thanks for your responses. just to update, the garage checked the car on wed 19th and said everythings fine, no leaks. So i got a second opinion on the advice of consumers direct. My MOT garage checked it over on mon 24th and confirmed there are no leaks, and it will present no issues for the MOT. Thanks again.

8 weeks ago i bought a ford focus 1.6, 3 years old with 15,800 on the clock from franchised dealer Perrys in Burnley. I have just found out by chance, that the MOT had been issued with an advisory note, which i was not made aware of. Having checked the MOT history online, i found that the advisory note was stated as "steering rack damp". (there was another advice listed, but that was cleared up on the re-test) - yes, it failed its 1st MOT! (which i was also unaware of). As a start, i have contacted the dealer, and they have offered to look at it, and repair it if it needs repairing. "Give you peace of mind" as he said. My worry is the they will play on the fact that it is only advisory, and not a MOT failure, as he has already stated, and that they will just look at it and say its OK, supposedly giving me "peace of mind". The way i see it, there is no way they are going to change the rack or they would have done this in the first place. Any advice would be much appreciated, given that i would not have proceeded with the car had i known of this fault, and i have told them this over the phone. john2010