Nct fail [corrosion]

padzer

The car that never let me down, has just done so. Failed the nct due to a corroded brake cable that needs replacing and a corroded chassis leg that apparently will need welding. Can anyone give me a ballpark figure of how much this work will cost? Its a 99 lancer that ive had nearly 10 years, is it on its way out?

defforirl

How long is a piece of string..??

Without a better description and pictures I'm afraid its almost impossible to give an estimate of cost. "Corroded" brake lines seem to be a favourite failure of nct testing centres, when you check them you cant find any evidence of corrosion at all.

padzer

He said he marked where the problem is so i wil have a look in the morning. Thanks.

JohnBoy26

padzer wrote: »

The car that never let me down, has just done so. Failed the nct due to a corroded brake cable that needs replacing and a corroded chassis leg that apparently will need welding. Can anyone give me a ballpark figure of how much this work will cost? Its a 99 lancer that ive had nearly 10 years, is it on its way out?

If it's that far gone id be scrapping it and getting another car. That is a major safety issue.

padzer

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

If it's that far gone id be scrapping it and getting another car. That is a major safety issue.

Was thinking as much myself, doesnt sound that straightforward anyway. The timing of this isnt ideal.

colm_mcm

not DIY, moved to motors

galwaytt

padzer wrote: »

...a corroded chassis leg that apparently will need welding.

colm_mcm wrote: »

not DIY,

Quote of the Day !! :pac:



btw OP - getting it welded mightn't be the end of the world. I had a car welded a while ago - chassis leg near suspension - and it cost me 390 - and he had to make a piece to fit, as well. On my car it worth it.

Depends on how good the rest of the car is. If it cost you the same and got you to next NCT, would 300/400 be a fair price for 12mths motoring ? - I think so.

There again, you might get quoted a lot less if it's small - go and get someone to look at it and price it - it's underneath, so it doesn't have to be pretty/colour matched etc - just done well, and painted/undersealed locally.

But if the rest of the car isn't worth it, it might be EOL (End Of Life as they say....)

padzer

galwaytt wrote: »

Quote of the Day !! :pac:



btw OP - getting it welded mightn't be the end of the world. I had a car welded a while ago - chassis leg near suspension - and it cost me 390 - and he had to make a piece to fit, as well. On my car it worth it.

Depends on how good the rest of the car is. If it cost you the same and got you to next NCT, would 300/400 be a fair price for 12mths motoring ? - I think so.

There again, you might get quoted a lot less if it's small - go and get someone to look at it and price it - it's underneath, so it doesn't have to be pretty/colour matched etc - just done well, and painted/undersealed locally.

But if the rest of the car isn't worth it, it might be EOL (End Of Life as they say....)

Cheers for that.

Yeah, i was talking to my mechanic there, said the brake line would be around the 100-150 mark, as for the chassis weld, he said hes actually working on one at the moment so its doable.....as above, said he would need to see it before he could comment on how bad the damage is, both to my pocket and the car.

Car is probably worth a grand if it passed the nct. Paid 2250 for it 9 years ago so it doesnt owe me anything !!

ba_barabus

Make sure whoever fixes the chassis leg knows what they are at. It could cause a serious safety issue on the even of a crash.

Anyone with some skill can weld in a repair panel but it needs to be done correctly

padzer

padzer wrote: »

Paid 2250 for it 9 years ago so it doesnt owe me anything !!

Well done. If you are happy with the car, as you no doubt are, putting a few hundred for another few years of life is a very smart investment. However, I'd ask the mechanic to take a close look at the other metal. If one leg is badly corroded there is a chance that others are not far behind.

Just warning like. I'm all for saying no to throw away culture. I'm shooting for 10 years with my car of similar vintage that had a purchase price of €250.

6781

I drive a 8 year old Mondeo and failed last week on corrosion on my brake lines. Not a clue what it will cost but bringing it to the mechanic this afternoon for a look. I guess with some of the bad winters lots of salt was put on the roads. Hope it won't brake* the bank already put a few hundred into it.

dgt

We had to replace a chassis leg here once, that was a big job...... A very big job.....

OP it depends on how bad the rust is. You never know what else is going rotten or where else it will go next. Faced with a similar issue before we scrapped a car with failing chassis leg which had several months nct as we saw it quite insafe to drive. One of a minority with morals over money

I'd be inclined to get a similar model of car and make a good one from the 2 though, making sure beforehand it doesn't have the exact same problem :pac:

V1llianous

6781 wrote: »

I drive a 8 year old Mondeo and failed last week on corrosion on my brake lines. Not a clue what it will cost but bringing it to the mechanic this afternoon for a look. I guess with some of the bad winters lots of salt was put on the roads. Hope it won't brake* the bank already put a few hundred into it.

My local independant mechanic did mine 2 years ago on my 5 series for about €150

padzer

dgt wrote: »

We had to replace a chassis leg here once, that was a big job...... A very big job.....

OP it depends on how bad the rust is. You never know what else is going rotten or where else it will go next. Faced with a similar issue before we scrapped a car with failing chassis leg which had several months nct as we saw it quite insafe to drive. One of a minority with morals over money

I'd be inclined to get a similar model of car and make a good one from the 2 though, making sure beforehand it doesn't have the exact same problem :pac:

Jaysis, there wont be a dry eye in the house if we have to say goodbye

Just wondering, whats the story with me driving around in this car? Am i legally allowed to?

6781

padzer wrote: »

Jaysis, there wont be a dry eye in the house if we have to say goodbye

Just wondering, whats the story with me driving around in this car? Am i legally allowed to?

On your NCT report, if it says fail with a * then no you can't drive it, but if its just a fail and the old nct isn't out of date then legally you can drive it. If your old nct is out of date 5 penalty points and fine if caught by Gardaì and I'm almost sure your insurance will be invalid if in an accident.

dgt

padzer wrote: »

Jaysis, there wont be a dry eye in the house if we have to say goodbye

Just wondering, whats the story with me driving around in this car? Am i legally allowed to?

That's just me, what other people do will be different. I'm not afraid to change cars if I have to you really need to get pics up for an opinion to be more stable

Just to give you an example of the work involved the whole front of the car inc wings, subframe, fuel lines, brake lines etc had to be removed. Not to mention using a car-o-liner to make sure it was all straight and within its tolerances. A very time consuming job but that was an extreme case, any sane person would have got another car! That was our task and a slightly different job but we got it done

Having said that if its not too far gone a suitable piece can be cut and welded to fit. Personally I wouldn't be happy but once it's signed off as safe it's roadworthy

padzer

hopefully this works....

car 004.JPG
car 005.JPG
car 007.JPG

dgt

The rear of the car? Looks more like the subframe is gone rather than the car's chassis.....

padzer

dgt wrote: »

The rear of the car? Looks more like the subframe is gone rather than the car's chassis.....

No idea what im looking at, just took pics of the yellow marks the fella in the nct put on it. Thats the rear driver side, he said the rear passenger side is just the same.

dgt

I think it has a rear beam with trailing arms, I have a pic of one on it's side if I can find it.....

JohnBoy26

dgt wrote: »

I think it has a rear beam with trailing arms, I have a pic of one on it's side if I can find it.....

Lancers of that era have fully independent rear suspension, there is no subframe. The area where that corrosion is located is indeed part of the chassis. The corroded area is further forward than the rear suspension.

NuckingFacker

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

If it's that far gone id be scrapping it and getting another car. That is a major safety issue.

padzer wrote: »

Was thinking as much myself, doesnt sound that straightforward anyway. The timing of this isnt ideal.

padzer wrote: »

hopefully this works....

car 004.JPG
car 005.JPG
car 007.JPG

Ok, not "by the book" answer, but the NCT laddies are very arbritray in what constitutes "corrrosion". I weld an awful lot of cars and vans in our workshop(usually transits ) and often, a brush with a wire brush followed by a shot of body schutz "cures" the "corrosion" fully vis a vie the NCT. I.E, it was only surface corrosion and the tester was being "azz-coverery". If it is actually structural corrosion, we cut it out and fully weld in a repair piece - DOE testers have often said we're the only ones they ever see who actually bother to go to the rounds and have never failed a repair I have done. If that Lancer was mine, it would get a brushing and some hammerite - going by the pics. Scrap it me hole!

ba_barabus

NuckingFacker wrote: »

Ok, not "by the book" answer, but the NCT laddies are very arbritray in what constitutes "corrrosion". I weld an awful lot of cars and vans in our workshop(usually transits ) and often, a brush with a wire brush followed by a shot of body schutz "cures" the "corrosion" fully vis a vie the NCT. I.E, it was only surface corrosion and the tester was being "azz-coverery". If it is actually structural corrosion, we cut it out and fully weld in a repair piece - DOE testers have often said we're the only ones they ever see who actually bother to go to the rounds and have never failed a repair I have done. If that Lancer was mine, it would get a brushing and some hammerite - going by the pics. Scrap it me hole!

To be fair those pics show nothing much really so I wouldn't be jumping to conclusions.

I understand what you're saying though. Thing is though my experience of rust repairs here is that people try and cure surface rust as you described only to find its structural or else they charge an arm and a leg for welding in an incorrect repair panel on a chassis leg.

That's not a judgement on your work but so many people don't understand the importance of the work they're doing.

NuckingFacker

ba_barabus wrote: »

To be fair those pics show nothing much really so I wouldn't be jumping to conclusions.

I understand what you're saying though. Thing is though my experience of rust repairs here is that people try and cure surface rust as you described only to find its structural or else they charge an arm and a leg for welding in an incorrect repair panel on a chassis leg.

That's not a judgement on your work but so many people don't understand the importance of the work they're doing.

I do, and usually, if it is genuinely structural rust, there's no long term "fix". I generally say forget it. If it is a heavy structural section, then I can weld in a repair. If it's a piece of lace and they want somthing welded in, no go dimagio. If what's going in isn't stronger than what was there before, it's just kidding everyone. On folded box sections or comlex multi-layered pressings, there is often no way of welding a meaningful repair section. You can make it pretty and make it pass, but it's not a proper repair. Surface rust though, that's another matter. Caught in time, it really is just a cosmetic issue, and a cosmetic repair will more than suffice.

JohnBoy26

NuckingFacker wrote: »

Ok, not "by the book" answer, but the NCT laddies are very arbritray in what constitutes "corrrosion". I weld an awful lot of cars and vans in our workshop(usually transits ) and often, a brush with a wire brush followed by a shot of body schutz "cures" the "corrosion" fully vis a vie the NCT. I.E, it was only surface corrosion and the tester was being "azz-coverery". If it is actually structural corrosion, we cut it out and fully weld in a repair piece - DOE testers have often said we're the only ones they ever see who actually bother to go to the rounds and have never failed a repair I have done. If that Lancer was mine, it would get a brushing and some hammerite - going by the pics. Scrap it me hole!

Well first off my comment was before any pics were posted and I did say ''if''.

Secondly if you have ever worked on these cars and know them well you will see ''going by'' the second pic that there is a major hole in the box section/chassis leg(just to the left of the yellow mark) that no ''shot of body schutz'' will cure.

NuckingFacker

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

Well first off my comment was before any pics were posted and I did say ''if''.

Secondly if you have ever worked on these cars and know them well you will see ''going by'' the second pic that there is a major hole in the box section/chassis leg(just to the left of the yellow mark) that no ''shot of body schutz'' will cure.

You'll also see that I didn't really take a look at the pics and said earlier that if there was any real corrosion repairing it is damn near impossible - especially repairing it properly, unless access is good or the piece can be taken off. Given the cost of labour, it also isn't cheap..