Ford S-Max steering click
Discussion
Hi,
I have a 2006 Ford S-Max which developed a strange click on the steering which only happens when I'm turning the wheel clockwise. Up until recently, it has just been a small annoyance, however it slowly became worse to the point that I have to exert a fair bit of force to get past the sticking point and then suddenly the wheel goes light again causing me to suddenly steer right. Not good.
Also, it has occasionally gone so 'stiff' that I don't think my wife could manage to force it to turn, so I need to get it looked at now.
It feels to me, as if it's a problem with the gearing - as if the cogs aren't aligning or there's some debris in there or something, because if it's tough to steer right, a small steer to the left and then right again 'fixes' it (until the next right-hander!)
I have owned the car since new, and have always gone to Ford for servicing and repairs up until this point, but due to the car's age + this is the sort of thing that Ford would probably say 'we need to replace the entire rack... and the power-steering... and the column... and anything else we can think of' I thought it was time I visited a local garage that comes with a good reputation.
The mechanic took a look last week and said he suspects it's either the rack or a problem with the steering column - maybe a sticking universal joint or something.
He said he could take out the steering column and manually check the UJs and would then be able to say for sure if that was the problem or not, but this would represent > £100 worth of labour so it's a gamble as it may turn-out to be a red-herring.
He suggested I had a look about online (and he was going to do the same) to see if this is a known issue for the make / model to give me a better idea which direction to go.
I've had a look, but there's not that much out there I can find. Most of them seem to be pointing towards the rack (typical!!) but my brother suggested I made a quick post on here to see if anybody has had anything similar, or who could make a suggestion.
Any assistance would be appreciated, thank you
I have a 2006 Ford S-Max which developed a strange click on the steering which only happens when I'm turning the wheel clockwise. Up until recently, it has just been a small annoyance, however it slowly became worse to the point that I have to exert a fair bit of force to get past the sticking point and then suddenly the wheel goes light again causing me to suddenly steer right. Not good.
Also, it has occasionally gone so 'stiff' that I don't think my wife could manage to force it to turn, so I need to get it looked at now.
It feels to me, as if it's a problem with the gearing - as if the cogs aren't aligning or there's some debris in there or something, because if it's tough to steer right, a small steer to the left and then right again 'fixes' it (until the next right-hander!)
I have owned the car since new, and have always gone to Ford for servicing and repairs up until this point, but due to the car's age + this is the sort of thing that Ford would probably say 'we need to replace the entire rack... and the power-steering... and the column... and anything else we can think of' I thought it was time I visited a local garage that comes with a good reputation.
The mechanic took a look last week and said he suspects it's either the rack or a problem with the steering column - maybe a sticking universal joint or something.
He said he could take out the steering column and manually check the UJs and would then be able to say for sure if that was the problem or not, but this would represent > £100 worth of labour so it's a gamble as it may turn-out to be a red-herring.
He suggested I had a look about online (and he was going to do the same) to see if this is a known issue for the make / model to give me a better idea which direction to go.
I've had a look, but there's not that much out there I can find. Most of them seem to be pointing towards the rack (typical!!) but my brother suggested I made a quick post on here to see if anybody has had anything similar, or who could make a suggestion.
Any assistance would be appreciated, thank you
This is pretty much what happened when my steering rack failed.
As it was under warranty, I never did find out what the reason was, but supposedly this is not an uncommon issue on the Smax - I know of 1 other personally, and it has been mentioned on the Smax forum. It was picked up by the dealer when they plugged the diagnostics in, not sure what they could see, but that was now it was initially picked up. It was gradually getting worse as well, over a couple of weeks, so I'd not leave it too long.
At a guess, i would say there is some weak point in the valving, as my car only had about 35,000 miles on at the time. However, the replacement has been fine (touch wood) and now on 117,000 miles.
I understand a rack is about £400 - I guess that is exchange / recon cost - doesn't look too big a job to change it.
Good luck.
As it was under warranty, I never did find out what the reason was, but supposedly this is not an uncommon issue on the Smax - I know of 1 other personally, and it has been mentioned on the Smax forum. It was picked up by the dealer when they plugged the diagnostics in, not sure what they could see, but that was now it was initially picked up. It was gradually getting worse as well, over a couple of weeks, so I'd not leave it too long.
At a guess, i would say there is some weak point in the valving, as my car only had about 35,000 miles on at the time. However, the replacement has been fine (touch wood) and now on 117,000 miles.
I understand a rack is about £400 - I guess that is exchange / recon cost - doesn't look too big a job to change it.
Good luck.
Interesting, thanks.
It does sound more likely to be the rack. Perhaps I should just 'bite the bullet' and go for the most likely cause instead of gambling on the steering column.
One or two searches suggested that Ford charge £1000 - £1200 to replace the rack, which on a car this age is a significant repair. I think I'll go through my new garage and see if he can do it for less.
It does sound more likely to be the rack. Perhaps I should just 'bite the bullet' and go for the most likely cause instead of gambling on the steering column.
One or two searches suggested that Ford charge £1000 - £1200 to replace the rack, which on a car this age is a significant repair. I think I'll go through my new garage and see if he can do it for less.
Peanut Gallery said:
Is the click only going from straight ahead to slight right?
The problem does occur when first turning right, yeah (from straight-ahead). There's some resistance and then a knock.... and then wheel turns fine.Sometimes the resistance is very slight, so just a small 'click' but on a couple of occasions it is really difficult to get past whatever's blocking it. Probably more than if the power-steering had failed entirely. This can happen at slow speeds or higher speeds.
Check your bushes - my focus clicked away going from straight to slight right, turned out I had play in one of my lower swing arm bushes. Had the bushes replaced, this fixed it, I then heard somewhere that the Focus ST has a lower swing arm that is stronger and is the same size as the one in my car, hence would last longer.
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