NCT Suspension imbalance

J

JoeRoberts

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Failed with 69% imbalance on front axles. Understand that but the numbers on each side are 394Mm and 1264Mn.
Back is 32/28.
Have googled a few failures but no-one seems to have any numbers greater than 70 ish.

Is 394/1264 even possible ? Or is it a unit of measure error ?
The weight of the car on the report is also wrong, about 500kg less than it was on the last few tests and the actual car sticker plate.
The guy came to the desk with the report, looked at it, muttered something like "s**", went out to the car and came back in and printed a new report.
I didn't have my reading glasses so didn't notice until I got home.
Car was serviced 2 months ago in main dealer with no issues on front suspension.
 
The imbalance is about braking efficiency, nothing to do with front suspension
 
The measurement units being listed as Mm and not kN would suggest it is suspension damping performance and not brakes. The test manual can be found here.

JoeRoberts said:
The weight of the car on the report is also wrong, about 500kg less than it was on the last few tests and the actual car sticker plate.
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That might suggest an issue with the hoist that was used to carry out the test. Contact them and see what they have to say about that.

JoeRoberts said:
Car was serviced 2 months ago in main dealer with no issues on front suspension.
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Main dealers don't test suspension unless specifically asked. They may do a cursory visual inspection for obvious defects but that's about it.
 
My guess is a burst shock or broken spring. Go to the front corner of the car and push it down as far as you can and let go. It should return to standard height and settle immediately. Do the other side and compare.
 
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Thanks all, This is the suspension test, brake imbalance test is fine.
Bouncing the car it seems fine, as I understand it from the nct manual the weight of the car is arrived at by weighing the wheel weights on the plates during the suspension test, hence my idea that there is an error. Going from a 29/28 2 years ago to 394/1294 this year is huge and would surely be obvious when bouncing. Think I'll get a retest for €28 in another centre.
 
JoeRoberts said:
Bouncing the car it seems fine, as I understand it from the nct manual the weight of the car is arrived at by weighing the wheel weights on the plates during the suspension test, hence my idea that there is an error.
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That's why I was thinking contacting them might be worth a shot. Being so far off the mark, it's unlikely that you were the only one to suffer on that test rig that day. Getting them to admit there was a problem of course could be a challenge.
 
It is easier to get a retest than deal with their ignorance. I had an issue where they recorded the Trip Millage as the Millage. They refused to do anything about it. Their office complaints section said bring it back and we will check again. Brought the car back and the staff at the test centre refused to even look. I ended up directly contacting one of men who had the contact to run the NCT. The crowd running the NCT now are worse.

BTW There was 2k odd milles on the Trip counter, so not as if it had never been reset for years.
 
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Found the equipment manual online - 100 Mm is the max range.
Went back to the test centre but they didn't want to know, just buy new shocks he said. ( manager)
Email to customer service, ignored.
Local mechanic took car to a CVRT centre and they ran it through their system for 20 euro ( same MaHa tester). Perfect result, 26/27.
Went back to the Nct centre with their report and a nice guy looked at it and put car through again for free, passed perfectly 28/29.
Valid Nct issued

New shocks would have been 300
 
My recent NCT experience, the car failed, they said headlights were too low, everything else passed. I brought the car to my regular mechanic who said the lights were perfect, he did nothing to them. He did say that the car should have failed on the front tyres, which had plenty of thread but the walls were badly cracked. New tyres have been fitted.

Put the car in for a retest of the headlights only, with nothing having been done to them and it passed.

Mechanic said it is a regular occurrence, cars incorrectly failing, and cars that should fail, passing.
 
What a calamity. Only in Ireland would this regulatory failure be acceptable. Is this test not quality assured, regulated and reproducible ? Everyone turning a blind eye and no responsibility or replies to genuine customer queries. Is the minister asleep at the wheel and where is the outrage from the road safety authority ? Surely a mass boycott protest is the answer. Why are people showing up ? We are great at following the rules and paying up (the OP has paid twice ! ) without question. Sheep.
 
Mamamia22 said:
What a calamity. Only in Ireland would this regulatory failure be acceptable. Is this test not quality assured, regulated and reproducible ? Everyone turning a blind eye and no responsibility or replies to genuine customer queries. Is the minister asleep at the wheel and where is the outrage from the road safety authority ? Surely a mass boycott protest is the answer. Why are people showing up ? We are great at following the rules and paying up (the OP has paid twice ! ) without question. Sheep.
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Ah yes. The old sheep chestnut. Apart from the terrible amount of delays getting an appointment the nct system is working quite well. For every one negative experience there are 1000s of positives. Only the problems and debacles get airtime. Baaaaa
 
So nothing to see here. We are all paying for the test and the inconvenience of attending. Can pass or fail on an apparent ad hoc basis. But sure like the tv licence just cough up and put up. A nation of doormats.
 
Mamamia22 said:
We are all paying for the test and the inconvenience of attending.
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No system is 100% effective, it can and should be improved over time. As has been said we never hear about the 10s of thousands of regular non event tests but the handful that have issues.
If it makes the average car on the road safer than they were 25 years ago then I can't really complain even if there is some level of inconvenience.
 
It seems to me to be a lot more than a handful, I have often heard of NCT errors and the mechanic has confirmed that these are regular occurrences.

Yes cars are safer because of NCT but they should be doing a lot better.

My tyres were dangerous and they passed, my lights were perfect and they failed. I am not concerned about the inconvenience but am concerned about the incompetence.
 
Des Pondent said:
I am not concerned about the inconvenience but am concerned about the incompetence.
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Light focus levels are assessed by sensors on the ramp, perhaps the one you had the first test on had an issue (or your mechanic fiddling with them reseated the bulbs correctly.
 
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