My steering seems to have gone a little bit heavier recently. I have checked the tyre pressures and they seem ok (32 front / 29 rear) and the tracking seems ok because the car can stay in a straight line unless the camber of the road is a bit wonkey. I have checked the PAS fluid and it is topped up and still cherry redish. I can hear the pump when turning the steering wheel back and forth so it is working. Also on full lock theres no banging sound so the suspension springs are probably ok.

So what should I do now? Its not overly heavey just a bit more than usual. Should I have the PAS fluid changed? should I have the pump replaced? or is the rack at fault?

Thanks in advance for any comments.

Cheers

BTW it is a Fiesta before anyone asks

Well i've got a 1L bottle of PAS fluid from ford at more than twice the price of the standard stuff (nowhere sold 195A) to see if it will help. Can someone please tell me the best way of getting the old fluid out without getting it all over the engine bay lol and is 1L enough?

If the fluid is still red then you don't need to change it.

Just hold the steering at full lock each side for five seconds to get any air out. (With the engine running, obviously!!)

Thanks for your reply Dave I've changed the fluid which was a darkish red to a nice bright red colour from the new stuff. I did full locks from side to side about 6 times with the cap off the tank and didnt notice any air bubbles. Unfortunantly this hasnt cured my problem. The steering is still heavey and seems to pull against me with a little more force when turning a corner. Does that sound like a pump issue, the rack or a slack accessories belt? Think this is gonna cost me a small fortune Its only 6 months out of warranty with 28k on the clock, maybe Ford will pay something towards it?

I think you'll find your tracking is out, check that again first.

I had it tracked on friday but i'm still having problems. The service manager at Ford is going to drive out with me this Friday. The steering seems worse with the AC on but it might be like that anyway.

It might be a problem with the belt tensioner then.

The garage says its the rack. Its gonna cost £10015.63 to fix They might be able to discount the cost of the rack and get it down to £950.

Yeah lol lose another zero off that, basically 1k. Still its a bloody rip-off. My car is only 7 months out of warranty and done only 29k so I'm thinking Ford should pay something towards it. Under consumer law the goods has to be fit for the purpose intended and last a *reasonable* amount of time. I think its reasonable to assume a rack should last 5-10 years or 100,000 miles not 3.5 @ 29k! Anyone got an address or phone number at Ford for issues like this?

Yeah I knew it was an error hehe
I'm sure someone will know the complaints line.

I think its reasonable to assume a rack should last 5-10 years or 100,000 miles not 3.5 @ 29k! Anyone got an address or phone number at Ford for issues like this?

FORD Customer Relationship Centre on 0845 841 1111

Thanks for the number Tez I'm quite surprised that the Ford CR department was quite efficient and seem willing to help! I was expectiving to get fobbed off by some Indian call center but actually they seem quite good. Hopefully they will contribute something towards the cost of the rack but I should find out monday if they do. I've still got to stump up the full amount today because PolarFord won't let me take the car without paying it all. I've got to have a photocopy of my service book faxed to Ford before they agree whether or not to help out with the payment.

If anyone else is thinking about making an out of warranty claim in the future, Ford have a cut-off point of 45 months from the car being new. Also the car must have a full service history, preferably at a Ford dealer (you'll have more chance of a higher discount and them doing something about it). Of course you can still take them to court under the sale of goods act which many people don't know about -

For up to six years after purchase (five years from discovery in Scotland) purchasers can demand damages (which a court would equate to the cost of a repair or replacement).

but...

After six months and until the end of the six years, it is for the consumer to prove the lack of conformity.

I've had my car back for a few days and now my steering wheel seems to be off-center. It seems happy to stay turned slightly to the right - is this a tracking issue? Also the car still follows every groove in the road but I noticed that on the check sheet from Ford, one of the tyres has a treadware of 4 7 4 and wondered if that could be causing it??? So basically i've paid for a steering rack and its changed sweet FA and Ford havent come back to me. The steering still pulls quite harshley in the opposite direction to what it used to be like. Probably worse than when I first took it into the Ford garage I'm just pissed off with it all now!

In my opinion it's only fair they re-imburse you if their diagnosis of a faulty rack wasn't correct - and you've forked out 1k as a result. We shouldn't have to gamble our hard earned cash on what 'could be fixes'.

I understand that fault finding on cars can be extremely awkward at the best of times, but once you're talking significant sums of money there should be something in place to protect the consumer from this.