Can anyone shed any light on my steering problem? When i lock round fairly hard either going forwards or reversing (such as entering a tight parking space) my car feels as if it suddenly slips across to the side by probably a couple of inches. The closest thing i can compare the feeling to is like your front wheels are sitting on round pebbles and then as you turn, the wheels slide off the pebbles and the car seems to hop to the side. My thoughts are that it could be ball joints but to be honest, it's only a guess and until the weather picks up a bit i can't be arsed to crawl under the car to have a look. Any other suggestions what to look at when i build up the enthusiasm. By the way the car is a 1998 2.0 Mondeo Si.
Thanks guys (and possibly gals).

 

bottom arms

 

your going too fast :P

could be bushes, they wear pretty quick and if its got cheap pattern arms on then even quicker still.

your tyres ok, decent pressure, they're not budgets are they?

 

Forgot to mention in my OP. A few months ago i hit a curb in a petrol station and burst my passenger front tyre (yeah i know, twattish thing to do lol) and since putting my spare wheel on the problem has been much worse (it was doing it a little bit before the bump). Could the bump have made the original problem worse or could it be the different wheel and tyre that are highlighting the problem.

Phil - all tyres are in good order, correct pressures (usually put about 32 p.s.i. in them) and are mid range Toyo tyres.

Thanks for replies so far guys.

 

Mine did it still immediately after replacing bottom arms. Have some ned top-mounts to try next....

 

I concur, surprisingly cheap if I may be so vulgar as to bring up the thorny matter of fiscal value.
With the new arms you get all new bushes & bottom ball joint, in some cases the manufacturer is so kind as to include new bolts.
& whilst on the subject of bolts...the right hand side bolts come out ok, Ford in their infinite wisdom dropped them in from the top, which in a way is a good show as if the nuts came undone for whatever reason, the bolts would be less likely to drop out, however, on the left hand side this is a bad show as you can't get the bolts out as the gearbox is directly above them.
Simple solution is to undo the bolts enough so you can cut the heads off with a disc cutter, then fit new bolts the wrong way around as it were.

 

That could be oval'd hubs, where the ball joint goes in, tends to happen on the higher power mondeos ( yours is a 24 going by your sig )

I think my right lower is knackered, when going along if i put the power down it jumps to the right, but when i back off, it jumps left, but the steering wheel turns the opposite it way when it does it lol.

Also knocks on full lock, and when reversing if you brake in reverse it clunks.

FUcking heap lol

 

Interesting...i may resume my search for ST200 struts then....

 

I'd say bottom arms, not had this on mondy, but on other cars, don't be tempted to change the joints in the arms, I did this on a mk1 mondeo, as ford sell the joints, 15 miles later one dropped out,(of the hole,arm rose up in relation to it so putting the track wildly out) fortunately I was reversing in a gas station at the time.
tabetha

 

Just looking at my trusty Haynes manual and this confirms what you have just said Lord M. It too suggests putting the bolt back in from below to make refitting and future removal easier but states that this is not recommended by the manufacturer due to the safety implications. In the real world, how likely is it that the bolt could work loose and fall out?
Approximately what would a garage charge to replace the left hand lower arm?

Thanks for replies so far guys .

 

Well, can't say we've ever had one come out, a spot of thread lock & doing the thing up properly is just the ticket.

As for cost, tricky really old chap, about an hours work plus the bit, certainly not a difficult job, DIY would be about Ł20, garage could well be between Ł60-Ł100.
Get a few quotes if you're going down that route, some fast fit places may well do them so they can flog you a tracking,wheel balance, life insurance etc etc at the same time.

 

my 2000 plate Mondy does this too, and you have described the symptons well mate!

mine has 2 x new bottom arms, 2 x new track rod ends and is lowered 40mm, still does it?

 

Shit, that doesn't fill me with much confidence, don't want to spend a load of money on it and still end up with the problem.

 

CV joints are another problem on mondeos aswell, they can clunk/click and make the car jump when on full lock at low speeds.

 

That may be a bit lost on our younger viewers explaination

Staffy, as ever, best to get a second opinion, pop by a fast fit place, they will do all manner of free checks on the chance that they can flog you something, get them to do all the testing, you are under no obligation to purchase anything from them unless you agree to do so.

Doing a diagnosis on this new fangled interweb thingy is very difficult, we can only give you an opinion based on the balance of probability which is linked to personal experience, in other words, I'd hate to give anyone advice that would be likely to cost them unnecessary dollar, there have been several good calls on here, but you cannot beat getting the thing up in the air & having a jolly good poke around to assess the situation.

 

lol wtf

 

I think you'd have to be mad to go anywhere near that kind of place for ANY reason. Bunch of theives more interested in upselling you, than in actually fixing the car.

My Mk2 did this, and felt 'odd' at low speeds and hard lock. It turned out the diff was slowly consuming itself.

 

To be honest Dan, i was thinking exactly the same. As much as i appreciate Lord M's comments/advice/help i don't think i would want anyone at KwikFit touching my car. It may be an old bag of shit but i still don't want to give them an excuse to try to rip me off.
Regarding your comment on the diff, is there any way of checking this without having to remove the gearbox from the car?

 

Well look, I had been giving everyone an ounce of common sense here, please take note of the following advice-

Get these jokers to do all the checking, I didn't mean get them to do any work for you, jesus, did IQ's suddenly drop several points while I was enjoying a rather enjoyable night out with the Duke Of Buckley (& his most enjoyable wife )




Get them to show you the problem, plus remember there are other outfits than quickly fix or what ever they're called, then get it fixed by either yourself or a local garage.
As I was alluding to- diagnosis was almost impossible from behind a keyboard, get somebody to do it for nothing, how in the name of all that is sacred is that being ripped off?

In the voice of the youth of today I believe the acronym FFS is applicable in this instant (I'm not terribly good with this sort of thing)

No body, I repeat NO BODY will get ripped off on Melburys watch.

 

^^^^^ You make me laugh mate.

Wasn't having a dig at your advice which is hugely appreciated but i just have visions of taking my car into them to diagnose my original steering problem and them telling me i need to replace a dozen steering components just because they want to try to drain more money out of me when hopefully i only need to replace one or two. If they give me a long list of unnecessary work required to "correct" the steering i will basically be no nearer than i am now.

Thanks again though your Grace.

 

Staffy, if you were closer to Melbury Motors, my staff would be at your disposal to give you an honest opinion of what's wrong, however the distances involved here would make this a hugely impracticable exercise.

I'm afraid to say that if there's no one on here close to you that can have a quick look at it with you, then you're into a garage to make a definitive diagnosis, some may charge for this, some may not.

I feel that it is an essentially simple problem, Mondeo's being Mondeo's are (generally speaking) cheap & easy to fix, with several know culprits that cause problems, lower arms being one of them, there are a few others of course, it is never as simple as all that!
Hopefully there is an honest garage close by that can be of assistance to you & not go down the "sell up" route.

If I can be of any further assistance in this matter Staffy, then please do not hesitate.

Melbury.

 

In my experience 'mechanics' who frequent the specialist garage-based establishments generally don't have a clue - and while they'll make you think they're diagnosing your car, they'll be trying to sse what yarns they can spin to steal your money.

Say "Hi" to the Duke from me!

 

up until a week ago, id have 100% agreed with you. but a lad i know, took his car to the local fast fit place, as he hit a kirb in the snow, and thought his car felt 'funny'. when he took it in, the guy says, probs your tracking mate, if it is, will be about Ł30 to sort it. when the lad went back to pick his car up later that day, guy said your car drives fine mate, we have checked the tracking. mate pulls his wallet out to pay him whatever he owed, and he told him to put away, as there was nothing wrong with it in the first place.

to say i was shocked was an understatement. fast fit place doesnt make up a story, and charge, you , they usually do that if there is nothing wrong with the car anyway, nevermind tell you to put your wallet away.

so now, i only 99% agree with you, because there are obviously one, or maybe even two, that aint utter c*nts, who are looking to have your eyes out, but unfortunaly, most are

 

My st200 mondeo done exactly the same kind of like understeer - I put it down to ackerman steering angles due to the nature of the car and from asking around it seems common.

 

Mine sort of does the same thing, Only does it in reverse though when im parking ect. If i go full lock a sound like rubbing and cracking starts.. Im going to change the wheels and see if thats the problem as mine are 225 wide, i dunno what it is.. Ive got some spare arms to put on but havent bothered yet, as the front drivers side "squeaks" when going over un-even roads.. Mine is a 1997 ST24 by the way.

 

Check your droplinks I had to change one of mine because of funny noises.

 

Cheers, i will take a look at the weekend when i change the wheels over to see if anythings worn or whatever, i know my anti roll bar bushes are worn but ive got some powerflex ones to fit.

 

i've had a few mk2 mondys now with the same problem so may be something to do with the design of steering i suppose - probably the only thing that bugs me about mine to be honest!