John Th Posted May 30, 2017 Share Posted May 30, 2017 I have just had an mot failure on my 2004 fiat 2.3 ducato, due to grinding feel from front wheel bearing ( of which I have never heard or felt ) Being of a good mechanical Knowledge, would it be possible to do it myself on my drive? I have just changed the rusty front cross member under the radiator. As I have 3 days left on my old mot I told the garage that I would give it a try myself, but was told that my current mot is no longer valid, therefore I would now be driving my m/home illegally with out an mot. That is the first that I have heard of this rule, any comments or advice please...... John Th. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartO Posted May 30, 2017 Share Posted May 30, 2017 John Th - 2017-05-30 1:29 PMI have just had an mot failure on my 2004 fiat 2.3 ducato, due to grinding feel from front wheel bearing ( of which I have never heard or felt )Being of a good mechanical Knowledge, would it be possible to do it myself on my drive?I have just changed the rusty front cross member under the radiator.As I have 3 days left on my old mot I told the garage that I would give it a try myself, but was told that my current mot is no longer valid, therefore I would now be driving my m/home illegally with out an mot. That is the first that I have heard of this rule, any comments or advice please...... John Th. You can drive home from an MOT anyway, just as you can drive to an MOT appointment, so I can't see that an MOT failure makes any difference unless they say there is some sort of serious unroadworthiness - and a worn wheel bearing shouldn't be that critical. I had my 2006 X244 wheel bearings done recently because of noise on one side and the local garage clearly found it a challenging job - they had to borrow some heavy duty tools! It took them a while and they charged by the hour so for two sides it was about £500. I had one wheel bearing done about five or six years ago (by a different local garage) and they sadi they welded the bearing halves together to be ble to knock them off as one. I don't think this last one was done this way. I wouldn't have wanted to do this job but if you have the kit by all means give it a try! They are apparently very big heavy duty bearings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted May 30, 2017 Share Posted May 30, 2017 Under 'new' guidelines your van is now unroadworthy, and is treated as though it has no mot. Replacing that type of bearing is usually a pita, I've done them before, but nowadays would probably hand over to a garage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartO Posted May 30, 2017 Share Posted May 30, 2017 colin - 2017-05-30 1:50 PMUnder 'new' guidelines your van is now unroadworthy, and is treated as though it has no mot.Replacing that type of bearing is usually a pita, I've done them before, but nowadays would probably hand over to a garage. Does that include the return journey from the MOT Test appoinment? Surely not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartO Posted May 30, 2017 Share Posted May 30, 2017 The relevant advice on the Government website is: Driving a vehicle that’s failedYou can take your vehicle away if your MOT certificate is still valid.If your MOT has run out you can take your vehicle to:have the failed defects fixeda pre-arranged MOT test appointment Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Duck Posted May 30, 2017 Share Posted May 30, 2017 Wouldn't even think about changing these wheel bearings myself and I restore cars for a living. They're quite a wide bearing and need very heavy kit to remove - that's always assuming they even come out of the bearing housing. When re-fitting, make doubly sure your garage torques the bearing nut up to the correct torque. It's quite high and the bearing will fail again if it isn't done correctly. FD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJay Posted May 30, 2017 Share Posted May 30, 2017 colin - 2017-05-30 1:50 PM Under 'new' guidelines your van is now unroadworthy, and is treated as though it has no mot. Replacing that type of bearing is usually a pita, I've done them before, but nowadays would probably hand over to a garage. Interesting ! So an MOT can become INvalid?? If so, when buying a vehicle with a MOT cert, it may not be valid? i guess one should insist on a new MOT when buying secondhand? Maybe the mot should be come void when you sell a vehicle? like the road tax now is ? That would at least mean you get a safer car, as long as you arrange it? I believe you can check on line whether a vehicle is mot'd. PJay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted May 30, 2017 Share Posted May 30, 2017 Advice has always been that a cert doesn't guarantee the roadwortyness of a vehicle, just that it passed the test on a certain day. I think the change came about due to computerised data base being close to real time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Th Posted May 30, 2017 Author Share Posted May 30, 2017 It seems to me Stuart that your mot certificate is not cancelled, and will also not be picked up on the police data as having no mot, until the mot expires, so am I not breaking the law if I drive my van around to get quotes for the bearing replacement unless I am stopped by the police and the van is in their eyes in a dangerous condition. Incidentally the garage never told me about this ruling untill I said that I have three more days on my mot certificate before it expires to get the work done. Thanks to all for all the replies regarding the bearing replacement, I keep thinking that things were still nice and simple like my old Renault Trafic days when I replaced both of my front bearings myself in the south of France. Those were the days......... John Th Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John52 Posted May 30, 2017 Share Posted May 30, 2017 Can you check your MOT status online: https://www.gov.uk/check-mot-status Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebishbus Posted May 30, 2017 Share Posted May 30, 2017 Upto about 2002. Fiat used twin taper roller front wheel bearings , you could replace them without too much trouble. After that they used one piece front wheel bearings that require pressing on and off the axle, you need the right equipment for that . Brian B. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted May 31, 2017 Share Posted May 31, 2017 John52 - 2017-05-30 4:06 PM Can you check your MOT status online: https://www.gov.uk/check-mot-status John TH, have you tried this yet? Would be interested to know if it shows MOT cancelled. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alanb Posted June 2, 2017 Share Posted June 2, 2017 The LHS front wheel bearing on my 2006 X244 Ducato developed a slight noise at a comparatively low mileage during 2010. There was no detectable roughness or play. On the basis it could only get worse, I had it replaced by my local garage. The total cost was £180. The RHS bearing is still OK. Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John52 Posted June 3, 2017 Share Posted June 3, 2017 Alanb - 2017-06-02 9:20 PM The LHS front wheel bearing on my 2006 X244 Ducato developed a slight noise at a comparatively low mileage during 2010. There was no detectable roughness or play. On the basis it could only get worse, I had it replaced by my local garage. The total cost was £180. The RHS bearing is still OK. Alan Seems to be how the modern wheel bearings are now. I used to be able to check them by their free play, but not any more. I've had wheel bearings on cars get quite noisy with no detectable roughness or play too. Difficult to know where the noise is coming from - I jacked them up and spun the wheels by putting an angle grinder disc against the tread - Health and Safety inspector woyuld probably have a fit but I don't know how else to check them now :-S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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