NCT and ball joints

AMCCORK · 16-02-2013 8:03pm #1

Just looking for some advice. Had car serviced and pre nct checked at main dealer. Passed all the tests at dealer. It then failed the nct and the report said it was a visual test that the ball joint was worn and the side slip test would be redone. NCT said it passed the side slip test but visual inspection showed wear. Went back to dealer they say nothing wrong not a budge of movement in car. The only thing they could see was a tiny tear on the rubber shoe. Went back to nct they say the tear wasnt a reason to fail but they can see up and down movement on it but only when they have weight in the car. Dealer says there's no need to replace. Is the test not designed to pick up a fault so surely if the car passes the test it shoukd pass the nct. Would there be any point in appealing or shoukd I just get the work done to pass the nct? Thanks in advance or advice.

16-02-2013 8:06pm

AMCCORK wrote: »

............ Went back to nct they say the tear wasnt a reason to fail but they can see up and down movement on it but only when they have weight in the car............................................................ Dealer says there's no need to replace. ...............

There's either wear on the joint or not, either the NCT or the dealer are wrong

George Dalton · 16-02-2013 9:06pm

What kind of car is it?

JohnBoy26 · 16-02-2013 10:21pm

sometimes ball joints that show no wear can still fail the slip test as they can be slighty worn but still showing no play. It's very unusual that it passed the slip test and failed the visual.

16-02-2013 10:24pm

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

............ It's very unusual that it passed the slip test and failed the visual.

Would you think ?

Loads of stuff can and does pass the allignment test with a worn balljoint imo

.

JohnBoy26 · 16-02-2013 10:28pm

RoverJames wrote: »

Would you think ?

Loads of stuff can and does pass the allignment test with a worn balljoint imo .

Yes I do think. 9 times out of 10 you will fail nct with a worn balljoint as it put out the tracking and they wont even do the allignment test.

johnayo · 16-02-2013 10:35pm

I think that you should appeal the decision. You obviously do not accept their findings, so best to appeal and get an independant opinion on this.

Wheelnut · 17-02-2013 12:33am

GD asked what car it is and got no answer. We also need to know which balljoint it is.

I have no faith in those garage "pre-tests", they're just a racket for extracting money and you will find they have something in the terms and conditions to cover them if they are wrong. Far better to put it through the test and let it fail. Then you have a list of exactly what's wrong and it only cost €55, which is a lot less than what some garages charge.

Voodoomelon · 17-02-2013 12:43am

Is a tear in a boot enough for a fail? That's a bit of a swizz, you can get a nick in a boot a few weeks after getting a new one.

visual · 17-02-2013 12:48am

If it was me I would have ball joint replaced as its only thing holding wheel on.

Years ago seen a wheel and hub depart a old morris minor going at 20mph. It done a lot of damage for relevantly cheap part failing.

17-02-2013 1:17am

Voodoomelon wrote: »

Is a tear in a boot enough for a fail? That's a bit of a swizz, you can get a nick in a boot a few weeks after getting a new one.

they failed it as there was play in it, its documented under visual on the sheet

AMCCORK · 17-02-2013 9:20am

It's a Santa Fe and front passager side. Absolutely if it needs to be done I want to get it done but dealer actually said the nct is a joke and the work is not needed . I got it checked as I was due a service anyway. I am not a mechanic and I always pay premium at a main dealer for a sense of assurance that the car is safe and well maintained. But if this is a big safety problem then I am feeling that as someone said either the dealer is wrong or the nct are wrong. I might get a third mechanic to take a look. What does the side slip test check? There are plus and minus tolerances shown so does that mean some movement is allowed or is there supposed to be no movement at all. I just thought the test is to check these things and not rely on opinion. I imagine if the appeal is not independent it doesn't succeed too often. The nct and dealer both said it should not fail for the tear. Dealer says def no movement and only thing is the tear so is it possible nct will maintain there is movement so as not to back down? He did try to show it to me but to be honest it was like showing me the moving statues in ballinspittle I couldn't tell if one moved both moved or neither moved maybe someone from the dealer might go down with me to see what they are saying if they are so sure that there is no fault. Tkx.

Cosmo K · 17-02-2013 10:33am

Appeal it! Seriously, the moment you appeal the outcome of a test, the AA gets involved. The car will be brought back to the test center, and will then be assessed by an AA engineer, you have nothing to loose, go for it.

Have you actually been back to the test center? That should be your first port of call. Go back, ask to speak to the center manager/team leader and explain the situation to them.

Santa Fe ball joints are spring loaded, and sometimes it can be hard to detect a worn ball joint. Does your garage have a lift with shaker plates?

Wheelnut · 17-02-2013 5:57pm

We had a Laguna in the family fleet that failed for a bottom front ball-joint with play. I brought it home, jacked it up and tried to find play by shaking it and using levers but found nothing. I then brought it to a local mechanic and he could find nothing. However I told the mechanic to change it anyway because it would be quicker than appeals, retests etc. He replaced the joint and told me after that when he took it off the car there was play in it. He also demonstrated it to me. It seems that with the balljoint in place and with weight, spring pressure etc the play could not be detected by hand, but the NCT have proper equipment and could detect the play.

nct tester · 17-02-2013 7:47pm

ive seen balljoints going on the santa fe's alright, (circa 06- 09 model). normally its side to side play but the odd few have up and down movement in them. even though the wheel is being moved from side to side on the plates, the ball joint can be seen 'popping' which will show no movement when the weight is off it. but when the ball joint is removed you can catch the threaded part of it and pull it up and down in its socket. sometimes if you jack the car about an inch off the ground and get a bar underneath the tyre and lift it, this play can be detected too. this type of play is quite common in the front of lexus is200's. peugeot 206's often require the use of a bar with the weight off the car to detect ball joint play too.

Technoprisoner · 17-02-2013 7:54pm

Cosmo K wrote: »

Appeal it! Seriously, the moment you appeal the outcome of a test, the AA gets involved. The car will be brought back to the test center, and will then be assessed by an AA engineer, you have nothing to loose, go for it.

Have you actually been back to the test center? That should be your first port of call. Go back, ask to speak to the center manager/team leader and explain the situation to them.

Santa Fe ball joints are spring loaded, and sometimes it can be hard to detect a worn ball joint. Does your garage have a lift with shaker plates?

what jurisdiction does the AA have over the NCT ?

George Dalton · 17-02-2013 7:58pm

Technoprisoner wrote: »

what jurisdiction does the AA have over the NCT ?

They got the AA involved after that Prime Time programme a while back:

http://www.ncts.ie/faq.html#17

http://www.ncts.ie/faq.html#21

Technoprisoner · 17-02-2013 8:02pm

thats just crazy....surely the rsa has engineers capable of policing this.

NCT and ball joints

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