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I've just inherited a low mileage 1996 Escort 1.6 LX 16v. Its immaculate but when I took it for a drive the steering was very sensitive and it seemes to wander on the road quite dangerously. The back tyres are well worn but the front are fine. Any ideas? Bushes? tracking? suspension wear (shocks seem fine) Over to you!
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Could your case of the wobblys be down to low pressure in the rear tyres, given that you say the tyres are well worn and the car wobbles, could be low pressure at the back and its ruined the rear tyres in the process seeing as you say the car is low mileage. As for very sensitive steering, again this could be a tyre problem, i.e. over inflation.
Pastyman..
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Front tyres overpressured?
check all tyre pressures, and also try swapping the wheels around. ie, fronts to rear, and vice versa.
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Wheel bearings?try shaking all wheels,hand brake off,of course.Tracking?set front to parallel(zero deg.toe in);rears are non-adjustable on 96 Escort.
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The first place I would look on an Escort of this era is the front lower suspension arms. They were notorious on Escort's and Fiesta's of that generation for wearing the bushes quite quickly and easily on the lower suspension arms and would give a wandering feeling when driving the vehicle.
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Presumably you have checked to make sure there isn't an unfortunate mix of radial/crossply tyres?
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Many Thanks
I will check this out on Saturday morning.
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Might also be worth checking to see if the wheels are not distorted - spin them with a fixed pointer close to the rim (point of a screwdriver or similar) If the gap varies significantly you've got a twisted wheel.
Bushes would seem a likely option, though.
Graeme
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Bushes on front suspension completely worn out!!! Many Thanks all.
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I think I have the same problem on my escort (J reg). How can you tell if they are worn? Could the bushes being worn allow a forward-backward motion of the suspension. Out of interest, how much did it cost you to put right?
Many thanks,
Rich
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My wee local garage was able to diagnose the problem. The mechanic levered a tyre lever in and moved it about. Car still at garage. Will be about around £50 all in to rectify I'm told.
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Thanks for the reply. That is quite a reasonable price. I think that Ford charge just under that just for one wisbone, part only!
Rich
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That Sherlock Holmes dude ain't got a patch on you has he ?
Pastyman..
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