Unfortunately i bought it privately naively taking the sellers words that the problems i noticed with it could be easily fixed

Edited by 12lozzy . on 07/02/2021 at 17:24

Replacement ball joint rubber dust covers are available if you know where to look - but you still have to take the joint apart to fit them & obviously the joint still needs to be in good condition else its a pointless exercise replacing the cover.

A car with this many faults & advisories shows it hasn't been cared for.

Everything is easy.....when you know how. How many miles has this tired old hack done?

I sometimes wonder whether wrapping black duct tape around the suspension joint 'failure' to keep out the dust that day would oblige the MoT tester to pass it? Can't see why not.

Like I say above, I do variants on that here in Taiwan, where the inspection doesn't check that kind of thing. I've found Clingfilm particularly effective as first aid for a failed CV boot. It was on for several months, though I've replaced the boot now.

Logically (Logic of course has no relationship with regulation enforcement) this is no different to replacement, IF you don't clean out the contaminated grease when you replace. I'd be less than confident that a commercial repair would even attempt this on a CV joint. I attempt it, but its difficult, and I'm unsure whether I should be using solvent, though so far I havn't.)

I'd bet they'd fail it, but it might be worth a try.

Cling film and tape to get a car through the MOT, great ideas.

Would be if they worked, but, as I said, I think that's unlikely.

However, even in The Famously Anal Yook, they could still work as first aid, pending a repair to MOT standards. There are lots of circumstances that can prevent one from doing a full repair immediately.

Here I'm of course in an MOT Free Zone, which is nice, but I had to wait to get a CV boot kit from the UK, and the Clingfilm apparently prevented, or at least limited, dirt ingress until I could fit it.

I screwed it up the first time (I have excuses but its a long Sod''s Law Stylee Story, though I'd probably find it a funny one if it had happened to someone else) and had to wait for another kit, so the Clingfilm was on for several months.

I was quite surprised it held up so well.

While we're on the automotive (mis?) application of Clingfilm, I recently did a sort of breakout box for my radiator fan relay, so I could bypass the wiring loom lead from the temperature switch, which seemed to be iffy.

Awkward shape for shrink fit tubing, and I'm none too confident of my crimped connections so I'll probably have to take it apart again sometime. I dunno how much protection a Clingfilm wrap gives it, but it seemed better than leaving it open.

Edited by edlithgow on 09/02/2021 at 15:49