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My son has just bought a 2 door Fiesta. 1 owner only 45,000 on the clock. Great car not a mark on it, engine good but the steering is very heavy. There is no powered steering.I have driven a Renault trafic with no powered steering and fully ladened it was not as heavy as this fiesta. The steering seems to get heavier the more the lock is turned but as you start to straighten up after a bend or corner the stering wheel almost jumps out of your hand as it straightens up the steering. Could it be a faulty castor angle? There seems no way of adjusting it. It passed its MOT a week before it was purchased so I presume there are no major problems and it does not seem to have been in a bump. My son likes the car but this steering is a bit like hard work and it worries me a bit that a car as small as this is so difficult to turn . Any help would be great. Cheers. Paul.
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All you can adjust on this Ford is the Toe;hasn't had non-standard wheels fitted?
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Blow the tyres up!
I would suggest that the tyres are on firm side of the manufacturer fig that should help. If that fails try different make of tyres on front (eg swapping fronts to back?)
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If these cars are fitted with strut top bearings, to allow the upper spring seat to rotate with the strut itself, that's one place where I would look - if these fail, or are assembled badly, the coil springs also become a torsion springs when steering.
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Thanks for the replies. Tyres are new on front, just fitted. Tried jacking car up and checked steering, all seems free and easy. Pressures are as standard so I'll try a higher pressure and see if its any better. Steering seemed better on brand new tyres for about a week, presume that was until the gloss had worn off the tread. Will let you know what happens. Thanks again. Paul.
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Hi,
There is a universal joint coupling at the bottom of the steering column as it meets the steering rack. You will see this from under the bonnet. These were prone to seizing up.
It's a fairly straight forward job to dis-connect it and see if it is seized.. you could try and free it off, but i don't think a new one is expensive.
I worked for Ford when this model was out, and i changed lots of them, so would bet that this is the cause of your heavy steering.
Hope this helps
James
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Jimbano is spot on.
I had a Fiesta with heavy/lumpy steering.
The Ford place diagnosed it straight away and told me they'd replaced 'dozens' of the universal joints.
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Well thanks for that reply on the UJ. I never thought of that one although I had a problem with the steering on my Transit a few months ago. All at once the steering became heavy and I checked wheels, rack and joints, powered steering pump and fluid. Saw a mention on this site and sprayed the old WD all over the UJ and hey presto it worked. Thanks for the advise I will keep you informed of the outcome. Cheers again. Paul.
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HI Paul.
on a note about fiesta steering.
when I was younger I owned a 3 year old fiesta RS turbo. they only made them for 18months before the RS1800 with the 1800 zectec engine was introduced.
it had a 1.6 turboed engine giving 0-60 in 7.9 the standard low profile and wide tyres and a standard small diameter leather steering wheel meant that parking on anything apart from snow and gravel was hard work. but boy did you get feedback through the steering wheel when on the go.
After 2 vandal attacks in 9 months I sold it,,,it attracted to much unwanted attention,
bought a mk2 golf driver afterwards 1.8 with 185 tyres and no power steering again standard setup....
yep difficult to park, but then again it was so nice to feel exactly whats going on under the tyres..modern cars that you can park with 1 finger on the steering wheel are so dead on the steering feedback..
Paul.
H870FS grey rs turbo fiesta 1.6cvh 140hp totally standard.
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Hi again. Well I tried the WD on the UJ and I think things are better. Not brilliant but like everyone else nowadays I'm so use to power steering. I think it is a bit easier but my son says he sees no difference. I suppose if he can live with it, he's the driver, so I'll leave it there. The great advantage of this site is that although some people suggest solutions to the problem that you have already tried you feel that others are thinking on the same lines as you. This gives you confidence in that you are thinking logically about the fault and so are others. You just have to see if someone has solved the problem with something you haven't tried yet. I hope that makes sense. Many thanks to all who helped. Isn't the internet wonderful!!!! Cheers. Paul.
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