S-Max 2.5 Long list of work required- recommendations

[anonymous-user]

Hi all,
my neighbour has an S-Max 2.5, seems like a decent family wagon with a nice bit of engine.

He just popped over as he has a list of work to be done by the ford dealer that is more than £2000, and includes some strange ones. I haven't checked the car over but wanted some recommendations from Pistonheaders. The work includes

replace rusty front discs (?)
noisy steering- replace steering column (£974 for part, £500 labour)
air con service
normal stuff like tyres and tracking

He's getting quotes of £100/ hour for ford labour in south london.

So, questions:

1) any known issue with s-max steering columns, or is this more likely a pas pump?
2) any recos on somewhere in london/ south london/ nearby that works on these cars a lot and is independent
3) have anyone's rusty front discs failed during a particularly hard nurburgring lap and caused the car to implode?

Grateful for any recos on the first 2.

Thanks!

[Justin S]

My sisters S max 2.5 needed a new indicator/ stalk set, but not a column. Thats an odd one. Discs are cheap as chips. Suspect they are the same as my ST. I got a set of Mintex grooved discs and standard pads off the bay for £200 notes , that's 4 discs and pads. Its just a Ford, so any reputable garage can do the work. PAS , if like the ST is pumped, rather than electric.

[dumfriesdave]

Might be worth doing a bit of googling re. steering column.
I ran Mk3 Mondeos for a while which were notorious for steering column issues so might be the same on S-Max.
Mondeo columns felt 'rough' when turning the steering at certain angles giving the impression of a faulty column.
The fix was simply to remove clamp at bottom and move the universal joint around while packing with grease.
Used to do mine routinely every 6 months, and made a big improvement.

[anonymous-user]

thanks for the replies- very useful. Seems there are 2 types of pump on the s-max, electric and belt driven, and a few known problems. Helpful stuff guys- thank you.

[Justin S]

I guess by turning the wheel one way and then the other, listen for the whine. If it does, its hydraulic.

[5potTurbo]

The PAS is hydraulic on the S-Max. I've had 2 S-Maxes, the current 2.5T since March 2008.

Brake discs are cheap, as are pads, even available on the Bay of Fleas - and get a local independent garage to do that work. My car used to run 365bhp/525Nm, Vmax at 255km/h (!) and it didn't ruin the discs on the Nordschleife - IF you let them cool down after a fast lap!

Faulty steering column MIGHT be right - especially if the car's used for the school run, but, I've only heard of problems on diesel engined cars here as the engine's quite a bit heavier - and I've been an Admin on smaxownersclub.com for 6 years. Is it 'clonking' and feeling tight when turning sharply and at low speed?

Also, there's a replacement pipe on the PAS which is a wider bore to get rid of the whining noise when turning.
Ford know about it but don't advertise it at all!