Has your MX failed the NCT? And why? ..

[mrges]

Only got round to having the car tested yesterday, and fuckity-fuck-fuck it failed!!!

Not on emissions this time (thankfully) but on two relatively easy, but annoying, fixes.

1. This was a shocker, as it must have happened within the past three days - and I say that cos I had the car up on stands while changing the engine oil, diff oil etc. and undersealing (again!). This also gave me a chance to clean over the springs I had fitted two years ago. So, first fail was..... a broken drivers side front spring!!! Couldn't believe it. The tester said there was absolutely no sign of rust on the spring, and it was a straight, clean, break. Needless to say I got onto MX5parts and told them I could verify the mileage since fitting them in May 2017 (which was less than 6000km - approx 3500 miles in old money). Their reply was 'you won't want to hear this, but nothing we can do'. I certainly won't be getting a replacement from them.

2. And you'll love this one..... and the car has NEVER failed on this before, but seems the small spots that fit below the number plate, on the smiley mouth at the front, are the wrong height to be spots - and if I say they are fog lights then they must be fitted with a switch AND a 'fog light warning indicator' on the dash. HOWEVER, he then said I had a couple of options. Firstly, cover them up with either a plastic cover or a proper 'sock', or (and this really tickled me) disconnect them. Yep.... Simply disconnect them. Don't rremove them, but just make sure they dont work ('just remove the fuse)? I always assumed if something was fitted to the car it must work.


No. 1 is annoying (and scary that a item as important as a suspension spring can fail within 2 years and less than 6000km). I came back to the house and removed the wheel, and sure enough there was the broken spring - clean and shiny.

No. 2 - find that hard to take!


Sorry for the long post - had to get it off my chest.

[Real Rayzor]

Such a ball ache that.. on both counts. Obviously a manufacture flaw in the spring.. as for the spots.. that sounds ridiculous. Was it the usual NCT centre you go to..

[Rooky]

That is terrible luck with the spring. I would of thought there would be some kind of mileage guarantee on them.
Shocked there isn't.

The spot lights are weird, where else are they going to go!!

[Pops]

They seem to be getting very particular in the nct now.

E604B8E1-7052-4EF5-91BD-DD301E82D484.png

Mine has the Japanese fogs and I wouldn’t think they’re any (or much) different to what you have, I wonder how you would fare out if you had the original set but lowered the car, would it pass then?

[Pops]

Just went out to measure the fogs on mine, 280mm from the bottom to the floor, 350mm to the top

[Pops]

Mrges, Dumbass here has just re read your post, now I realize you fitted the spots where the fogs should be. Ah well, at least while I was searching for the reason yours failed I found the newest nct specifications for future reference

[mrges]

Tis defo worrying about the spring, especially after such a short mileage. The reply from MX5parts said they give a one year warranty. I also looked at the reviews of the springs on their site (something I didn't do before buying them - I mean, it's MX5parts, surely they'd only sell 'quality' parts?), and it appears to be a regularly occurring issue. And yet they continue to sell them.......

And it's the usual centre I go to - that's my 4th time there, and the lights have never been an issue before. And thanks for the info, Pops, just for the craic I'll go out and measure mine later. I'm still dubious about the 'just disconnect them' approach.

This is where the lights are.....

Screenshot_20190224-081820_Gallery.jpg

If you have a similar set up - be warned!!!!

[93 Mk1]

Maybe try Autolink for springs Graham ? I, too, read that about the MX5 Parts springs.

Mine has the JDM fog lights in the same position. I'm going to send it in for the NCT early this year. It will be interesting to see the outcome given your experience recently.

[Pops]

Mrges , you could always make the lamps dual purpose, there must be a relay for the lamps so if you find the live feed from the main beam and put a switch on it so that you can interrupt the main beam feed and get a live feed from the parking light through an illuminated switch to the relay then you can use the lamps as either spots or fogs
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre ... 3033067646
An idea of a switch that might fit in one of the blanks
If you do go with this idea , switch off the feed from the main beam so that they only work when the tester turns on the fog light switch, then, as far he’s concerned they are fogs and not tested under the spot light height rules and you have the choice of how you want to use them

[mrges]

Thanks, Pops - that sounds like it a workable - and not too difficult - solution.


And oddly enough, I went to the MX5 meet in Tullamore which just happened to be outside the NCT centre!!!! I arrived about 15 minutes late, and was told that the guys from the test centre had been out to have a look at the cars.

[TOM 5252]

Hi Guys,

Here's a link to my answer to dual acting fog lights on my 1999 NB. http://homepage.eircom.net/~tommorrow/running%20lights.htm

This was for switching between Fog Lights and Daytime Running Lights. Being fog lights, mine were within the legal limits height wise, but there is also a horizontal measurement. They have to be either a certain distance from the car's centre line, or a limited distance from the outer edges of the car.
The mouth of the mark 2 mx5 is not wide enough to comply with these figures, so for the first few of it's many trouble-free visits to my local NCT centre, up until I replaced the car in 2017,I had removed the fog lights, but for the last four visits or so I just disconnected the feed wire at the relay and covered the lights with black canvas tape (duct-tape).

Pretending that your spot lights are fog lights probably wouldn't work. It is easy to tell the difference between them by looking at the lens. Also in the photo above it looks like the MK 1 mouth dimensions also mean that the lights are too close together to pass even as fog lights.

Tom

[Pops]

Here’s a pic of how my original eunos lights are located, haven’t failed nct with them yet.......who knows what the result will be next January though

38B5EA70-D8D6-4D66-8FA4-19C1B3025D31.png

[93 Mk1]

They are the same as mine Pops. Except mine are yellow.

[Pops]

They are the same as mine Pops. Except mine are yellow.

Well spotted, I thought mine were yellow as well but it doesn’t show on the picture, must have a look next time I’m in the shed

[Steve]

have the same fog lights, they've passed the NCT twice(!) since Aug. They weren't working the first time whooops...