ok was giving my 340 dl 1.4 cvt a once over (mot prep) yesterday and ive found a small rust patch (itswhere the battery sits just over the wheel arch) obviously the battery hides it from view when its in place but when i looked under the arch there is a rust bubble visible.... i havent dared poke it incase i make a hole.

my question is would this cause mot failure?

its aprox 12-14cm from the suspention strut

i was thinking of cleaning it out and reenforcing it with fibreglass on the engine bay side so that if the mot bloke pokes it it will not give way so easily?

anyone have any idea what i should do or am i panicing over nothing?

cheers

As long as the battery is secure it shouldnt be an mot issue.

yeah the battery is secure,

what worries me is that even tho its a small patch, it does appear to have gone right through to the wheel arch as i can see the rust when i look under the arch and i have read that mot testers can be funny about rust in the front arches

Hmm, that sounds worse that your last description.
Not sure now.

We need a better expert.

hmm, ill get some pics up later see if it gives a better idea of the problem

I don't think they'll be happy, it will weaken the arch and the of course the security of the strut. This could be dangerous in a small accident maybe. Id say get everything else done, test it, see if it fails. I wouldn't try bodging a repair it won't put you in a good light (depends how miserable your MOT tester is though!)

here are some pics taken from behind the driver side wheel.... its the roof of the wheel arch directly below where the battery sits

what do you think?.....mot issue?

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s22/ ... CF1613.jpg

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s22/ ... CF1616.jpg

spike4073 wrote:here are some pics taken from behind the driver side wheel.... its the roof of the wheel arch directly below where the battery sits

what do you think?.....mot issue?

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s22/ ... CF1613.jpg

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s22/ ... CF1616.jpg

I thought you said you could see into the arch!?

I dont think thats much of a prob. Doesnt look like muck of a hole.

oh,.. no,,, i must have described it wrong..... theres no hole i was just worried that an over exited mot guy may prod it quite hard and cause one then fail it.
the patch in the pic is about 2" x 2" at most i zoomed in quite a lot so could show it properly.

i was told theres something you can buy that hardens rust and stops it spreading, anyone know of this? or even if its any good?

cheers

spike4073 wrote:oh,.. no,,, i must have described it wrong..... theres no hole i was just worried that an over exited mot guy may prod it quite hard and cause one then fail it.
the patch in the pic is about 2" x 2" at most i zoomed in quite a lot so could show it properly.

i was told theres something you can buy that hardens rust and stops it spreading, anyone know of this? or even if its any good?

cheers

Hydrate 80 is good. And not dude, that bit rust is nothing the mot man will bother with for the moment, so rest easy.

The mot man will poke anything with rust, I if its bad he will make it worse, if he doesnt he leaves it alone

That'll probably poke through unfortunately and as it's close to the strut it could fail an MOT. Have a poke yourself, atleast if it does need a bit of welding done there you can do it at your own leisure rather than waiting til MOT time

SteveP wrote:That'll probably poke through unfortunately and as it's close to the strut it could fail an MOT. Have a poke yourself, atleast if it does need a bit of welding done there you can do it at your own leisure rather than waiting til MOT time

was what i was thinking steve! but i was trying to stay positive!

That will result in a hole, but it's pretty minor as they go...so don't panic. Ask around for recommendations for quality bodyshops who do restoration work. It's only small, so it won't be expensive, but you want it done right - a new piece of metal wants to be "let" in flush with the old pieece, not a patch slapped over the top like most MOT welders will do. Take your time and get it done well.

cheers

James

yeah i think thats what i will do when i have the money, my mechanic has told me that in the mean time i should just treat the rust , re-enforce the engine bay side with a little fibre glass and under-seal the wheel arches to stop it getting any worse between now and when i get it done right, just to be 100% sure that the mot bloke has nothing to bi**h about.

am a lil unsure about under seal tho, ive heard some mot places are suspicious of it (thinking your hiding something)

suely they must see it a lot tho? especialy on older cars where people are fighting rust constantly