MOT / APK pass - wishbone replacement right side : driveshaft nut stuck :-(

So yes, it passed the MOT/APK on the 2nd attempt after I had fixed all the items. It's now valid till next year:

Vervaldatum APK

15 september 2027

Today was a lovely day so I left early. I brought all the tooling outside and made a start to do the other side. Jacking up the car, pulling off the wheel and go.

All the new items readily available:

But then, the driveshaft nut did not came off. It was stuck and the air-impact wrench was not powerful enough. So I had to use my own strenght. I ended up using a 2 meter long pipe:

The first tool simply snapped off:

The 2nd tool, much stronger also ended up demolished:

So, effectively I could not pursue this task. That's the downside of doing work on Sunday, you can't go to the tooling / automotive shop. I think the nut needs to be heated up. Also my air-impact wrench is really old and potentially not strong enough. Then again, if these tools snap off / twisted open with a 2 meter leverage pipe it must be severely tight. So I will bring it to the garage across the street to free up this nut. 

So with the remaining time I decided to renew the oil and the filter. I had this also readily available.

This job went fairly easy. I had noticed already the drainage plug was leaking a tiny drop of oil

So I had new gaskets available as well

Filling up with 5,5 liter of oil and checking afterwards. All looking good and no more leaking. 

Hopefully coming saturday I can make a new attempt.

The currently mileage is about 217.000 km. And the engine is not using any oil. On my way back home I was pleasantly surprised how smooth the engine goes. It also feels like it's more powerful than the Coupe I have, which is also a 2.4 engine. 

Oh, as for the APK/MOT, they fixed also my right front tyre. Turned out it was a bad valve. Could have fixed that myself. Also the airco had been fully refilled, so there is definatly a leak. It's still very warm these days, so glad the airco is functioning (despite the leak). 

So the costs for the MOT, tyre fix and airco refill (€ 80,-) was: € 187,57

The oil (5,5 liter) was € 68,85 

The oil filter was € 7,50. 

The new box of gasket O-ring seals was about € 12,00. 

So total costs for this round was: € 275,92

Next time I will include the costs for both sides regarding the wishbone and driveshaft covers.

As for the airco leaking, I spotted the green stuff on the pump itself, so potentially thats leaking. On my spare Kappa Coupe I did had installed a refurbished pump, so I might consider that one. BUT I also spotted this on the dryer. 

So that might be the concerning leak. Stupid enough when renewing the radiator and the condensor I did not renew the dryer. Well, if it's emptied out again I still can replace it.

MOT 2026 failure - wishbone - driveshaft covers - ball joints

 It was time for the yearly APK (MOT) but it failed on 3 main points:

The first two points are points of attention but are not MOT failures:

1) Handbrake left backside is working poorly.

2) Doorcatcher left front is missing

3) Balljoint tie rod left front is broken / teared.

4) Drive shaft cover left side teard at the gearbox.

5) Wishbone left side has a hole.

Bummer, the first 2 points I can skip. As for point 1, this one is broken off (typical I have this on my old Kappa Coupe as well). Point 2 I will tackle another time. I'm surprised this is not a MOT failure?

By sheer luck I had bought already a pair of wishbones with new ball joints and mouting/stabilizing rubbers. So I had only to order a pair of driveshaft covers, both inside and outside. And a tie rod with ball joint. 

Everything was quite rusty and very tight. It took quite a bit of power to undo everything.

With the wishbone removed it was quite apparent were the issue was.

Strangely I did not make a photo of the new wishbone, ball joint and rubber mounting. Oh well. 

Removing the driveshaft was again hard labour to get it out.

I had of course both sides replaced. This kit is good as it comes with the clamps, grease, lock ring and for the outerside even a new driveshaft nut.

Really pleased with this result:

Putting things back together and mounted the ball joint. Again a little bit of hassle and force but all went well in the end. Again, no photo's taken. 

The tie rod end removal required a lot of force as well. Once it was loose it went prette easy. Pushing the ball joint out was not difficult. I only do have a photo of the new tie rod

No photo of the end result either but all looks decent again. I hope they have some time to do a new MOT this week. Then I can do the same job on the other side when I have some time on my side. In any case, another Sunday well spent.