Please help! Refusal of MOT

[miss_elan]

Hi everyone!
Larry failed his MOT today, and I need to know how to sort him out so he will pass. There were only 2 problems though!
1. Offside headlamp not working on dipped beam. Maybe a bulb? Can someone tell me how to change it please (very simply)?

2. Steering system excessively tight. But they had no idea what i could do about that!


Please help me

Thanks in advance
Miss_elan

[firebobby]

Would the garage not put you a new bulb in? Steering could possibly be low on power steering fluid? track rod ends tight, (that would be unusual though!)
ball joints tight? steering universal joint tight? bulkhead bush? I can't believe they didn't offer a suggestion as to what the problem might be!!
Dave

[miss_elan]

The powering steering fluid was absolutely fine. They basically sent me on my way, saying they don't know much about the car. Is tight steering a common problem? I dont even know what bulb i need!

[theelanman]

I think paulw has changed a bulb...as yet I havent.....
however I think you need to raise the 'pod' manually using the screw top bottle thing directly behind the light.....there is one each side soyou should be able to spot it.......turn this to raise the pod....only about half way IIRC then its a case of getting your hand in the back of the pod....undoing the clips and connections and changing out the buld....
or at least that what I seem to remember...(could be completely wrong but that wouldnt be a first )

as for the steering.....mmmm....dunno.....
lubrication???? or lack of.....
power steering pumps gone??? (do you get a his when you turn the wheel??)
or the worst of the lot a bent rack....

cheers
g

[miss_elan]

Is it a normal bulb? Like one i can get from Halfords..
I tried telling them the steering is like that and always has been and passes its MOT last year like it. I think it sometimes makes a hiss...?

[firebobby]

Well IMHO for what it's worth, if they don't know much about a car they shouldn't be doing an MOT on it!!! Have they given you a refusal of a mot certificate? The steering does hiss as you approach full lock I would suggest that's normal.
Dave

[miss_elan]

I agree! They obviously didn't say that until AFTER. Yeah, got a refusal certificate for those 2 probs. I told them its normal for it to hiss. He said "powering steering makes it really light and that's not." (whilst moving his hand in a quick circular motion.)

[miss_elan]

Can anyone steer their car with one finger? Thats what he expected to do with my car

[paulrwebster]

Well it isn't as light on an Elan as on a normal saloon which is designed for easy driving rather than handling and feel. If the power steering is working, when stationary it should be very difficult to turn the wheel with the engine off and a lot easier with the engine running.

[paulrwebster]

Can anyone steer their car with one finger? Thats what he expected to do with my car

No

[Doug]

sounds like you need a better MOT place. Steering "feel" is heavier than one might guess, but is there some objective way they test this or is it just failed because "it seems heavy" ??

maybe you can find another Elan owner near you and you can compare steering feel?

[chris.t]

were theses testers wearing 'spurs' per chance. The steering is heavy compared to one of your run of the mill rep mobils that these guys seem to have done most of their work on. Go to a Lotus specialist and let them have a look at it and go from there.

[miss_elan]

A bloke (not the tester - he was "unavailable") sat in and dry steered and said its "heavy".

[Gary]

Without the engine on it would be very heavy, but it is an effort even with the engine going - that is what makes it more fun. It isn't the same as the power steering in a modern box. Could you not get a Lotus Garage to take a quick look and then tell the MOT place it was checked out and normal ?

[Kier]

Changing the headlamp is simple, I've done mine recently and i'm rubbish at most things car related!

The bulb is one you can get from halfords, I just took my old one out, then took it to the shop to compare with the ones they had.

My advice would be to leave the headlamp pod down when replacing the bulb. When you take the fuse out the light unit won't pop up, so originally I manually wound mine up to gain access. But in the end I found you get more space (and better light) by leaving the light unit down and accessing from behind. It is a bit fiddly and space is limited, but there are some cables that connect to the back of the light unit through a rubber cap protector (that stops the water getting into the light unit).

You can see in the pic below the rubber cap and the bits the cables connect too (red arrow).



Once you pull the rubber cap and cables off, there is a metal clip holding the bulb in place. You can see in the pic below it's clipped at two places (red arrows), you need to push the clip down and to the side and then it should just lift up.



Ensure when you put the replacement bulb in, that it's sitting flat where it should. When I put mine in the other day, it wasn't in flat so when I put the headlight on the beam was pointing upwards.



As for the steering, my power steering is the stiffest power steering I've ever had on a car! Also most Elan steering makes a hissing noise too when you steer.

Can't beleive the garage wouldn't even change the bulb!

[miss_elan]

Thanks for all the comments.

The pics will be really helpful when i attempt to do it tomorrow. They didnt offer to change the bulb, in fact they couldn't wait for me to leave! And i even smilled nicely at them!

[Gary]

Mine failed due to a rear number plate bulb, but I didn't even know until they told me afterwards. They had replaced the bulb and passed it without even asking. Charged me £1.60 for the bulb - a bargain !

[Dave Eds]

Toni,

When does the old MOT run out?

I'm around tomorrow pm and may be able to help out if you can get nearer to B/S.

[miss_elan]

Runs out tomorrow.....

Thanks for the offer Dave..I'm sure i could get nearer to B/S for help
I finish work about 4 tomorrow.
Toni

[Dave Eds]

Still be in your school uniform then


Just PM'd you my mob no.