MOT advisory - what's it mean ?

[Toby Davis]

Hi folks

car passed its mot today, YES with a few advisory items, one of which made me laugh "horn weak"

Its a cupra TDi o4 plate

So the one I would like some advise on is:

"Rear parking (secondary) brake imbalance requirements only just met. I would appear that the braking system requires adjustment or repair"

Funny enough, I was at Stourport fair today and parked on a hill. I pulled my hand brake up 4 clicks and it started to roll back (which it shouldnt right ?).

Does that mean that the handbrake cable needs adjusting ?

thanks

 

[Badger]

Spot on!

Adjuster is behind the rear cup holder.

 

[RUM4MO]

Maybe the horn is beggared, did it ever sound louder? Also check wiring.

The handbrake issue, if I were you, I'd get the wheels off, pads out, clean then and any touching points up, fully retract the pistons, you will need a wind back tool for that, check the handbrake lever is free to move, if you want to be smart, you could add external return springs and put everything back together. Obviously if the pads are worn thin they should be replaced as should the discs if they are getting too thin and/or are not very clean (rusty). I'd expect that there are many posts and "how to do that's" on this forum.

 

[RUM4MO]

Spot on!

Adjuster is behind the rear cup holder.

Hum I think that following my advice is a lot better, shortening the cable is usually a mugs way round another problem!

 

[Badger]

I would endorse your way if you have the time and will offer a better solution. If you like, in the meantime adjusting the cable will stop it rolling for now...

 

[RUM4MO]

Trouble is "four clicks" is not "the top", so at four clicks the lever can still be pulled up further before it reaches its limit of travel, tightening the cable should only result in the OP finding the lever stopping at " two clicks" and still running back on a slope.

 

[Badger]

OP - go with RUM4MO's advice, I over-read the 4 clicks...

 

[Crafoo]

The horn on the Mk4 Ibiza is the campest thing in the known universe, weak sauce indeed.

 

[Toby Davis]

Thanks for advice guys

Discs and pads all round are fine, surprised its only been mentioned by a garage now, been the case for a few years now regarding it needing four clicks. Even then the car creaks loudly if you try and push it when the handbrake is up, is that normal ?

Shall I adjust the handbrake still ? and is it difficult ? always worry I will break something important trying to do something i have no experience doing

 

[RUM4MO]

The loud creaking etc when you push it means that it is rotating the wheel(s) slightly. If the handbrake worked well, there would be no noise as the wheels were not rotating. When I make my wife's Polo make that noise (by not applying the handbrake properly) it annoys her a lot, which is amusing for me! As I said adjusting the cable will just mean that the lever moves up fewer clicks and still make this noise when pushed. Try to see what the inside of the discs looks/feels like as that side might be corroded and so less effective than it could be.

When last did you take apart and clean up the rear brakes - I tend to do that every year?

The "four clicks" issue, I think that some time ago, MOT test people looked for "less than ?? clicks" - now with auto adjusting rear brakes and with rear disc brakes, I think that this target number of clicks become meaningless, it is probably now the case, "is there sufficient lever travel left to take into consideration any extra pad wear over the next 12 months".

 

[RUM4MO]

The horn on the Mk4 Ibiza is the campest thing in the known universe, weak sauce indeed.

I kind of thought that "proper" Ibizas, like what you have/have had would have two tone horns, and it was only the budget end of the range that would have single tone horn. Certainly my daughter's 1.4 SE S/C has the nasty one, wife's Polo 1.4 SE has a proper pair of horns. I remember in my Ford days, as soon as I discovered wife's Fiesta had a single tone nasty horn, I bought the second, low tone and fitted it and transferred it to her next Fiesta, maybe not a smart move as the cars with two tones used a relay for the second one, but it worked out okay for her.

 

[Crafoo]

Nah the horn was wimpy on all the mk4's to my knowledge mate, i used it once then defaulted to just shouting at people to avoid embarrassment lol

 

[Badger]

Mines pretty loud! Looking at other horns for a better effect though...

 

[Crafoo]

The volume was never the issue, it was the less than manly tone it offered that i couldn't cope with.

 

[Lowe]

My Cupra got through the MOT last week with the same advisory for the horn. Is it buggered though, no doubt because it's so low down and gets flooded with water.

Wonder if any other VAG car horns will work as a straight swap?

 

[RUM4MO]

My Cupra got through the MOT last week with the same advisory for the horn. Is it buggered though, no doubt because it's so low down and gets flooded with water.

Wonder if any other VAG car horns will work as a straight swap?

I'd be very surprised if lots of similarly aged VAG cars did not have the same horn(s) - if getting both a Hi tone and a Lo tone, make sure they are from maybe a mid/upper range Polo 9N as the SE and upwards got twin horns. If you are really worried about frying the wiring, then buy a slave relay and just use the existing power lead to switch the relay - this might just be very good advice if you have left off using the single horn due it not sounding manly, because having twin horns will sort that out!!

I still can't believe that Ibiza Cupra and even FR did not get proper horns, I'm guessing only Seat UK could answer that one!