Steering pump and shock absorber this week!

I posted up a problem about the steering on the wifes focus and its boiled down to the fact it needs a new steering rack which i have yet to do, apparently its the 'bias valve' inside the rack? basically when the car was either cold, or stationary or at low RPMs and the steering wheel was at centre, if you turned the wheel to the right, it would turn freely, then go really hard, and then clunk loudly and jump ?

It also had a loose balljoint which was making one of about 7 rackets it makes, i purchased a brand new wishbone to the tune of £40 and ive yet to fit it and now over the last few days,and now the steering pump itself is making a strange noise when turning the steering wheel, mainly when stationary/parking, or when the engine is cold, it sounds as if there is no fluid in there, but the fluid level is fine?

I fitted some new shock absorbers to the front 2 months ago, and i noticed too the other day that when crawling in traffic, there was this strange, hollow pop psshh pop psshh pop sound coming from the passenger side,i dismantled the passenger side and it transpires the shock absorber piston which runs through the shock, it doesn't go all the way in and out in one smooth motion? It goes in, and then comes back out like a bit at a time, it hasnt blown or lost any fluid?

So now ive got the shock to either replace again, and now its bugging me at the steering fault, is it the rack, or is it the pump, or is it the wishbone, as its the right hand side balljoint clicking.

Im going to fit the wishbone, but if the problem is still there, i could spend £30 on a new steering pump, and the problem to still be there, ive priced a rack up at £110 with £60 fitting which totals £170, if i gamble with the pump call it £200, ive already spent £40 on a wishbone, so there is £210 again.

I have spent £450 on this car on service items and a few other suspension components over the last few months, she has a long tax and test and is in remarkable condition for her age but i just cant decide when is enough enough? Its too good to scrap, but i cannot sell her as she is with the steering issue as ill get nothing for her, but at the same time i feel shes not worth ploughing another £200 into to fix one issue !

More words of wisdom greatly appreciated.

Thanks again.

Ashley

 

What noise is the steering pump making? If its just whining its probably because its working and pumping the fluid to assist steering as it should, listen to a vauxhall when you turn the engine off there noisy as fuck your probably just being paranoid and have only just noticed the noise now. If the steering doesnt go heavy atall, and your not loosing any fluid id say you have nothing to worry about tbh. We had a focus a while back with 350k on the clock that had the exact same problem, it would turn so far, lock, then jump free, second hand rack sorted it no problem.

As for the knocking i would say 9 times out of 10 on a modern ford it will be wishbone, they dont seem to get on together, alls we ever have in the garage is focus' and ka's for wishbones and top shocky mounts for the ka's.

Depending where you got your shocky from try and claim warranty as thats obviously broken alreadly dont give up hope, this is what ford ownerships about

Get the rack sorted as soon as though, having driven a car with the same problem i can say its pretty dangerous tbh, sometimes it does it, sometimes it doesnt, one day, it may be a little too far!

 

Is that high pitched groaning sound like when it has no or insufficient fluid? But the fluid level is fine, steering goes heavy when its like this, but once the car is warmed up or driven, it stops the noise and the steering is normal, i cant work whether the rack is knackered or the pump, or one or both are on the way out?

I didnt think Focus were too bad for wishbone issues? I thought it was Fiesta/Mondeo/Escort and Ka that went through them like no tommorow !

Are the racks hard to change? Apparently the subframe has got to come out underneath, exhaust off to get the subframe off, wheels etc ?

Ive had a look down the back of the engine and theres a big white plastic cover over where the steering goes into the car? what on earth is that !

Thanks

 

Did you prime the shocks before you fitted them? Most people are unaware you need to hold them vertical and then run the piston through complete cycles until all the air is purged and they run smoothly through a complete cycle.

 

I did push it in and out a few times, hoping it would sort itself out but it didnt, i just ' assumed ' it was because they were new, they are gas items, not oil, monroe i think they are (brand) i thought when they were fitted they would free themselves up under the weight of the car.

I fitted the new wishbone today and as of yet, ive had no nasty clunking through the steering wheel, really, really hoping this is the end of it, ive still got a creaking/knocking noise from somewhere, but the steering was the main issue to address here.

Thanks

 

To be fair to the car - stuff like dampers, wishbones/balljoints are all service items, and your car's obviously in the 'zone' when components starts to fail. It's not like it's a fault of the car, just bad fortune for you!

 

That is true and i suppose one way of looking at it, i feel if i gave up with it over the sake of £100 - £200 and bought another i could end up back at square one, its very frustrating when you replace 5 parts to iron out 1 faulty part, then a week down the line something else breaks !

Touch wood, replacing that wishbone has cured majority of that nasty clunking on the steering, though there is a small amount still there where it jerks its not as vicious as it was before.

Just the blowing exhaust and the knocking from the drivers footwell area to sort out next ! Thanks