MOT

[Lyrick]

MOT is due in a couple of weeks,usually passes without any problem. I'm a bit concerned this time as I have a rear offside high level marker light that is obscured from the front by a wind out awning.

I've seen a few threads with people speculating as to whether this is now a failure under the recent MOT changes but no definitive answer. Has anyone put a motorhome through an MOT recently with a light in a similar position and if so what was the outcome.

Thanks

Patrick

PS Don't know if it has any bearing but van is 6m long by 2.35m wide and 2.75m high

 

[Mr Chrysalis]

MOT is due in a couple of weeks,usually passes without any problem. I'm a bit concerned this time as I have a rear offside high level marker light that is obscured from the front by a wind out awning.

I've seen a few threads with people speculating as to whether this is now a failure under the recent MOT changes but no definitive answer. Has anyone put a motorhome through an MOT recently with a light in a similar position and if so what was the outcome.

Thanks

Patrick

PS Don't know if it has any bearing but van is 6m long by 2.35m wide and 2.75m high

Surely the purpose of that light is to be seen from the rear offside. Is there one on the same side at the front?

 

[DavidG58]

ours is bigger than yours and only has low level repeater lights, so my money says you will be OK

edit, what light colours does it show, I was referring to orange repeaters on mine, is your red / white ?

 

[Lyrick]

Surely the purpose of that light is to be seen from the rear offside. Is there one on the same side at the front?

No nothing at the front

 

[Polobonnie100]

If it's not an 'obligatory light', i.e. brake light, etc, then it shouldn't come into the MoT, as far as I know...

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[Mr Chrysalis]

When indicator lights were first introduced, you did not have t retrofit them to a car that did not have them when it was registered, but if you did fit them, they had to work.

So if your light was ok when the van was new, they should be ok now

 

[Lyrick]

ours is bigger than yours and only has low level repeater lights, so my money says you will be OK

edit, what light colours does it show, I was referring to orange repeaters on mine, is your red / white ?

Yes red / white

 

[Allanm]

I don’t think the regulations on lighting were changed much and doubt if your light would be a problem, but maybe a phone call to your local mot station would put your mind at rest.
They are the ones who would have a definitive answer.

 

[jdk62]

In July’s MMM magazine there was a letter raising a similar question

The response from the head of MOT’s ( or whatever title it was...) was that if fitted, high level markers to the rear of vehicles must be operational or it would fail an MOT

Not sure where that sits if yours is operational but obscured...

 

[Rob Turner]

If you are unsure then just tape the white light and then it can’t fail.

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[Lyrick]

Hi , thanks for all the replies.

I was rather hoping that someone else had been in this position

I've seen quiet a few motorhomes with marker lights obscured like mine.

Patrick

 

[pappajohn]

In my opinion it applies to class 5 vehicles... Motorhomes are class 4 and don't require position lights.

Whatever the outcome PLEASE come back and let us know for future reference.

 

[Lyrick]

In my opinion it applies to class 5 vehicles... Motorhomes are class 4 and don't require position lights.

Whatever the outcome PLEASE come back and let us know for future reference.

Will do, but I don't know whether to move the light, remove the awning (temporarily) or suck it and see.

Only problem removing awning is that the gap to the van side is sealed with what looks like sikaflex

Patrick

 

[tacr2man]

What should happen and what will happen are not necessarily the same

 

[Lyrick]

Just rang three separate MOT stations = got two passes and a maybe.
Unable to get in touch with the actual place it will be tested as both testers are off sick. Must be a stressful job.

Patrick

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[Lee Fryer]

My motorhome is the same and it has passed every year for the last 6 years I have had it.
Lee

 

[Lyrick]

My motorhome is the same and it has passed every year for the last 6 years I have had it.
Lee

MOT test update in May 2018, was yours tested after this date ?

 

[telsdog]

Hi @Wedgy
As you suspect , inspection of end outline marker lights came into the mot in May 2018. They must be fitted to vehicles over 2.1m wide excluding mirrors and registered after 1st April 1991. They must be fitted at or above the upper windscreen edge and show white light to the front and red to rear.

 

[pappajohn]

Hi @Wedgy
As you suspect , inspection of end outline marker lights came into the mot in May 2018. They must be fitted to vehicles over 2.1m wide excluding mirrors and registered after 1st April 1991. They must be fitted at or above the upper windscreen edge and show white light to the front and red to rear.

So they have to be fitted to vehicles 27 years retrospectively .... There's going to be thousands of failed vans that never had them fitted from new this year then.

 

[telsdog]

I think you’ll find they have been a requirement since that date in Road Vehicle Lighting Regulations. They just haven’t been a testable item at mot until May 2018

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[Northernraider]

If you can see the red bit from the rear it will be fine

 

[Deneb]

So they have to be fitted to vehicles 27 years retrospectively .... There's going to be thousands of failed vans that never had them fitted from new this year then.

No, it has been a legal requirement to have them fitted since 1991 under the Road Vehicle Lighting Regulations, so any vehicle requiring but not having them would have been committing an offence all along. All that has changed is that they are now a testable item in the Class IV MOT whereas under the older test manual they weren't.

 

[Lyrick]

If you can see the red bit from the rear it will be fine

Thats exactly what I was told by the two MOT testers that said it would pass

 

[Northernraider]

Thats exactly what I was told by the two MOT testers that said it would pass

It's mainly a rear height marker ...most will have a separate front one but many don't

I have the same light but at the front of my van and you can't see the rear because of the awning and mine passed mot just on the 11th January

 

[Lee Fryer]

MOT test update in May 2018, was yours tested after this date ?

Yes June 18.
Lee

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[Lyrick]

Yes June 18.
Lee

That's good news thanks for letting me know

Patrick

 

[nicholsong]

It's mainly a rear height marker ...most will have a separate front one but many don't

I have the same light but at the front of my van and you can't see the rear because of the awning and mine passed mot just on the 11th January View attachment 278587

Tam, your light seems to be positioned lower than the awning so I would have thought it is visible from the rear. Mine, also only at the front, is certainly below the awning height.

Geoff

 

[Lyrick]

Tam, your light seems to be positioned lower than the awning so I would have thought it is visible from the rear. Mine, also only at the front, is certainly below the awning height.

Geoff

I think Tam means that he has a front marker as well but that the rear one is obscured by the awning. Well I'm hoping he does.

Patrick

 

[soreeyes]

I thought vehicle lighting now comes under ECE 48 .

 

[Louis]

I think Tam means that he has a front marker as well but that the rear one is obscured by the awning. Well I'm hoping he does.

Patrick

Rear marker only needs to be visual from side or rear, front marker side or front

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