MOT on Thursday...

Philip Chidlow · Post by **Philip Chidlow** » Tue Sep 14, 2010 10:13 pm

... The old girl is knocking on for 220k miles and 20 years, so wish her well!

(Return pipe repair, new rocker cover gasket, exhaust leak fixed, new tyres, replacement steering rack boot and fuel pipe, new Bendix front discs with pads... and new wiper blades - hope no more!)...

Post by **docchevron** » Wed Sep 15, 2010 12:59 am

Good luck! Although I'm sure it'll be fine.

Post by **Tim Leech** » Wed Sep 15, 2010 9:15 am

Good luck!

CitroXim · Post by **CitroXim** » Wed Sep 15, 2010 12:31 pm

Phil,

I'm sure she'll fly through it...

I always twitch nervously at MOT time and turn into a wobbling jelly but mostly for no reason...

She may be knocking on twenty but looks in fine fettle to me...

Post by **Defender110** » Wed Sep 15, 2010 9:06 pm

Good look Phil

It's a proper beauty Phil, does it still drive as good as it looks with that mileage under the belt?

Philip Chidlow · Post by **Philip Chidlow** » Wed Sep 15, 2010 10:22 pm

Almost surprisingly, yes. I would still rather go out in the BX than my XM. And that's saying something.

With those good tyres on the 14 x 6" Speedlines, the car is pretty much glued to the road. Fantastic: and it'll be even better after this autumn's sphere change.

rayfenwick · Post by **rayfenwick** » Thu Sep 16, 2010 12:04 am

Definitely a beauty. Good luck with the MOT, but I'm sure she'll fly though!

Post by **docchevron** » Thu Sep 16, 2010 1:41 am

when I was running the BX and an XM, I always "enjoyed" driving the BX more, although I was so drawn to the XM's wonderfully lazy attitude to eating motorway miles it almost replaced BX's.
I'd go for a few eeks of only driving the XM, but then I'd get back in the BX and it always felt like going home. Hence the XM is no longer in the fold, and several BX's are.

Philip Chidlow · Post by **Philip Chidlow** » Thu Sep 16, 2010 4:16 pm

Took it in and they told us what it needed to pass when I bring it back:

Steering rack boot. Fine - knew that. Will fix that.

They thought there was a leak, so have said something (n/s steering ram leaking from failed component). Yeah right. I fact it is all the mix of oil from the now replaced and not leaking) rocker cover gasket, a liberal spraying of LHM from a (now repaired)return pipe, and the residue of diesel mix winter-proofing which makes (I have to admit) the front subframe etc. look like a disaster zone. Mmm.

Rear exhaust leaking (didn't know that) but it can be fixed OK.

Brakes absolutely fine! So no need to change yet...

So the tester's advice?

Go and get the underside front steam cleaned so he might have a chance of being able to see what the hell's going on. (Nothing of course; the car does not drip or leak anymore) - the only thing is a very slight weep from the PR but that's not a fail.

So, not too bad: no welding, worn bushes, bearings or whatever etc. and only a bit of an issue with the rear light(s) (earthing) on the advisory sheet.

So it's off to be cleaned on Monday morning... I will advise the guy to be careful down there! And I never knew you could fail for having a dirty car

Post by **Tim Leech** » Thu Sep 16, 2010 4:38 pm

Well considering the mileage I think thats a great result, the rack boot is a couple of quid and the steam clean wont take much. She will make 500000 miles at this rate!

Philip Chidlow · Post by **Philip Chidlow** » Thu Sep 16, 2010 5:58 pm

Maybe Tim! But at the rate I am putting miles on it, it would take another 50 years!

Post by **Tim Leech** » Thu Sep 16, 2010 6:06 pm

Philip Chidlow wrote:Maybe Tim! But at the rate I am putting miles on it, it would take another 50 years!

Im sure you can add a couple of thousand on next year around France!

Philip Chidlow · Post by **Philip Chidlow** » Thu Sep 16, 2010 6:07 pm

I will try!

electrokid · Post by **electrokid** » Thu Sep 16, 2010 10:07 pm

Glad to hear there's not too much to do Phil - it does trigger a question though.

When my HP pipe let go it peed lots of LHM over the exhaust downpipe and the rear of the engine area. We know that ordinary brake fluid is a good paint remover so should be washed off anywhere as soon as poss.

Does the same thing apply to LHM I wonder ?

Post by **mat_fenwick** » Thu Sep 16, 2010 10:47 pm

Nope. I would leave it on to slow down any corrosion personally.