My dad's car went for an MOT on Saturday. It was done at Kwik Fit and it's an 08 plate Mazda 5 1.8 petrol.

Prior to the MOT he had new front discs and pads as well as ARB drop links.

With the new parts fitted he drove off to the MOT and everything was fine.

The car went through the MOT and everything was fine.

Soon after leaving the MOT his car started making all sorts of noises.

Front left wheel clicks when turning.

There's a bang/knock somewhere central when changing gear or letting off the power but staying in gear.

There's a kind of scratchy/rubbing/grindy noise somewhere in the front left.

Lastly, there's a creaking/squeaking noise somewhere high up on the front right when turning.

As mentioned, the car was fine before the MOT and the MOT didn't flag up anything suggesting these problems would be imminent.

My thoughts are CV joint for the clicking, gearbox mount for the banging, driveshaft support bearing (if it has one) for scratchy/rubbing noise and top mount for the creaking.

The problem is, how suddenly this all came on after leaving the MOT and how nothing was found by the tester. All of the noises are very loud and noticeable.

I don't want to accuse Kwik Fit of anything but is there anything they could have done to sabotage this kind of stuff to make work for themselves? My dad said the whole place was dead, nothing going on and several techs standing around smoking and chatting.

Or, is it likely that the tester was really, really bad at his job of finding this stuff and the MOT itself is suspect?

First thing I'd check, preferably before he drives it again, would be that the wheels are bolted on properly. Some places nip them up then finish off with a torque wrench, others just hammer them on with the rattle gun. I've had one wheel work loose on me and the noises it made made me wonder what the hell was going on.

If the gearbox mount is not doing its job it might be allowing the cv joint to turn in a way its not supposed to which could account for the clicking, without someone having a look underneath to see what the problems are being caused by its hard to say, though would expect if they were trying it on to gain work that they would invent MOT issues and try to insist on fixing them rather than letting it through.
Though the wheel nuts working loose could just be coincidence given the recent work they will obviously have been undone so worth a check.

I've had a drop link on a focus fail and cause all manner of strange noises - didn't know where it was coming from and it was due an mot anyway, took it in hoping to find what was causing the noise at the same time only to find the tester didn't notice it. Only eventually discovered what it was when the thing actually came apart completely so they can miss stuff.

Im with richard, check the wheel nuts, if the noise still prevales i would check the work done last, ie brake discs , caliper bolts ect

Apparently it's all solved.

Turns out the MOT tester somehow disturbed some kind of "ventilation pipe" under the car somewhere causing the noises.

This pipe has been fixed and all the noises are gone.

Makes little sense to me but he says it's fine now!

I hope it was fixed free of charge, half of the half wits that work on cars shouldn’t go anywhere neer them.
Most probably got there nvq and think there qualified mechanics.

no10chris wrote:

I hope it was fixed free of charge, half of the half wits that work on cars shouldn’t go anywhere neer them.
Most probably got there nvq and think there qualified mechanics.

Problem is, get their NVQ and they are qualified mechanics lol.. Still, the NVQ is probably slightly a better sign of experience and aptitude than any supposed sign in my (LPG conversion) trade! I used to deliver NVQ's for a chamber of commerce training dept, would agree they don't mean much. Learners varied a lot in terms of previous experience, aptitude and attitude... but most passed. You know the story already, at one end of the scale were kids who had been slotting V8's into Fiestas with their dads (and then by themselves) since they were 6 years old, loved learning mechanics / electronics and computer stuff / lots of aptitude and great attitude. At the other end of the scale were people with no experience and every opposite trait who'd been coerced into a course they weren't really fussed about... Both types might end up working as a mechanic, both might work for themselves, both might say the same things when advertising.

no10chris wrote:

I hope it was fixed free of charge, half of the half wits that work on cars shouldn’t go anywhere neer them.
Most probably got there nvq and think there qualified mechanics.

It was.

I still don't entirely trust the story he was given.

He drives a delivery truck for a new car dealership group, based at their national PDI centre. They have a huge workshop where they carry out PDI's and pre-delivery rectification/warranty work.

He had the brakes and drop links replaced there before going for the MOT.

He then had the techs at his depot who did the brake and drop link work look in to the noises. They found the "loose pipe" and blamed the MOT man.

Having heard the noises myself I really can't believe that any of them were caused by any kind of loose ventilation pipe, most of which would be inside the cabin behind the dashboard. Certainly not running past the suspension and steering on both sides of the car. The noises were definitely coming from somewhere around the wheels/steering/suspension.

I think the brakes and drop links were done in a rush and not done properly, they fixed it and blamed it on something else to pass the blame knowing my dad's not overly mechanically minded and would just be happy to have the car fixed again.

Lpgc wrote:

no10chris wrote:

I hope it was fixed free of charge, half of the half wits that work on cars shouldn’t go anywhere neer them.
Most probably got there nvq and think there qualified mechanics.

Problem is, get their NVQ and they are qualified mechanics lol.. Still, the NVQ is probably slightly a better sign of experience and aptitude than any supposed sign in my (LPG conversion) trade! I used to deliver NVQ's for a chamber of commerce training dept, would agree they don't mean much. Learners varied a lot in terms of previous experience, aptitude and attitude... but most passed. You know the story already, at one end of the scale were kids who had been slotting V8's into Fiestas with their dads (and then by themselves) since they were 6 years old, loved learning mechanics / electronics and computer stuff / lots of aptitude and great attitude. At the other end of the scale were people with no experience and every opposite trait who'd been coerced into a course they weren't really fussed about... Both types might end up working as a mechanic, both might work for themselves, both might say the same things when advertising.

We see something similar occasionally with apprentice applicants.

There's English and maths tests to pass to be accepted on to an apprenticeship. We occasionally see young lads that ace the tests, score highly and get on the course. They then turn out to not enjoy being a mechanic, can't be bothered and do a terrible job. They stick around for ages as an apprentice is hard to "fire". They find any reason to not do much and only ever end up doing basic services etc. They never ask questions like "what does that bit do?" or "how does this work?".

I once saw on given the task of modifying an empty oil barrel for something. It needed a hole in it to accept something to do some special task (I'm not sure what). I watched him try to punch a hole in it using a hammer. Just a hammer. I told him it would be much easier to use something pointy to make a hole, like a chisel or a drill, and it would make a significantly smaller dent around the hole. He said no, he prefers it to use the hammer so it would take longer.

At the other end of the scale there are guys that are really enthusiastic, very mechanically minded and can't wait to get stuck in to big/complicated jobs with the experienced techs but didn't do well at school so struggle to make it on to the course.