New MOT items from 1st Jan, watch out !

[Chardy]

Check this link particularly if you have the ever present airbag light on (like me!) or have modded your car.
3 months grace on the new items though so you only get an advisory not a fail, that'll see me through till when I sell her in August then !

http://www.theaa.com/motoring_advice...nges-2012.html

[146cloverleaf]

no link

[Chardy]

Added on the OP sorry !

[146cloverleaf]

cheers. its not as bad as i thought it was going to be.

[GialloEvo94]

I think the worst part is for people who have fitted an aftermarket steering wheel with no airbag in as they are going to have to refit the original airbag wheel (assuming they kept hold of it), and those who have fitted aftermarket HID kits because they will need to fit a washer and auto levelling system if such aftermarket kits for these exist.

[David C]

Originally Posted by GialloEvo94

I think the worst part is for people who have fitted an aftermarket steering wheel with no airbag in as they are going to have to refit the original airbag wheel (assuming they kept hold of it).

You don't need working airbags, you just need a working airbag LIGHT...

As for the HIDs, the actual MOT manual wording is very different to that AA link... so no need to panic there either!

[GialloEvo94]

Originally Posted by David C

You don't need working airbags, you just need a working airbag LIGHT...

It's not the way I interpreted it. Section 5.4 of the official DfT manual (found HERE) states the following:-

Method of Inspection: As far as practicable, check that all airbags fitted as original equipment are present and not obviously defective.
Reason for Rejection: An airbag obviously missing or defective.

This suggest that if an aftermarket steering wheel without an airbag fitted then the car no longer has the steering wheel airbag that was fitted as original equipment to the car when it left the factory so it will fail the MOT on these grounds.

Originally Posted by David C

As for the HIDs, the actual MOT manual wording is very different to that AA link... so no need to panic there either!

Having now re-read the DfT document, I think you might actually be right on this point so probably no real need to worry (relevant information can be found in section 1.7 of the same document linked to above).

[David C]

I expect a slight back-pedalling re steering wheels!
I remember seeing an official display in an Alfa dealer of dealer-fit steering wheels without airbags...

In the end it will be the decision of the tester. I can see original wheels with blatantly missing airbag failing, but after-market wheels that clearly never had an airbag fitted to that wheel passing.

[Ralf S.]

How is the tester going to know if the car ever had an airbag in it or not? My old P4 doesn't and nor does the Younger Mrs. S'. Cinquecento...

You can't legislate just for "after-market steering wheels" since there is no way to prove what is aftermarket and what was OE.


Ralf S.

[GialloEvo94]

Don't forget they have computerised systems these days so someone may well have spent (wasted) a lot of time cataloging every car ever made along with whether or not it had OE airbags installed so the MOT tester could well be told by the computer which items need to be checked based on the make/model/year of car being tested. Who knows. I guess we'll find out for sure how strict they are when people start putting cars through the first MOTs next year.

[symon]

With regard to these HID lights.

Most Alfas do have a levelling system and washers built in.

Does that mean you should be able to wangle a pass? As the wording says nothing about the levelling being automatic...

[David C]

Originally Posted by symon

With regard to these HID lights.

Most Alfas do have a levelling system and washers built in.

Does that mean you should be able to wangle a pass? As the wording says nothing about the levelling being automatic...

The crucial wording from the manual is:
"(HID) or LED dipped beam headlamps may be fitted with headlamp washers and a suspension or headlamp self levelling system.
Where such systems are fitted, they must work;"

So it does not say HIDs must have washers and self-levelling, it says they may have and if they do they must work.

[Ralf S.]

Self-levelling would mean they should be automatic..

Ralf S.

[David C]

Originally Posted by Ralf S.

Self-levelling would mean they should be automatic..

Yes.
But the MOT doesn't require HIDs to have self-levelling.

But if the car does have self-levelling (which can either mean headlight levelling or self-levelling suspension, ie the Novimats on 156 Sportwagon) then the system needs to work.

[gazza82]

I can see the demand for resistors going up after Christmas as people find a way to fool the airbag light into thinking there is an airbag!

PS Anyone know which one is required ... might be useful!

[symon]

To get an average LED to work on 13.8v a 560 Ohm resistor is about right.

[David C]

Originally Posted by symon

To get an average LED to work on 13.8v a 560 Ohm resistor is about right.

No he is talking about making the airbag ECU think there is an airbag there and there make the light operate correctly.

[trashbat]

Originally Posted by GialloEvo94

Don't forget they have computerised systems these days so someone may well have spent (wasted) a lot of time cataloging every car ever made along with whether or not it had OE airbags installed so the MOT tester could well be told by the computer which items need to be checked based on the make/model/year of car being tested. Who knows. I guess we'll find out for sure how strict they are when people start putting cars through the first MOTs next year.

The emergency services already have datasheets that say where airbags etc are on any given car. Either way you'd be hard pushed to explain why a car has obvious front passenger and side impact bags but not one in the steering wheel.

[GialloEvo94]

Originally Posted by gazza82

I can see the demand for resistors going up after Christmas as people find a way to fool the airbag light into thinking there is an airbag!

PS Anyone know which one is required ... might be useful!

The front passenger airbag is terminated using a 3 ohm resistor. I did it last year when I had to remove my front passenger airbag to safely fit a rear facing baby seat on the front passenger seat.

It's probably a safe bet to assume the other airbags operate on the same resistance. If not then it would be easy enough to experiment by trial and error with a variable potentiometer wired up, a multimeter, and a copy of FiatECUScan to keep resetting the airbag ECU until the required resistance was found.