kenneth]

It could be... I don't know how easy it would be to set the pry bar up nicely etc while leaning on it with any real force.

[BEG4ME]

Ah, sorry. Yes, Scott and Kenneth, I stand corrected. At the time i was thinking, common macpherson strut, where the strut is bolted to the upper of the hub.