2003 Focus Handling Issues
Discussion
At the moment my car is handling like a complete pile of crap and its starting to really piss me off, especially with the fact that the two garages ive taken it to have said its fine!
Basically the steering will pull to any side at any given moment, not massively like knackered Escort wishbones, but enough to need to put a tiny amount of lock on to compensate. For example last week driving down hill along a straight bit of road the car wanted to pull more right the further I went along until I went around a right hand kink where it seemed to sort its self out. Also the steering feels really inconsistent. At car park speeds the steering can tighten up a bit, whilst at 50mph+ it is massively light and it dosnt feel like the wheels are solidly connected to the ground and turning into a corner it will either turn in really sharply or again feel feel lose.
Ive replaced the drop links and had it up on axle stands where I could find no play in the suspension what so ever. All that I have found wrong is that there is a bit of a knocking noise from the rack area and sometimes from the front right when I rock the steering wheel with the engine running and the wheels are on the ground. I have also found that when I rock the steering with the plug connected to the PAS pump the engine tries to stall, whilst without the engine idles pretty much perfectly.
So would a dodgy PAS pump pressure switch be the cure of my handling problems or is it best to change that first and go from there?
I would ideally like to get this sorted before I go away on holiday in mid March so all help is appreciated.
Ally
Basically the steering will pull to any side at any given moment, not massively like knackered Escort wishbones, but enough to need to put a tiny amount of lock on to compensate. For example last week driving down hill along a straight bit of road the car wanted to pull more right the further I went along until I went around a right hand kink where it seemed to sort its self out. Also the steering feels really inconsistent. At car park speeds the steering can tighten up a bit, whilst at 50mph+ it is massively light and it dosnt feel like the wheels are solidly connected to the ground and turning into a corner it will either turn in really sharply or again feel feel lose.
Ive replaced the drop links and had it up on axle stands where I could find no play in the suspension what so ever. All that I have found wrong is that there is a bit of a knocking noise from the rack area and sometimes from the front right when I rock the steering wheel with the engine running and the wheels are on the ground. I have also found that when I rock the steering with the plug connected to the PAS pump the engine tries to stall, whilst without the engine idles pretty much perfectly.
So would a dodgy PAS pump pressure switch be the cure of my handling problems or is it best to change that first and go from there?
I would ideally like to get this sorted before I go away on holiday in mid March so all help is appreciated.
Ally
Right this morning I drove the car with the PAS pressure switch disconnected and instantly the steering felt much better with a consistant weight to it and it was a hell of alot less fidgity over bumps and cambers which was a result.
I took it into Protyre in Exeter who are one of the best garages for tyres and suspension that I had found. They had a thorough look at the car and could find nothing obvious that was wrong with it and in the end they balanced the front wheels which has cured a slight vibration I was getting at around 50mph onwards After a decent length road test hey said to leave the wheel alignment for now as the tyres are wearing very evenly and to see how it goes, which at the moment is very well.
I took it into Protyre in Exeter who are one of the best garages for tyres and suspension that I had found. They had a thorough look at the car and could find nothing obvious that was wrong with it and in the end they balanced the front wheels which has cured a slight vibration I was getting at around 50mph onwards After a decent length road test hey said to leave the wheel alignment for now as the tyres are wearing very evenly and to see how it goes, which at the moment is very well.
Allyc85 said:
Right this morning I drove the car with the PAS pressure switch disconnected and instantly the steering felt much better with a consistant weight to it and it was a hell of alot less fidgity over bumps and cambers which was a result.
I took it into Protyre in Exeter who are one of the best garages for tyres and suspension that I had found. They had a thorough look at the car and could find nothing obvious that was wrong with it and in the end they balanced the front wheels which has cured a slight vibration I was getting at around 50mph onwards After a decent length road test hey said to leave the wheel alignment for now as the tyres are wearing very evenly and to see how it goes, which at the moment is very well.
What is the PAS pressure switch? What is it meant to do on the Focus? Is it on the rack or the pump? Have you had the car up so the front wheels are off the ground and are free to turn with the steering? Does the steering "self-motor" (turns with no input from the steering wheel) with the engine running? If the valve in the steering rack is playing up it can cause the steering to misbehave. Not had a recon by any chance?I took it into Protyre in Exeter who are one of the best garages for tyres and suspension that I had found. They had a thorough look at the car and could find nothing obvious that was wrong with it and in the end they balanced the front wheels which has cured a slight vibration I was getting at around 50mph onwards After a decent length road test hey said to leave the wheel alignment for now as the tyres are wearing very evenly and to see how it goes, which at the moment is very well.
Tripe Bypass said:
What is the PAS pressure switch? What is it meant to do on the Focus? Is it on the rack or the pump? Have you had the car up so the front wheels are off the ground and are free to turn with the steering? Does the steering "self-motor" (turns with no input from the steering wheel) with the engine running? If the valve in the steering rack is playing up it can cause the steering to misbehave. Not had a recon by any chance?
On the Focus its meant to keep the revs steady when you move the steering, which with the plug connected it dosnt.Ive found that the pump makes a whining/sucking noise when you rock the steering, along with this knocking noise from the rack area. I should also add that the fluid level is fine and there is no bubbling in the reservoir.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1frTw5KOFI
When you hear it, you do wonder how a garage cant find a fault with it!
Right I changed the PAS fluid today and this is what came out of the reservoir :thumbdown:
PAS fluid! by Allyc85, on Flickr
How the garages I took the car to missed this I dont know, its almost black and as runny as water!
So I flushed through 2 litres of new fluid, before bleeding the system and adding another half litre or so. The steering is now a hell of alot lighter and the pump no longer whines/weezes when you rock the steering so its deffo been worth while doing, I just need to take the car on a decent drive at the weekend to see if it handles any better. I also think I may have to flush a bit more through in a couple weeks as theres bound to still be some dirty fluid in the system!
PAS fluid! by Allyc85, on Flickr
How the garages I took the car to missed this I dont know, its almost black and as runny as water!
So I flushed through 2 litres of new fluid, before bleeding the system and adding another half litre or so. The steering is now a hell of alot lighter and the pump no longer whines/weezes when you rock the steering so its deffo been worth while doing, I just need to take the car on a decent drive at the weekend to see if it handles any better. I also think I may have to flush a bit more through in a couple weeks as theres bound to still be some dirty fluid in the system!
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