A cautionary tale about garage mechanics.
Last year at MOT time, I thought the bottom ball joints needed replacing, so when I took the car to the garage I put two new ones in the boot, just in case. I received the 'phone call - "the n/s ball joint needs replacing, the o/s one has damage to the rubber boot". I replied that here were two new ones in the boot, could they fit them? Yes they could. Later that day I collected the Mabel the Stag and a shiny new MOT certificate.
After a week or two I realised that the steering fault hadn't gone away. I've posted before about a sort of 'notch' felt through the wheel when turning left which I thought was caused by a failing ball joint. With two shiny new ball joints, the notch was still there. So I set about eliminating other parts. The rack had been replaced a couple of years ago, so I took the lower steering shaft out, the two universal joints were a bit loose so I put a new one in. No improvement, so I took the steering column out, stripped it and checked the universal in there, no problem. Oiled it anyway and rebuilt the column. What a lovely job that is!
Time passes, we did the trip to Den Haag in the Netherlands, did the Round Britain Run, still with the notchy steering. It hadn't got any worse but was still there. The last job was to replace the rack mount bushes with poly ones. Until last week, when I took the car in for the MOT and received the phone call - "the n/s ball joint has failed". Puzzled? I was. Ball joints are usually good for thousands of miles, and this one has only done about 12,000. I collected the car, knowing I had another new ball joint in stock and having more time this year, and set about replacing the failed one.
And there is the point of this tale. The ball joint fitted a year ago was perfectly sound, but it was rattling about in the end of the track control arm and seemed to have been doing so for a long time. I would never have thought to check that the new parts had been fitted correctly, but now that I've rectified the problem the notch on the steering has gone. I'm disappointed that the mechanic didn't tell me that the new ball joint had slipped in easily, quite likely that the old one came out easily too. They don't usually! I'm afraid that the older guys that run this garage had left the job to one of the less experienced mechanics who just didn't know how the bottom ball joints on a MacPherson strut suspension are supposed to fit.
It'll be nice driving to Barcelona with perfect steering!
Richard
Last year at MOT time, I thought the bottom ball joints needed replacing, so when I took the car to the garage I put two new ones in the boot, just in case. I received the 'phone call - "the n/s ball joint needs replacing, the o/s one has damage to the rubber boot". I replied that here were two new ones in the boot, could they fit them? Yes they could. Later that day I collected the Mabel the Stag and a shiny new MOT certificate.
After a week or two I realised that the steering fault hadn't gone away. I've posted before about a sort of 'notch' felt through the wheel when turning left which I thought was caused by a failing ball joint. With two shiny new ball joints, the notch was still there. So I set about eliminating other parts. The rack had been replaced a couple of years ago, so I took the lower steering shaft out, the two universal joints were a bit loose so I put a new one in. No improvement, so I took the steering column out, stripped it and checked the universal in there, no problem. Oiled it anyway and rebuilt the column. What a lovely job that is!
Time passes, we did the trip to Den Haag in the Netherlands, did the Round Britain Run, still with the notchy steering. It hadn't got any worse but was still there. The last job was to replace the rack mount bushes with poly ones. Until last week, when I took the car in for the MOT and received the phone call - "the n/s ball joint has failed". Puzzled? I was. Ball joints are usually good for thousands of miles, and this one has only done about 12,000. I collected the car, knowing I had another new ball joint in stock and having more time this year, and set about replacing the failed one.
And there is the point of this tale. The ball joint fitted a year ago was perfectly sound, but it was rattling about in the end of the track control arm and seemed to have been doing so for a long time. I would never have thought to check that the new parts had been fitted correctly, but now that I've rectified the problem the notch on the steering has gone. I'm disappointed that the mechanic didn't tell me that the new ball joint had slipped in easily, quite likely that the old one came out easily too. They don't usually! I'm afraid that the older guys that run this garage had left the job to one of the less experienced mechanics who just didn't know how the bottom ball joints on a MacPherson strut suspension are supposed to fit.
It'll be nice driving to Barcelona with perfect steering!
Richard