My girlfriends 92 J Metro is due its MOT this week and I think it will fail on one of the rear radius arms. There is a bit of movement in it however I am not sure how much the tester will allow, does anyone know??
I have been quoted £65.00 VAT from my local garage to have it replaced, so as long as it doesnt fail on too many other things it may be worth putting thro. Is this a fair price?
Thanks
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The amount of play allowed is down to the tester, on a good day he might allow half an inch of movement at the tyre outer edge, on a bad day any detectable movement might fail.
I've replaced a couple of rear radius arms on Metro's (years ago) and if I remember correctly the Hydrolastic system has to be depressurised, and all of the back brake components transferred to the new arm. Brake bleeding and repressurising will be required.
Replacing or overhauling the arm for £65 sounds a bit TOO cheap to me.
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I did this (pretty easy) job three times on my MG Metro in the distant past, and recall that 'none' is correct with the jobs listed.
The Hydrolastic system does indeed need to be depressurised, although the car can be driven a short distance - slowly and very uncomfortably on the bump rubbers! - to a suitably equipped garage for repressurisation. I did exactly this the first time, but for the remaining two occasions found a mobile Indy who came to my house to do it. Much more convenient, and in my case, cheaper, too.
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I have just got the reciepts out for last yrs MOT and I had a rear light unit, the CO level reduced and the other radius arm replaced for £115 so it may be about right. How easy is it to replace it yourself as I may have a go?
Thanks
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To be honest, if the garage can supply and fit a new arm for £60 I wouldn't even consider doing it myself. I don't know what an exchange arm costs these days but on top of that there's brake fluid and paying for a pump up. And if things do go pear shaped during the replacement - as they often do, the garage will be better equipped to deal with it.
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Here's one trick you could try that often works. Pump the radius arm full of grease just before taking it for MOT, it may just be enough to take out some of the play and may be the difference between a pass and a fail.
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Well its off to the scrappy for my poor Metro, it has failed quite badly on underbody rust and emmisions in the end.
Thanks for all your replys!
PS Can anyone recommend a replacement for about £400 as a second car??
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While we're on the subject of greasing metro radius-arms does anybody know why I can't grease one of mine?
The grease-nipple isn't blocked (I've swapped it over) and the gun's OK (I've just greased the front pivots).
However for some reason I just can't get the grease to come out of the other end of the arm. I asume there's a blockage, possibly dirt or corrosion.
Is there any easy way to remove this please?
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2nd car?
Peuegoet 106 Mark 1.. little rust. easy to fix.
madf
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Hi Chris,
This can be because the grease has solidified. Sometimes, you can push it through with a high pressure grease gun - your local commercial garage will have one.
If that doesn't work, you may have to strip it down, and clean out the grease with a gun drill bit. I have had to do this on quite a number of commercial vehicle shackle pins.
One other possibility is that your car may have been bodged. It is not unheard of for people to "grease" these pins with body filler prior to obtaining an MOT and selling the car on. I hope this isn't the case with yours.
number_cruncher
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Thanks - if the high pressure grease gun doesn't work I'll just get the radius-arm replaced when it wears out.
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