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.

take it back to the garage and tell them that there diagnosis was wrong and they need to do something about it.

My mk5 was out of warranty because I didnt keep to the service schedule when the fuel filler neck went. The local dealership refused (as is their right) to do it under warranty. I contacted FMCRC and calmly but firmly explained I didnt think something like that should go on a car barely a year old and they covered the cost as a goodwill gesture. They helped me no end and when there were a few niggly problems I went back to FMCRC & the lady handling my case and they sorted those problems too.

Pfft... Ford Customer Relationship Centre... well thats what it used to be called

Ford are offering 50% of the bill, seems to be the norm. Going in to the Ford garage again today for them to check why its pulling to the right...oh what fun!

Apparently the replacement rack is fubared and I need yet another one grrrrr. Costing me a fortune in taxi's!

Well got the car back today, just before the place was closing and it is exactly the same! Really pissed off with this dealership now! What should I do? Legal action? Call customer services again? Can I transfer the work to another Polar dealership?

Can I ask other ST owners:

1. Does you steering wheel sit slightly to the right when going straight down the road (i'm sure mine didnt before the "repair").

2. Is the steering fairly stiff?

3. Does the steering pull against you with some force when turning a corner?

4. Do your tyres follow every groove in the road?


Cheers

I can agree with number 4 - whenever i'm going down any B roads i seldom take 2 hands off the wheel, you never know when it's gonna give you a jolt, it's even worse when it happens under braking, can be pretty scary sometimes.

Where pipes & mains have been laid in the road, my wheels enjoy following those lol.

1. Yea if the steering wheel is dead straight it pulls to the left alot of cars do this you can get corrected if you want

2. Steering is light wouldn't say it stiff at all

3. Depends if your putting power down and if its bumpy

4. They do holes but not tracks as such but have heard you can sit in the lorry tracks on the motorway and just let it steer itself on some STs

Thanks for your replies guys PolarFord (well the service manager)seem to think this is "normal". So we can safely say that 1-3 is lies and some truth in 4 because of the wide tyres but it shouldn't be too bad. Somethings deffo not right with my steering. Just took it out for a spin an hour ago and the steering shakes at 60+ and dissapears off the road to the left if the steering wheel is straight or sits slightly right to stay straight. I'm gonna blow a fuse with ford tomorrow!!!

I would say 1 and 4 are quite normal behaviour
Mine pulls to the left

If the steering shakes you probably need the wheels balanced

The wheels were balanced about 6 months ago and have been fine until they touched it unless they decided in their wisdom to rip the weight off. So what your saying is, to go straight down the road your cars steering wheel sits slightly to the right? My issue is a bit more than pulling, it doesn't veer left, it goes left lol

something def up with your car, mine stays straight, steerings light and I dont get jolted about turning corners!

I have a very slight steering wheel wobble on the motorway tho, but I'm gonna get that sorted when it goes in for a service next month

If i let go of the steering wheel i would crash almost immediately as it goes left
Weight may of just fallen off

ask for an while they got your car, sure that'll make up for the hassle

Well that would be some compensation But seeing as it was going on my insurance I don't think they would allow that Well finally after attempt number 3 they seem to have got it straight. I need to take it on the motorway and test for vibration now. The steering feels fairly stiff but I'll so how it goes. The jacking point covers for the side sills turned up but someone kindly ripped off my mini ST badge off the grill which they said they would pay for! They've also scratched my wing but its only light and i reckon i could get that out with T-Cut but they've done a deep one on the bottom of my front bumper...what a nightmare.

sound like a bunch of right cowboys.

Bit like when my dad took his freelander in for a new 'box, when it came back it had bolts missing, no oil and the engine guard thing underneath was missing! They rekon it wasn't there to start with and they didn't have one in the garage, but a threat of law action and they magicly found one