Mondeo Steering Concern

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Mon 27 Nov 2006 15:40
Mondeo Steering Concern - collieman
My 52 Ghia X Estate 2.0 TDCi has developed a rumble noise and a roughish feel when I turn the steering wheel in either direction when the car is moving.The steering itself, however, is positive, and on the face of it there is not a problem.
New Michelin Pilot Primacy tyres were fitted on the rear wheels, and the original Pirelli P6000`s were changed back to front 2000m ago. At the same time the steering geometry was checked and adjusted.It has just passed it`s M.O.T
Could the different tyre treads, or the fact that they are low profile tyres or the different degrees of wear front to back account for the problem or could it be something more serious, or am I just being unnecessary sensitive?
Advice or comments would be much appreciated

Collieman
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Mon 27 Nov 2006 19:20
Mondeo Steering Concern - Rover25
'Could' be a death rumble from a CV joint, suggest that you get it checked out sooner rather than later, if a CV joint fails whilst you're out and about you'll lose drive and it could cause damage if the drive shaft goes adrift.
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Mon 27 Nov 2006 20:18
Mondeo Steering Concern - cheddar
During the first 40-50,000 miles in my TDCi I had the column pretension adjusted under warranty a couple of times due to a clonk on left hand bends, at about 75,000 miles (out of warranty) the dealer informed me that a revised column was available and that Ford would contribute 75% of the parts and labour so it would cost me about £75, however the adjustments had sorted the problem so I declined because all was fine and as it happens it still is at 110k. Could be worth checking out the pretension, it is refered to in the Haynes manual, and looking into the reason a revised column was made available.
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Mon 27 Nov 2006 20:19
Mondeo Steering Concern - cheddar
To clarify, mine is May 2002 and the mention of the revised column was around July 2004 by which time it was out of warranty on mileage.
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Mon 27 Nov 2006 20:18
Mondeo Steering Concern - Quinny100
It is worse at the extremes of the steering travel? There is a known issue with these that requires the steering rack greasing and the adjustment checked. P6000 are noisy tyres and not very good in the wet, but shouldn't cause the problem described.
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Tue 28 Nov 2006 17:13
Mondeo Steering Concern - collieman
My thanks to Rover 25, cheddar and Quinny 100 for your experience and advice. As a result of your replies I took the plunge and went to a Ford Service Agency and a steering rack problem was diagnosed. I`ve booked in for next Wednesday.(6/12/06).
The bad news is that a replacement rack will cost £460 plus labour !
(As yet our grandchildren don`t know their VERY bad Christmas news! )

Collieman
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Tue 28 Nov 2006 17:55
Mondeo Steering Concern - DP
The bad news is that a replacement rack will cost £460
plus labour !


Ow!

Have you tried an independent and the possibility of an exchange rack? My brother in law was quoted something similar by a main agent for his 306's steering rack and a local garage did the job using a guaranteed reconditioned part for less than half that amount including labour.

Car has done 10k since and is still perfect.

Cheers
DP
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