Reconditioned rack fitted steering warning help
Discussion
Hi I have just had a reconditioning electric steering rack fitted today and when I went to pick it up there was an amber warning regarding steering ….Garage showed me the wheels were out of alignment which I can understand and have it booked in to get it done along with 2 new tyres …On my drive home the steering wheel was a good 45% past centre when I in a straight line …I took it back and they have told me warning will go when it’s aligned due to steering angle …and to make matters worse the issue it went in was still there after fitting so it turns out to be something else at great expense….Car is a Mini F55 I’m hoping someone can tell me the garage are not fobbing me off and the fault will go once tracking is done CV
Krikkit said:
Start the engine and run the steering fully from lock to lock, that might rid you of the warning.
Definitely get your alignment done first and see how the land lies, you may need to code the rack to the car
Done the lock to lock ,warning still there ,tracking hopefully done tomorrow Definitely get your alignment done first and see how the land lies, you may need to code the rack to the car
Hi not going to use them again total nightmare…Just had the tracking done got the print out noticed it said R56 not F55 questioned that he said it should be fine as soon as it drove out with full lock I heard a rubbing noise thought it was new tyres also pulling to right turns out it’s not right never ending this
Hi , i got a message saying my post had been deleted not sure why ..
However it looks like i can post so i will give a update ...
Car booked in for 2 tyres and tracking all done for 9.00am however on full lock offside tyre rubbing ,garage say take it back took it re done tracking same again ,guy doing the tracking was a bit baffled but said while reversing then going forward in a straight line steering wheel would move he said it shouldn't do that ...back to the garage after looking and lots of discussion i had to travel to another garage with him for what i presumed was to look at the car and a second opinion conclusion was from the other mechanic was that the steering rack was not centre ,the time now was 12.30pm.We then traveled back to the garage were they tried to rectify it after a while it came of the ramps and same again wheel rubbing ...Eventually at 3.00pm after being on the ramps again it came back down this time no rubbing on full lock but same issue with steering wheel being at a angle while driving in a straight line so once again i have to get it tracked to find out if they have sorted the issue ...
Whatever happens from today's tracking the car is going nowhere near the garage again i will have to try and find somewhere else .
I have had a nightmare with this with money spent that was not needed ,wasted two days with them and its still not done as i still need it to be coded i have a recommended company that will do that ...I have come to the point were it may be easier to put the old rack back on ,no need for coding as i presume it would recognise it ...In the meantime i an having to drive the car with the faults and traction control enabled ...
However it looks like i can post so i will give a update ...
Car booked in for 2 tyres and tracking all done for 9.00am however on full lock offside tyre rubbing ,garage say take it back took it re done tracking same again ,guy doing the tracking was a bit baffled but said while reversing then going forward in a straight line steering wheel would move he said it shouldn't do that ...back to the garage after looking and lots of discussion i had to travel to another garage with him for what i presumed was to look at the car and a second opinion conclusion was from the other mechanic was that the steering rack was not centre ,the time now was 12.30pm.We then traveled back to the garage were they tried to rectify it after a while it came of the ramps and same again wheel rubbing ...Eventually at 3.00pm after being on the ramps again it came back down this time no rubbing on full lock but same issue with steering wheel being at a angle while driving in a straight line so once again i have to get it tracked to find out if they have sorted the issue ...
Whatever happens from today's tracking the car is going nowhere near the garage again i will have to try and find somewhere else .
I have had a nightmare with this with money spent that was not needed ,wasted two days with them and its still not done as i still need it to be coded i have a recommended company that will do that ...I have come to the point were it may be easier to put the old rack back on ,no need for coding as i presume it would recognise it ...In the meantime i an having to drive the car with the faults and traction control enabled ...
E-bmw said:
Sorry for your issues OP, but it seems that unfortunately you have found a ridiculously inept garage and you need to spread your experience far & wide among those who could ever consider using them as they clearly have no idea how to perform a competent service.
Firstly. Obviously you need to get the alignment & recalibration etc done by someone competent & hopefully you now have that in hand.
Secondly. You say that this didn't even fix your problem, so what was the problem you were having?
Hi many thanks for taking time to reply..Firstly. Obviously you need to get the alignment & recalibration etc done by someone competent & hopefully you now have that in hand.
Secondly. You say that this didn't even fix your problem, so what was the problem you were having?
I was getting a creaking sound when rocking steering left to right noticeable stationary but not while actually driving i first thought strut mount so took it to the garage next door to my work place only because it was convenient they checked it on ramps and said it sounds like rack ,so i got a recon one for £400 took it in to them and got it fitted ...No issues with steering before just the creaking sound ..
Smint said:
Always best to let your chosen garage source parts, and are able to complete the whole job, ie in this case by having the correct coding and alignment equipment in house.
That way they are responsible for everything that happens.
I did ask them before they started the work if anything needed to be done after my sport mode on the car as it tightens the steering up when used ,he said no all will be ok...One of the guys that was there also said tracking should clear yellow warning codes i was getting...That way they are responsible for everything that happens.
I have since found out i need it coded not with Bimmer code or Bimmerlite but with better equipment this i have found someone who can do that ..
Learnt my lesson with the garage a lot of staff have used this garage in the past as its next door i trusted them ,i would rather then say no they cant do it .I did get a price from the company that supplied the recon unit at £300 fitted but they were booked up until the 16th April and they were over 50 mile away .... The next tracking will determine what i do next if problem is still there they have obviously have no idea what they are doing ...
I have a decent idea what i am doing with old cars as i have just replaced a steering column and rack on a MGB GT calibration was easy as i just marked the UJ postions when removed ...put back in same place ..
Hi, just a quick update from today ,i visited a local Kwik fit and to be honest at £71.95 i was thinking twice about it however i thought if i wait until tomorrow i would have to go back to the original tracking garage and i wouldn't know if the issue was until then ..
I explained the situation with them with previous issues i have had and to his credit he said if it stills rubs after the tracking he would not charge me ,just thought you cant get fairer than that so let him get on with it...Came back test drove no rubbing and he said tracking rods look pretty even on both sides so it looks like that side is fine just need the coding done .
I explained the situation with them with previous issues i have had and to his credit he said if it stills rubs after the tracking he would not charge me ,just thought you cant get fairer than that so let him get on with it...Came back test drove no rubbing and he said tracking rods look pretty even on both sides so it looks like that side is fine just need the coding done .
Quick update on my steering rack issues ....
It as turned out to be a very expensive fix for a problem that the garage did not fix
1 Car goes to garage for mechanical diagnostic.
2 New steering rack needed
3 Recon rack acquired
4Recon rack fitted
5 Problem still there (creaking when steering lock to lock)
6New top strut bearing as it must be that (fiitted free)
7Problem still there
8Take car for tracking (my cost)
9 Inner tyre rubbing on offside full lock ,take it back for tracking check
10 Tracking fine must be garages issue with fitting
11 Many hours waiting the day after to solve this issue
12 Issue found mechanics as not centred steering rack etc finally i get it back
13 Take car for tracking again my cost this time i went to kwik fit ,basically only place open and a second opinion tracking was out as was to be expected but no rubbing on inner tyre and guy told me tracking rods looked pretty even with no obvious issues ..
14 Took car today for coding the new steering rack £180 was not going to go for the £100 offered that fitted the rack said his mate could do it for ..
15 Literally just got the car back slight issue with the DSC but that turned out to be initializing and eventually the light as gone out ....Done a motorway run and all appears fine ....
The most annoying outcome of the weekend is that it looks like it was a £5.00 fix that as solved my creaking problem...On Sunday afternoon i sprayed my upper engine mount which contains a large rubber piece with silicon spray the only part of the car that did not have the wd40/silocon spray treatment and guess what my creaking as gone ....I dont know what lesson i have learnt here but i think there are quite a few...
It as turned out to be a very expensive fix for a problem that the garage did not fix
1 Car goes to garage for mechanical diagnostic.
2 New steering rack needed
3 Recon rack acquired
4Recon rack fitted
5 Problem still there (creaking when steering lock to lock)
6New top strut bearing as it must be that (fiitted free)
7Problem still there
8Take car for tracking (my cost)
9 Inner tyre rubbing on offside full lock ,take it back for tracking check
10 Tracking fine must be garages issue with fitting
11 Many hours waiting the day after to solve this issue
12 Issue found mechanics as not centred steering rack etc finally i get it back
13 Take car for tracking again my cost this time i went to kwik fit ,basically only place open and a second opinion tracking was out as was to be expected but no rubbing on inner tyre and guy told me tracking rods looked pretty even with no obvious issues ..
14 Took car today for coding the new steering rack £180 was not going to go for the £100 offered that fitted the rack said his mate could do it for ..
15 Literally just got the car back slight issue with the DSC but that turned out to be initializing and eventually the light as gone out ....Done a motorway run and all appears fine ....
The most annoying outcome of the weekend is that it looks like it was a £5.00 fix that as solved my creaking problem...On Sunday afternoon i sprayed my upper engine mount which contains a large rubber piece with silicon spray the only part of the car that did not have the wd40/silocon spray treatment and guess what my creaking as gone ....I dont know what lesson i have learnt here but i think there are quite a few...
I must admit when the car was on the ramps and from underneath and grabbing the wheels and turning them the sound did appear to come from offside were the electric power steering motor was located ,its quite large and blocks off anything above it and guess whats above it the engine mount ....I di have thoughts above the steering rack one owner with 60k serviced better than it was in its first 3 years , anything with a Turbo i service every 6k or 6 months with Millers nanodrive oil oem filters .
Car is treated like a bay and only gets in sports mode on the odd sunday afternoon trip out ...i was not convinced the rack would have gone ,never had a rack go on me in all my driving days ...Anyway big lesson learnt here although when i was younger i would have waited until the creaking sound turned in to a banging sound then i would have known were the problem was ,now im older i thought i would be responsible and sort it quickly think i might turn back to the old ways ...
Car is treated like a bay and only gets in sports mode on the odd sunday afternoon trip out ...i was not convinced the rack would have gone ,never had a rack go on me in all my driving days ...Anyway big lesson learnt here although when i was younger i would have waited until the creaking sound turned in to a banging sound then i would have known were the problem was ,now im older i thought i would be responsible and sort it quickly think i might turn back to the old ways ...
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