MOT Advisory

I have an advisory on Brake Balance at 11%

What does that mean? How serious is it and what would be needed to fix it?

It is an advisory rather than a fail so hopefully not a big deal.

The car seems fine and brakes in a straight line.

One side of the car is braking more than the other, usually worn brake pads/discs/drums/leaky/sticky pistons.

I think 25% is a fail from memory?

Is it the front or back axle?

It’s a bugger if you are thinking of selling the car and a metric that a driver is better off without I think

Front

Does it bother you as the driver? If not, leave alone and re balance the braking when it either bothers you or fails an MOT, whichever comes first. This could take several years and see the car out of your ownership. If it doesn’t bother you don’t spend the money to fix it.

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I have just reread the advisory.
It says

(Brakes ; Parking brakes imbalance 11%)

Does that mean the handbrake?

Yes.

So what is the point of that?
Unless handbrake turns are going to be part of the test?
I don’t really understand what is being measured or why it matters enough to make it an advisory.

Do you ever park on hills?

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Of course.
But since when has handbrake balance been measured? And how does it work?.
In my world the hand brake was either tight enough to hold a car on a slope or it wasn’t and you got it adjusted.
Is this balance left and right or front and back?
If 11% is an advisory what is acceptable? 5%? 10%.
At what point to does it become an advisory and at what point does it Fail?
I have no idea what it is advising me of, how serious it is or what I have to do to correct it :disappointed:

Ask them at the MOT centre. They may have put an apprentice on the job who wanted to impress.

Fails at 30 percent.

Cheers Bob
I expect it becomes an advisory at 10%
If it had been 9% I would never have known about it!

You can adjust the handbrake yourself, it’s only a cable from the handbrake to a splitter arrangement with an adjuster for each side.

Replaced the brake pads in my last car myself and adjusted the handbrake at the same time.

Too much time on your hands ? :wink:

Eh?

I think that was referring to Chris’s post on him replacing his brakes.