NCT help

fred funk }{

OK..I brought my other halfs car into a garage today to get a new tyre as it was damaged and was losing air fast. While it was in there i decided to get them to do a pre-NCT check. I knew there was a few minor problems and one of those was the reverse light wasn't working.
To cut a long story short, They told me the problem with the reverse light was actually a problem with something in the gear box and then they told mehow much it would cost to get fixed.......1100 FCUKIN yo yo's!
They said that it would take about 10 hours labour and that would cost about 800 euro and the part would be about 300.
I know this company very well and some of the staff well too so i know they are not trying to stirch me up.
My question is does anyone know of a simple DIY way to make the reverse light come on just for the NCT. I was thinking of installing a little switch under the cover of the box and rigging up a cable to a small battery and then onto the light.
I havent got that sort of money to fix a poxy reverse light.
The car a Merc A140 five years old. Thanks

lomb

should be easy enuf to rig up, are u sure the reverse lite is even checked in the nct?
yes the sensor may be in the gearbox. i say may.

sometimes the switch is under the gear gaitor, if not of course u can rig it up if u can pass a cable back there. basically all u need is a switch and one single strand of cable. the switch would be mounted to the metal after removing some paint this is the ground, when the stick moves it will push the switch and ground the wire u have running into the boot. now for the reverse lites, take a positive from some other light like the normal tail lights, the negative of the reverse will be the single strand from the gearbox tunnel under the gaitor to the switch.

lomb

ps go down to a scrapyard and get a undergaitor type switch from a crashed car. just tell yer man what u are looking for.

mike65

I'd love to know which bit of metal costs 1100 euro to replace.

Mike.

lomb

mike65 wrote:

I'd love to know which bit of metal costs 1100 euro to replace.

Mike.

mike id say the sensor is in the gearbox and the 1100 is to remove the gearbox replace the module with swith and replace the gearbox.. i doubt the part costs 300 though, though u never know with mercedes.

mike65

Mercedes charge about €95 an hour down here so I guess thats the root of the cost and yep I bet the sensor can be bought from a independent supplier for less than €100.

Its the little things that catch you out. A-Class isn't even a proper Merc!

Mike.

lomb

mike65 wrote:

Its the little things that catch you out. A-Class isn't even a proper Merc!

Mike.

yeah no offence to to the poster but the A class is a pos. if the switch really is in the gearbox, i would def rewire it from the tunnel under the gaitor, it really is quite easy, u can thread the single core wire under the carpet to the boot.

ds20prefecture

Silver Knight wrote:

OK..I brought my other halfs car into a garage today to get a new tyre as it was damaged and was losing air fast. While it was in there i decided to get them to do a pre-NCT check. I knew there was a few minor problems and one of those was the reverse light wasn't working.
To cut a long story short, They told me the problem with the reverse light was actually a problem with something in the gear box and then they told mehow much it would cost to get fixed.......1100 FCUKIN yo yo's!
They said that it would take about 10 hours labour and that would cost about 800 euro and the part would be about 300.

€80 per hour is extortion.

Even if they are removing/replacing the gearbox, there's no way it would take 10 hours. Granted access may be a bit restricted on an A Class, but that sounds like they are having a go. Is the car a manual or auto? The switch should be the same as the one that prevents you starting in anything but park if it's an auto.

Have you considered a second opinion, preferrably from a non-dealer? Before going to some lengths to bodge in something to pass a test, the fix might be simply the replacement of this switch or fuse.

While there may be switches on this earth that cost €300, I doubt that any of them fit in an A Class.

fred funk }{

ds20prefecture wrote:

€80 per hour is extortion.

Even if they are removing/replacing the gearbox, there's no way it would take 10 hours. Granted access may be a bit restricted on an A Class, but that sounds like they are having a go. Is the car a manual or auto? The switch should be the same as the one that prevents you starting in anything but park if it's an auto.

Have you considered a second opinion, preferrably from a non-dealer? Before going to some lengths to bodge in something to pass a test, the fix might be simply the replacement of this switch or fuse.

While there may be switches on this earth that cost €300, I doubt that any of them fit in an A Class.

They said that its a part in the gearbox that switches the switch if you know what i mean, they said they changed the switch first of all but then found it wasnt the problem.

They also said that the gearbox on the A class is very time consuming to dismantle and i do believe them.
The car is manual.

The garage is a big main garage and not some small garage. I asked a friend of a friend who's a mechanic and he said it was exspensive too.

I know its going to be exspensive no mather where i go but all i want it to do is pass the NCT.

ds20prefecture

Silver Knight wrote:

The garage is a big main garage and not some small garage. I asked a friend of a friend who's a mechanic and he said it was exspensive too.

I know its going to be exspensive no mather where i go but all i want it to do is pass the NCT.

Fair enough. But a non-dealer shouldn't charge you more than €40-€50 per hour. That brings the price down to, say €450 + part. I suppose it's still a lot of money just to pass the NCT :mad:

YAPP

This very same thing happend to a friend of mine last year.

Merc Auto - grinding noise when rev's put engine under pressure!
Took it to merc garage,
first fee of E250 to take it in and assess situation
2nd fee of E850 to order new clutch & fit same.
Then collected car, didnt paid them till test run, hadnt left garage and still happening....!
Oh, sorry, must be something else!!!! my arse.
3rd Fee (3wks at this stage) new gear box quote of E6000.
No way, wasnt taking that, he wanted the car back, and wasnt going
to pay, then they wouldnt give the car back./

2MakeALONGstoreySHORT,
They sold off the merc and gave him the sale price less the E1100. They only sold it for half its worht too dont you know, RIP OFF MERCHANTS!!!

lomb

YAPP wrote:

This very same thing happend to a friend of mine last year.

Merc Auto - grinding noise when rev's put engine under pressure!
Took it to merc garage,
first fee of E250 to take it in and assess situation
2nd fee of E850 to order new clutch & fit same.
Then collected car, didnt paid them till test run, hadnt left garage and still happening....!
Oh, sorry, must be something else!!!! my arse.
3rd Fee (3wks at this stage) new gear box quote of E6000.
No way, wasnt taking that, he wanted the car back, and wasnt going
to pay, then they wouldnt give the car back./

2MakeALONGstoreySHORT,
They sold off the merc and gave him the sale price less the E1100. They only sold it for half its worht too dont you know, RIP OFF MERCHANTS!!!

thats what happens when u dont go to a real garage. i would have stuck with annseley or belgard motors, if that happened to me i would pay them to release the car, and then sue them for it back. it would b easy enough to get it back as well. ps autos dont have clutches they have torque converters

ps i dont know if u realise it but a windscreen for an old shell s class coupe is 2600euro not including fitting, driving a 3 pointed star has its price

mike65

lomb wrote:

ps i dont know if u realise it but a windscreen for an old shell s class coupe is 2600euro not including fitting, driving a 3 pointed star has its price

The s class is double-glazed is'nt it? A merc does'nt HAVE to cost the esarth to run but it sure can if you dont know how to access cheaper parts and
don't know a good indepenedant mechanic.

The A class has all the gubins packed tighty under the floor which is neat and yet a right pain in the ass for some work I'm sure.

Mike.

lomb

mike65 wrote:

The s class is double-glazed is'nt it? A merc does'nt HAVE to cost the esarth to run but it sure can if you dont know how to access cheaper parts and
don't know a good indepenedant mechanic.

The A class has all the gubins packed tighty under the floor which is neat and yet a right pain in the ass for some work I'm sure.

Mike.

yes but windscreen is single glazed.

thesteve

Does this car have one reverse light or two (one on each side)?

thesteve

Ah wait, what I was going to suggest would need one of the lights to be working (if there are two) but if it's the sensor thats gone then neither would work...

lomb

its an easy enuf job to fix it do it urself next weekend, if u paid me say 500 id do it , thats a bargain and u know it

fred funk }{

lomb wrote:

its an easy enuf job to fix it do it urself next weekend, if u paid me say 500 id do it , thats a bargain and u know it

eeehhh.....dont think so!

I think ill have to put something in myself, Im sure ill do a good job.
Ill let u know how i get on and how i do it.

lomb

ive had a quick look at my car. the switch must be at the gearbox as it isnt in the tunnel. the quickest way to do it is to find out if the metal gear lever is grounded by using an ohmmeter. if it isnt grounded then attach a thin copper wire to it wrapping it around it and attaching the other end to the metal chassis. now for the switch place a pice of tinfoil at the point where the gearlever touchs something only in reverse and atach the main wire to this. now when the gearlever goes into reverse it grounds that cable. get ur +from the rear light cluster. job done.

thesteve

bear in mind that they raise up the car and take a look underneath, make whatever you do pretty invisable...

lomb

im talking about the gear lever cover slipped over the gear lever doesnt the a class have one? im sure it has, it just slips off and u can see the area will u will put the tinfoil. all wiring would be internal , slipped under the carpet. it really is very simple

tonky

From what I understand, a reverse indicator lamp is not a legal requirement on a passenger car in Ireland.
The NCT test list is Here

The 'Light' section covers:
Stop Lamps
Rear Lamps and Registration Plate Lamps
Indicators / Tell Tales
Side Lamps
Headlamp Condition
Headlamp Aim
Aux Lamp Condition
Aux Lamp Aim
Reflectors
Just put it in for the test and say nuthin'.

lomb

tonky wrote:

From what I understand, a reverse indicator lamp is not a legal requirement on a passenger car in Ireland.
The NCT test list is Here

The 'Light' section covers:
Stop Lamps
Rear Lamps and Registration Plate Lamps
Indicators / Tell Tales
Side Lamps
Headlamp Condition
Headlamp Aim
Aux Lamp Condition
Aux Lamp Aim
Reflectors
Just put it in for the test and say nuthin'.

thats what i thought , thats why i said it initially.

BrianD3

The lads are right - my book on the NCT states that rear fog lights and reversing lights are not part of the test and that they will only cause the car to fail if they are coming on when they shouldn't (eg if a wiring fault was causing the reverse lights to come on when the footbrake was applied)

BrianD3

fred funk }{

Thanks boys, Thats great news. I just presumed that it would be a requirment. Ill put it through anyway and dont ye know they will find something else wrong with it.