Suspension Imbalance

Debyaka

Hi there,
I have a alfa 156 2001 I Failed the NCT on monday for a suspension imbalance on the front end

The readings given during the test were
Nearside 52Mm Offside 36Mm Imbalance 31% and anything over 30% is a fail :mad:
Other than that everything was spot on.. :rolleyes:

Does anyone know what parts would cause this fail? I'm hoping it is the upper suspension arm coz everything else is just too expensive to replace.. Or is it possible to tweak the suspension so that i can get the heap of sh|te to pass the test so i can flog it off!!

alias no.9

Most likely you need a new shock absorber or possibly 2. Shop around because the prices will vary.

ds20prefecture

Debyaka wrote:

Does anyone know what parts would cause this fail? I'm hoping it is the upper suspension arm coz everything else is just too expensive to replace..

It might be the bushes at the mount point of the wishbones. Shouldn't be too expensive, parts wise. Labour is quite another matter.

Or is it possible to tweak the suspension so that i can get the heap of sh|te to pass the test so i can flog it off!!

How very honourable of you.

Debyaka

ds20prefecture wrote:

How very honourable of you.

Pass the buck, I only have the car 3 months, I'm not happy that i have a problem like this already :mad:

alias no.9

Debyaka wrote:

Pass the buck, I only have the car 3 months, I'm not happy that i have a problem like this already :mad:

Not happy eh? Shock absorbers and suspension bushings need replacing from time to time, depending on how and where a car is driven. You bought the car 3 months before the NCT was due, knowing it was due. You obviously either did this to save yourself some money, in which case you have to budget for stuff like this, or else were just planing on selling it on at a profit once it passed the NCT, either way, I don't think you have much to complain about.

Debyaka

alias no.9 wrote:

Not happy eh? Shock absorbers and suspension bushings need replacing from time to time, depending on how and where a car is driven. You bought the car 3 months before the NCT was due, knowing it was due. You obviously either did this to save yourself some money, in which case you have to budget for stuff like this, or else were just planing on selling it on at a profit once it passed the NCT, either way, I don't think you have much to complain about.

I bought the damn thing from a garage buddy!!
It only has 31k on the clock and it has a full service history, I didnt buy the car to sell it on for a profit and i'm a careful driver i dont belt my car off speed ramps and the like. And i love the car i dont want to get rid of it unless it is gonna give me trouble, in that case i'll be trading it back to the garage where i bought it..

I didnt do my research before i bought the car, i didnt think i would have to do the NCT until next years tax was up, I was misinformed..

10,500 for a 2001 156 1.6 Lusso is not bargain basement price.

alias no.9

Debyaka wrote:

I bought the damn thing from a garage buddy!!
It only has 31k on the clock and it has a full service history, I didnt buy the car to sell it on for a profit and i'm a careful driver i dont belt my car off speed ramps and the like. And i love the car i dont want to get rid of it unless it is gonna give me trouble, in that case i'll be trading it back to the garage where i bought it..

I didnt do my research before i bought the car, i didnt think i would have to do the NCT until next years tax was up, I was misinformed..

10,500 for a 2001 156 1.6 Lusso is not bargain basement price.

As a second hand car, you can't have know how the previous owner had driven it. You've got to be prepared for things like shocks to be picked up in an NCT, this applies to any car. The alternative is to buy with an NCT. Just as an aside, did you check your tyre pressures before the NCT? If there was a significant difference between tyre pressures, this may have tipped the scales against you since you were only marginally outside the spec and the tyre forms part of the suspension system as tested.

The other thing you need to beware of is the cam belt. These need to be changed at around 35k on twin sparks despite what the owners manual might say. Failure to do so can be catastrophic. Once you look after the car, it should be perfectly reliable, despite what many people will claim to the contrary, most of them rehashing stories they heard in a pub somewhere.

Big Nelly

Debyaka wrote:

I bought the damn thing from a garage buddy!!
It only has 31k on the clock and it has a full service history, I didnt buy the car to sell it on for a profit and i'm a careful driver i dont belt my car off speed ramps and the like. And i love the car i dont want to get rid of it unless it is gonna give me trouble, in that case i'll be trading it back to the garage where i bought it..

I didnt do my research before i bought the car, i didnt think i would have to do the NCT until next years tax was up, I was misinformed..

10,500 for a 2001 156 1.6 Lusso is not bargain basement price.

You not get a 6 month warrenty with it? most garages give 6 month warrentys at least!! everyone that I have dealt wit!!

bazz26

I don't think shocks are covered under warrenty but other suspension parts may be, no harm is querying the dealer on this anyway.

I would have made sure the dealer ran it through the NCT before buying it but that is another story.

Big Nelly

bazz26 wrote:

I don't think shocks are covered under warrenty but other suspension parts may be, no harm is querying the dealer on this anyway.

I would go mental if that was the case....my car still under warrenty and anything I find....e.g. any sort of rattle....I leave in with them.....better get it checked now than 7 months down the line......bloke is sound anyway and doesnt mind!!

bazz26

My understanding is and I could be wrong here, that shocks are similar to a battery and more than likely would not be covered by a used car warrenty.

Big Nelly

bazz26 wrote:

My understanding is and I could be wrong here, that shocks are similar to a battery and more than likely would not be covered by a used car warrenty.

Maybe.....but I would kick up a fuss....never had that problem under a warrenty with battery or shocks.......anyway sounds dodgy that a garage would sell a car 3 months before the NCT....usually they would NCT themselves and then add on the extra because you have 2 years before the next NCT.....was car serviced before leaving garage?

You can NCT months before it is due and still have 2 years 3 months left of NCT as it would be in this case.....this was introduced so that in January of every year the NCT test centres wouldnt be over run.....everyone buys new in Jan.....

BrianD3

alias no.9 wrote:

Just as an aside, did you check your tyre pressures before the NCT? If there was a significant difference between tyre pressures, this may have tipped the scales against you since you were only marginally outside the spec and the tyre forms part of the suspension system as tested.

AFAIK, the NCT testers check and adjust tyre pressures before carrying out the suspension and brake test. It makes sense as other wise it could be possible to "cheat". I put a car through the NCT recently and am nearly sure I saw the tester doing something to the tyre valves. Not 100% certain though.

BrianD3