Dodgy MOT?

[Bandit12]

My c5 passed her MOT a couple of weeks ago with flying colours. Great news you might think, however within a week I was greeted with the sound of metal on metal from the front brakes. I flipped the drivers wheel off n found the brakes had no metal and gouged a nice groove into the disc! I challenged the MOT station who said that due to the lack of visibility through the alloys they could not visually check the brakes but car passed so what's the problem?
Can a car pass a proper MOT with brakes like that?
Needless to say I've replaced the pads etc
Bandit

[MikeT]

As long as the brakes performed satisfactorily in the test and nothing untoward is seen, it's a pass.

I got an advisory on low pads last year. I replaced them just before this years test, but due to a caliper piston rewind failure, had to refit one worn pad and it still passed, this time with no advisory. I think when I looked (through the alloy wheel spokes) I could only see the outer pad while the worn one was re-fitted on the inside.

[CitroJim]

I got an an advisory on both my 207 and Sian's Pixo for worn brake pads... Even though in my opinion there was still a good bit of pad left on both... There still is on the 207 - I checked only yesterday...

But as Mike says, as long as they're OK on the day and also, it depends on the tester and how visible the pads are when the MOT is conducted.. Some are well hidden from view without removing the wheel - which they cannot do.

[ekjdm14]

.... Some are well hidden from view without removing the wheel - which they cannot do.

Xantia/XM on steel wheels are a prime example of just this. I defy any tester to measure/see/feel/hear or otherwise judge the amount of pad or disc material left on one of these cars or the condition of anything behind the shield, other than by the performance of the brakes on the roller.

I think in that case as long as the brakes were balanced and strong enough, even the grinding sound of metal on metal could only be listed as advisory since the MoT stipulates a kind of "if in doubt, pass with advise" sort of thing. (like sideskirts over rotten sills too)

[Bick]

Minimum lining required for pads is 1mm - if they cant see them they cant inspect it - an MOT is not a service.

[Peter.N.]

I would rather have an MOT tester like that than one who fails it on non existent problems so he can make money out of you.

Peter

[Zelandeth]

As others have said, if the pads aren't readily visible without removing the wheel no visual inspection will be done and the pass/fail will be purely based on the performance on the rollers.

So provided your brakes worked fine at the test, this is quite normal.

[van ordinaire]

Can't see how pads with so little meat on them could pass.

b-t-w, don't C5's have a low pad warning light?

[elma]

Only if the wires connected, I never bother with them because I replace pads at 1/2 thickness unless the discs are knackered.

[Paul-R]

Can I have your half-worn pads please?

[elma]

No problem, be 6 months or more though. Current discs are rubbish so will be the next set.
Gives you plenty of time to find a nice Xantia V6, theres a pretty grey one on ebay.

[van ordinaire]

Don't follow the logic of not connecting the sensors just because you're not going to rely on them.

I quite like the extra security against being caught out by premature wear due to a seized caliper, e.g.

[elma]

I've only ever had them tell me the pads are worn when they are not or not tell me they are worn when they are in desperate need of replacement.

They just are not something I trust and I can't be bothered to fit something I think is pointless and untrustworthy when I can see and feel any brake issues myself.

I probably spend more time tinkering with my cars than driving them so I'm confident that in my case the wear sensing wires are unnecessary.

[Peter.N.]

I can't recall ever having a car on which the 'worn pad' indicator actually worked, even though the wires were connected, there may have been one I have forgotten but as a general rule the don't work. Doesn't matter a lot in my case as my pads last so long I'm bound to need the wheel off for something before they are worn out.

Peter

[ekjdm14]

The light worked OK on Black, problem was that the pads/discs & fitting kit were all brand new with under 250miles on them at the time!

I only connected up the wear sensors because they were included with the pads I chose, sadly the offside wire got chewed through in short order. I think it may have been different had we got alloys on there but the standard 14" steels have virtually zero caliper clearance at the front & I think the over-long wire got pinched between that & the wheel.

I think they are a useful thing to have, if only because the light being on can facilitate an MoT tester to fail a car on which he otherwise couldn't see the pads. Even if it's a spurious warning, at least it gets the wheel taken off for a look-see & the retest oughtn't cost the driver anything, potentially could save them a lot of money on new discs/fitting or even a life though. Myself, I try to have them working/functional if possible but otherwise I'm likely to see them getting low & replace while a wheel is off for something else.