UK-POLOS.NET - THE VW Polo Forum

Hi guys

Just a quick one, my car's MOT is due at the end of this month (its a 1043 Mk3). Before I take it is there anything glaringly obvious that I may have missed that Polo's seem to fail on? I'm pretty good with mechanicals, but running a carb'd Mini i'm not too hot on all this injection SPi business, or anything to do with anti roll bars, coil springs etc!!

Basically, the car drives lovely, seems to have plenty of go, stops willingly (with a slight squeak, which I think may just be worn rear pads, as the front discs and pads are fine), handles great (for a Polo), sits fine with only a very slight lean to the left which I understand is common, and everything on it works.

There is a slight amount of surface rust at the bottom rear of the drivers front wing, but everything else is fine. No rot around the fuel tank or rear panel, and a quick skeg underneath reveals that everything under there is remarkably clean. Engine hasn't burned a single drop of oil in the whole time i've had it (October), the exhaust pipe at the back is the same colour inside as outside (a nice clean grey), so emissions must be something like.

Anything else you can think of???

Thanks!

Tom

If you can, check wheel bearings, and I assume your front seats fold forward without any problems?

Karl.

yup, the seats work.

I shall check the wheel bearings, although I've heard it described that it sounds like a jet flying very low above you when they've gone? (i guess that must be a wheel bearing rumble rather than an afterburner type howl? ). I'll jack each corner up tomorrow and have a look, although all I can hear when driving is tyre noise and the little 1043 singing away up front......... oh - and music occasionally!

do both seats have to fold forward to pass the mot then karlos?

only one of mine does...i knew that mot station was dodgy

minis84 - Your squeeking will most likely be just brake dust.

metz - I think they do, yeah. Rear access and escape for safety. Something along those lines.

Sounds like it will be ok. If your jacking it up at the front check for play in the top mounts.

metz wrote:<snip>
only one of mine does...i knew that mot station was dodgy

nothing wrong with dodgy mot stations just took the mk1 for test passed first time (dad recons i brided him)

ste mk1lx wrote:

metz wrote:<snip>
only one of mine does...i knew that mot station was dodgy

nothing wrong with dodgy mot stations just took the mk1 for test passed first time (dad recons i brided him)

Ba$tid... mine has cost me several hundreds of £££, & thats using HeatPac MOT station over the border aswell

Confirms what I suspected then, the last owners bribed the MoT guy.. front seat release cables were snapped when I got it, plus it had a leaky shock and split wiper rubbers..
The wheel bearings don't seem to make lots of noise until they really are gone. I got an advisory on both my rear wheel bearings on my MoT, he said one was particularly noisy, but I can't hear anything unusual, just sounds like tyre rumble to me. Worth checking anyway..
Common thing on mk3's is the rusted fuel filler neck, which would give you an emmisions failure. Probably quite obvious if that's gone though