Nct retest fail

Brian go

I took my 151 Dacia Sandero stepway for its nct on 05/06/21 . It failed stating that the front near side ball joint was worn and the tracking was out .
I got the ball joint replaced and the tracking done and presented the car for retest this morning . It failed again on side slip alignment test on the front axle . What else could be wrong ? Any ideas would be greatly appreciated .

Spook_ie

Brian go wrote: »

I took my 151 Dacia Sandero stepway for its nct on 05/06/21 . It failed stating that the front near side ball joint was worn and the tracking was out .
I got the ball joint replaced and the tracking done and presented the car for retest this morning . It failed again on side slip alignment test on the front axle . What else could be wrong ? Any ideas would be greatly appreciated .

Well side slip is deviation from a straight line when driven, so wheel geometry (tracking or worn components), tyre pressures, brakes binding etc.

BlakeS94

Brian go wrote: »

I took my 151 Dacia Sandero stepway for its nct on 05/06/21 . It failed stating that the front near side ball joint was worn and the tracking was out .
I got the ball joint replaced and the tracking done and presented the car for retest this morning . It failed again on side slip alignment test on the front axle . What else could be wrong ? Any ideas would be greatly appreciated .

Show the garage the fail sheet again. Side slip test is to check alignment, simulates a straight road to check how straight the car would drive over a certain distance. Tracking is obviously still outside of spec parameters.

May be a silly question, but was the ball joint changed, and then cars alignment was corrected? Either way I'd insist on the same garage doing another alignment free of charge as they did it before test and it failed.

johndaman66

Would seem on the face of it that whoever did the tracking was not at the races.
Unless you hit some serious pot holes or there was some other valid reason for your tracking to go out in the meantime I'd be inclined to be taking it back to them to get the tracking redone, free of course and possibly demanding to be compensated for the retest fee on principle.

As a nation we don't speak up enough when we are the victims of poor service. Leaving it be and taking our business elsewhere in future is not good enough either in my book.

Brian go

BlakeS94 wrote: »

Show the garage the fail sheet again. Side slip test is to check alignment, simulates a straight road to check how straight the car would drive over a certain distance. Tracking is obviously still outside of spec parameters.

May be a silly question, but was the ball joint changed, and then cars alignment was corrected? Either way I'd insist on the same garage doing another alignment free of charge as they did it before test and it failed.

The ball joint and arm was changed and then the alignment was corrected . The nct mechanic said he done it twice and got 2 different readings , first reading 17 second reading 15 . 15 was the reading of the original fail test .

Did you get it tracked after replacing the ball joint?!

Brian go

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Did you get it tracked after replacing the ball joint?!

Yes

Turbohymac

Most be lots of wear to have had to change wishbone also..along with balljoint.. as with previous posters advice go back to garage and show them the nct report..
Also get them to check complete front suspension/and wishbone/ball joints. Inner and outer steering tie rods etc.
It's clear that theres excess movement somewhere because the nct tester got 2 different readings..

Brian go

Turbohymac wrote: »

Most be lots of wear to have had to change wishbone also..along with balljoint.. as with previous posters advice go back to garage and show them the nct report..
Also get them to check complete front suspension/and wishbone/ball joints. Inner and outer steering tie rods etc.
It's clear that theres excess movement somewhere because the nct tester got 2 different readings..

It was only an extra €30 to change wishbone also so I agreed with mechanic that for the sake of it change it .

Toyotafanboi

Post a picture of both fail sheets, would help us more.

Tracking has to be dire to fail NCT side slip, you could still be failing due to another suspension or steering issue.

Viscount Aggro

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

Post a picture of both fail sheets, would help us more.

Tracking has to be dire to fail NCT side slip, you could still be failing due to another suspension or steering issue.

I got the same fail with my car.
You realise they have a quota,
This is a handy one to get you.
You can't dispute it.
Had a mechanic look at my car, said there's nothing mechanically wrong with it.

They have an agenda from higher up, to replace your combustion engine with a battery.

mgbgt1978

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

Post a picture of both fail sheets, would help us more.

Tracking has to be dire to fail NCT side slip, you could still be failing due to another suspension or steering issue.

If there's any other mechanical issues with the OP's Car surely they have to be mentioned on the fail sheet. The only other obvious reason for a side slip fail is Tracking.
Unless there's two slightly different wishbones available for his car......

wotzgoingon

Viscount Aggro wrote: »

I got the same fail with my car.
You realise they have a quota,
This is a handy one to get you.
You can't dispute it.
Had a mechanic look at my car, said there's nothing mechanically wrong with it.

They have an agenda from higher up, to replace your combustion engine with a battery.

What the hell are you on about.

mgbgt1978

Viscount Aggro wrote: »

They have an agenda from higher up, to replace your combustion engine with a battery.

.....because Electric Cars don't need to steer ??????:rolleyes:

CoBo55

Was the tracking done on a 4 wheel alignment setup? Tracking really seems to be beyond the competency of many mechanics. I found the tyre places geared towards commercial vehicles are much better at doing the tracking properly.

mickdw

CoBo55 wrote: »

Was the tracking done on a 4 wheel alignment setup? Tracking really seems to be beyond the competency of many mechanics. I found the tyre places geared towards commercial vehicles are much better at doing the tracking properly.

Yes getting tracking right seems to be an issue for many however, a blind man could get it good enough to pass nct all else being well.
I believe they just run the car over a plate to check the sideslip and on the steering axle, that is far from an exact science.
There may be excessive wear around this car that needs looking at.

wotzgoingon

mickdw wrote: »

Yes getting tracking right seems to be an issue for many however, a blind man could get it good enough to pass nct all else being well.
I believe they just run the car over a plate to check the sideslip and on the steering axle, that is far from an exact science.
There may be excessive wear around this car that needs looking at.

I agree I changed the wishbone on my 23 year old car and then tracked the car with a bit of string and a measuring tape and flew through the NCT slip test.

I must have done a good job as you could let go of steering wheel and car would drive straight at 100km/h and faster.

Toyotafanboi

mgbgt1978 wrote: »

If there's any other mechanical issues with the OP's Car surely they have to be mentioned on the fail sheet. The only other obvious reason for a side slip fail is Tracking.
Unless there's two slightly different wishbones available for his car......

I'm not an NCT nay-sayer but that is giving the NCT too much credit.

They just say it's failing on side slip, it's down to you to find out why.

Just like failing on suspension imbalance, could be shocks, springs, top mounts, bushes etc.

There is likely something else still excessively worn or badly setup in this car. Tracking alone would have to be a country mile out to fail an NCT.

mgbgt1978

They have to give a reason for a Fail.
The OP has only said "It failed again on side slip alignment test on the front axle"
If it's a "side-slip" fail (with no mechanical reason given) then it can only be the tracking itself. Item 48 in the 2021 NCT manual.
Any other Fail in this area would mean a side-slip test needs to be repeated during the retest.

I know how far out the tracking would have to be to give a fail for the NCT.
That's why you asked to see a copy of the 2nd fail report....and why I would be interested in seeing it as well.

jetfiremuck

I would rotate the wheels from front to back as you may have a wear pattern on the front tyre with the worn ball joint thats causing the issue.

CoBo55

jetfiremuck wrote: »

I would rotate the wheels from front to back as you may have a wear pattern on the front tyre with the worn ball joint thats causing the issue.

I was just going to ask the Op how long the tyres were on the car for that exact reason.

Dirty Nails

Brian go wrote: »

I took my 151 Dacia Sandero stepway for its nct on 05/06/21 . It failed stating that the front near side ball joint was worn and the tracking was out .
I got the ball joint replaced and the tracking done and presented the car for retest this morning . It failed again on side slip alignment test on the front axle . What else could be wrong ? Any ideas would be greatly appreciated .

Could also be a wear pattern developed on the tyres from before the repair.
Swap the rear wheel up or swap the front wheels around. Can you feel a noticable pull on the steering while driving?

mgbgt1978

Gotta love Boards.
Are the previous two posts invisible in some Threads?

Dirty Nails

mgbgt1978 wrote: »

Gotta love Boards.
Are the previous two posts invisible in some Threads?

Certainly seems to be something weird going on.

Spook_ie

Just a thought, with the use of directional treads on some tyres, assuming you have 4 of them and you rotated your wheels in such a way that you ended up with the RHS wheel on the LHS and a RHS wheel on the RHS would that affect your tracking . I know that the tester should probably notice it and put on, at least, an advisory, But what actual effect do you get?

The AA have this

Directional tyres
Directional tyres usually have a chevron or arrow pattern in the tread and are designed to work in only one direction of rotation.

Directional tyres are better at dispersing water that builds up in front of the tyre.
They may also reduce road noise and improve directional stability.
Directional tyres must rotate in the right direction, clearly marked on the sidewall of the tyre.

If a directional tyre is fitted the wrong way round, the tyre won't be dangerous, but you won't gain the benefits of its design.

Some high performance cars are fitted with tyres that are both directional and asymmetric. These must be fitted the right way round on the wheel and on the correct side of the vehicle.

MOT test
If asymmetric or directional tyres are fitted incorrectly – the wrong way round or rotating in the wrong direction – your car will fail its MOT.

3 February 2017

Brian go

*** update ***
Firstly thanks everyone for your opinions and suggestions , I appreciate it . I took the car back to the mechanic who himself was surprised that it failed . He didn't track it himself but took it to another garage to be tracked . It turns out that when they initially tracked it they never straightened the wheels and they admitted same so they tracked it again and for free and paid for the retest and an extra €40 for my inconvenience and to help my blood pressure go down after hearing what the problem was ðŸ˜. She passed her test today so I am happy for another 2years . Thank again everyone .

mickdw

Brian go wrote: »

*** update ***
Firstly thanks everyone for your opinions and suggestions , I appreciate it . I took the car back to the mechanic who himself was surprised that it failed . He didn't track it himself but took it to another garage to be tracked . It turns out that when they initially tracked it they never straightened the wheels and they admitted same so they tracked it again and for free and paid for the retest and an extra €40 for my inconvenience and to help my blood pressure go down after hearing what the problem was ðŸ˜. She passed her test today so I am happy for another 2years . Thank again everyone .

Ive a funny feeling it was not tracked at all after the first repair.

wotzgoingon

That's a pretty big F-up for someone who was looking to get the car tracked. It's not rocket science to track a car so like above poster they probably never done it the first time but at least they done it for you the second time for free plus free money is nice also.

Brian go

mickdw wrote: »

Ive a funny feeling it was not tracked at all after the first repair.

It was the guy in the nct said it looked as if it had been tracked but if the wheel was not straightened it's pointless

CoBo55

Brian go wrote: »

*** update ***
Firstly thanks everyone for your opinions and suggestions , I appreciate it . I took the car back to the mechanic who himself was surprised that it failed . He didn't track it himself but took it to another garage to be tracked . It turns out that when they initially tracked it they never straightened the wheels and they admitted same so they tracked it again and for free and paid for the retest and an extra €40 for my inconvenience and to help my blood pressure go down after hearing what the problem was ðŸ˜. She passed her test today so I am happy for another 2years . Thank again everyone .

Like I said earlier, tracking seems to be beyond the capabilities of many in the trade.