KISS

 So time to get Barry ready for an MOT re-test.

Supposedly, he failed for a leaking brake line but after taking all 4 wheels off, there is no sign of a leak. Yes, the lines are corroded but not leaking, which is sort of sad. This is why I am cynical and don't trust garages; the indie I took Barry to has previously told me about my corroded brake lines and suggested they be changed and now I take him for an MOT and, shock, it fails on the things they want to charge me £1600 for.

I was all set to try cut off the corroded ends and replace them but that wasn't going to be a one day job. It would be nice to do but trying to get the brake lines out the caliper are notoriously difficult. If they were actually leaking, I would have definitely done it but as they're not, it's too much effort (Keep It Simple, Stupid).

Instead, we cleaned the worst of the corrosion off the pipes and sprayed it with rust converter stuff, which should keep them going a bit longer:

I'd bought new brake discs all round as they'd been advisories on previous MOTs and they always have looked a bit crusty and changing them was very easy (apart from realising I'd been given the wrong size for the fronts, so we had to rush to Euro car parts).

Cearth also cleared the codes that also failed the MOT; the main one was the standard 'air mixture inefficient' or something, which I think is something to do with the lambda sensor but clearing it (which I've done before a few months ago) seems to get rid of it. Interestingly, I also had codes for the missing standard stereo which I took out a week after I bought Barry and for the front and rear boot lights which I think a previous owner removed the bulbs for. My cheap scanner never picked those up but Cearth has a more expensive iCarsoft scanner.

Finally, we used Cearths headlight cleaner kit, which did a great job.

So, all ready for a re-test (somewhere else!) and hope it all goes OK.