Focus - a sudden power steering noise, just after the MOT...

[Tony B2]

....in which it was reported that there was a minor leak from the power steering system.

However, 2 days (and less than 15 miles) after it passed its MOT, with the advisory that there was a small leak from one of the power steering pipes, it has suddenly developed an embarrassingly loud drone from the power steering (varies with lock, and engine speed) and now has a massive rainbow coloured puddle underneath when parked on a wet surface.

And looking underneath I can now see a steady drip drip, which cannot have been significant before, because I always park in the same place and would have noticed any stains in the tarmac.

The fluid reservoir is at the maximum level.

Prior to the MOT, there was no problem - no noises, no leaks.

I know garages make next to nothing from MOT tests, so is there an incentive to "find" other work?

I have used this garage for many years for Focus servicing and MOTs, but they have become a lot more expensive in the last couple of years, and there has been a change of management.

Am I being cynical?

[Novexx]

completely.

[stevemcs]

So essentially it had a leak, has got worse and you want to blame the test centre for it.

There is nothing on the MOT that would cause the steering to leak.

[sherman]

An MOT is a visual check of the tested items.
Theres no poking about.

Your advisory turning out to fail just after the MOT is coincendence only.
There is no way to say when a pipe is going to rust through or a seal is going to fail. If its leaking its not going to last long.

The garage cant fail your MOT for a leak. If you had a power steering fault light on the dash it would have been an instant fail.

If it was an instant MOT fail would you have paid to get it fixed at that point?

[Tony B2]

stevemcs said:

So essentially it had a leak, has got worse and you want to blame the test centre for it.

There is nothing on the MOT that would cause the steering to leak.

No - it did NOT have a leak, there was no evidence of any leak, up to the point of the MOT.

The PS fluid was at the top mark in the reservoir (I checked it before taking it to the test).

Within 5 miles of collecting from the test it was starting to make obvious, unmissable noises, and a rainbow puddle appeared underneath the car, where none had been evident before.

And I am fully aware that no part of the MOT test should cause a leak.

Loosening a union not being part of the test, I would guess.

[Tony B2]

sherman said:

An MOT is a visual check of the tested items.
Theres no poking about.

Your advisory turning out to fail just after the MOT is coincendence only.
There is no way to say when a pipe is going to rust through or a seal is going to fail. If its leaking its not going to last long.

The garage cant fail your MOT for a leak. If you had a power steering fault light on the dash it would have been an instant fail.

If it was an instant MOT fail would you have paid to get it fixed at that point?

If the garage had phoned me to advise me of the leak, before I collected the car, I would have asked them what the fix was and, if reasonable, given them the go-ahead to fix it.

They did phone me (in the morning) to advise me that it had passed its MOT.

As it was, they only advised me of "the leak" when I collected the car, and it was too late to do anything that day.

[Thats What She Said]

It sounds like you are suggesting the MOT station sabotaged your car to get more work.

Take it to a different garage and ask them to take a look and see if it's caused by wear and tear or not. Anything else is just guesswork.

My money is on it being coincidence it happened soon after the MOT. Garages rarely have to resort to such tactics. Especially on such a minor fix.

[LivLL]

MOT won't be a fail unless the leak is large or a there's a failed seal or joint for example.

Have you located cause of leak yet? You mentioned something about a loose union - they don't come undone if correctly tightened, has it had work in the last year or so?

[Tony B2]

I have taken it back for examination, today.
The only work done in the last year was a replacement radiator (same garage) which I would guess is too far away from the rack to have had any influence.

[bangerhoarder]

An MoT tester would be able to confirm or deny, but it's quite possible that the steering is turned hard lock-to-lock in the test which may have found a weak pipe or joint when the pump went to bypass. On old Fords the high pressure pipes like to rot, though the returns can play up too.

[ARHarh]

Cars break, one day they are fine the next they are broken. Simple. The MOT tester spotted a small leak and advised it. He had no way of knowing it would fail the next day. There is no way a tester would sabotage a safety related item. He they wanted to earn easy money from repair,s they tell you your brakes need changing. It's a far easier job and far more likely to scare the customer into replacing them.

[Tony B2]

Diagnosed as "faulty pressure switch and seal" and now fixed, £150+VAT.

I should not complain, I suppose, but a call prior to commencing the work would have been appreciated.

Who knows, I could have done it myself...