My 172 has Failed MOT

[captainpie]

Hey all,

my 172 has failed its MOT, wondering if anyone can advise on what I need to do?

Nearside Front lower suspension arm has excessive play in a ball joint [2.4.G.2] - is this easy to fix or replace, and if replacing what do i need to look for? Any tips or guides on doing this?

Offside Front constant velocity gaiter damaged to the extent that it no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc [2.5.C.1a] - How to replace this and what with?

Emissions weren't tested because it is misfiring and exhaust getting too hot - I know this is the coils causing the misfiring, but do I need to replace just the coils or the coil pack as well?

thanks in advance!

 

[DannyR]

Hey all,

my 172 has failed its MOT, wondering if anyone can advise on what I need to do?

Nearside Front lower suspension arm has excessive play in a ball joint [2.4.G.2] - is this easy to fix or replace, and if replacing what do i need to look for? Any tips or guides on doing this?

Offside Front constant velocity gaiter damaged to the extent that it no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc [2.5.C.1a] - How to replace this and what with?

Emissions weren't tested because it is misfiring and exhaust getting too hot - I know this is the coils causing the misfiring, but do I need to replace just the coils or the coil pack as well?

thanks in advance!

Ball joint is easy to replace, you can't buy just ball joint from Renault though. You'll need a Megane one with the 10mm holes.

Unsure on CV Gaiter, sure it's an easy job for a garage.

If exhaust is getting too hot sounds like its an injector fault not a coil pack fault. You only have a single coil pack. You'd be best getting it on a proper diagnostics reader to see otherwise you'll spend £300 replacing everything.

 

[Ad172UK]

Ball joints available from Euro Car Parts for around £15.

CV boots are available but most people don't like to change them and would rather do the full driveshaft, they can be done though as I had mine done.

 

[captainpie]

will this do fo the ball joint http://www.eurocarparts.com/search/617745155/p/home? It is M10, the guy from ecp also gave me a code for a M12 thread one.

or should I go for oem renault part?

 

[captainpie]

re the misfiring hot exhaust, I have replaced an injector before which solved it for about 5 months, but it has started happening again. It's been on diagnostics which didnt show anything! waste of £60

All the mechanics who see it are saying coil pack and sparks

 

[Ad172UK]

Can't get ball joint only from Renault, it comes with the entire arm iirc. That one should be fine, grab some plugs while you're there and change them, see if it sorts it?

 

[captainpie]

cool will grab this and cv gaiter then,

I'm not sure whether to get the cheapy sparks from ecp compared to some ngk which are listed as £15 per plug :nono: might as well order 4 from ebay for £30! May get some disposable ones though temporarily.

 

[Ad172UK]

Spark plug testers are pretty cheap to see if the coils shagged too

 

[captainpie]

cool, time to go shopping!

i'll pick up a spark plug tester and ignition tester as well

 

[Ad172UK]

Ball joints are fairly easy to change, just remember to support the hub with a jack or something because if it drops against the suspension arm you can end up with a torn outer cv boot

 

[captainpie]

haha yeah thats good advice, avoiding making more ball ache!

 

[mr.pink87]

You'll need m12 balljoints for the 1*2 range. m10 is non sport fitment.

 

[DannyR]

Don't buy cheap spark plugs. Genuine Renault NGK only.

 

[captainpie]

ok odd thing, changed the sparks and found plug 1 was totally covered in black on the contact which would indicate I think that this is the misfiring plug; and it was misfiring more! To the point where you could hear it misfiring while sitting idle :s

put the old sparks back in (cleaned all the contacts with a wire brush) and it is running as it was before, I switched one of the better plugs into what I think is the bad plug and it runs the same.

Having done all this the emissions light is now constantly on . . .

My plan is to change coil pack and leads over next couple of days and see if this solves it.