Sam
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On my car, I have noticed a lot of grease on the driver's side inner CV joint boot.
When driving at motorway speeds (60mph-80mph) there is a definite vibration coming from the front driver's side of the car. Wheels are balanced properly and it even did this after a four wheel laser track that was done on the car a few months ago.
Also, from cold, the steering wheel seems to "lock" at a certain position when the car is being driven (this doesn't happen once normal operating temperature has been reached).
Would these problems be caused by the knackered inner CV joint?
Both lower arms were changed a few months ago for brand new ones BTW so that can be ruled out TBH.
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alan-g-w
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The grease from the CV would probably be coming out because the boot (rubber cover over it) has split. If this happens and you notice soon enough all you need to do is change the boot. If it's been like that for a while, all the grease that has previously been lubricating it has come out - this causes the CV to wear out and eventually would mean you need a new one. Do you know how long it's been like that? If it's been fucked for a good amount of time you might find that the CV has worn to a point where it's causing this vibration you're feeling.
It could also be linked to the steering 'locking' from cold. Does it do it at the same steering angle every time? When you turn your steering it does have an effect on the axis that would exist if you drew a centre line through both front wheels, it would move the shaft and in turn the CV in and out a bit. So again, if it's that worn that it's potentially seizing when cold, but loosens up when it gets a bit of heat into it,that could possibly be linked.
But for a knackered CV to be causing a vibration at speed and your steering to lock it would need to be totally shagged and have been shagged for a good while. Definetely something to look at pronto mate, locking steering is dodgy dodgy!
[Edited on 01-10-2011 by alan-g-w]
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Sam
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Cheers Alan!
I think it's been like that for a few months now, certainly since it stopped snowing January/February time this year from what I remember.
The wheel does lock at the same point every time.
I don't know if this is related or not but when the car is just sat there (even with the engine off) if you shake the steering wheel left to right (i.e. turn it left/right with a jolt) you can hear a knocking noise when the wheel is (jolt) turned left.
I would hazard a guess at the inner CV boot and joint being fucked yes 
It would be good if it was just that, because I've been preparing myself for the cost of getting a new steering rack and all sorts just in case
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tom_simes
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As Alan said, get it sorted. Steering locking is serious, and should the CV deteriorate further, it could simply lock the wheel whilst doing god knows what speed.
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alan-g-w
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That's the sort of thing I was thinking as well but didn't want to put the shiters up him too much the steering knocking would tie in as well, get it booked in tomorrow if you haven't already Sam!
I would have said that the CV would just fall apart rather than lock the wheel but that would mean your shaft would only be connected to the hub CV with the gearbox side flailing about like ron jeremy doing a helicopter
[Edited on 02-10-2011 by alan-g-w]
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Sam
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Yes mate I'm phoning the garage up in the morning to book it in for the next available slot.
I've not driven the car too much lately anyway (just sitting on the drive these days) as my other half has a new car now so I just borrow hers if I need to go anywhere.
What gets me is that I've mentioned this to two separate garages previously but they've just brushed me off.  Hopefully the place I took it the other week about an unrelated problem will be able to get it sorted.
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Sam
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Going to drop the car off Wednesday afternoon so that they can keep it overnight and reproduce the steering problems first thing Thursday morning.
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alan-g-w
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I forgot to reply to this yesterday Sam sorry mate
Rattles, knocks, bangs and vibrations are things that a garage might need to replace a few parts to get to the bottom of - quite possible that the garages concerned couldn't be arsed with the headache and just fobbed you off. Their loss though if it's only an inner CV, assuming it's easy enough to get to.
Sounds like a good idea to let it cool down fully! What did the mechanic say when you described it? I'm assuming he had a quick look as well?
[Edited on 03-10-2011 by alan-g-w]
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Sam
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Well they had the car last week you see (first time I've ever used them but highly recommended to me) as I wanted them to check my overcharging issue - they said it was the battery but I didn't have to pay them for their time which was good, so I bought a new battery the other day and fitted it so all is good on that score.
I did explain it to them at the time and they did say they saw the grease on the CV boot, but I guess they wouldn't look into it further as they were only checking the other problem out for me (for free).
When I take it to them on Wednesday I'll explain it all to them again so they can make a note of it.
It's an 11 year old car so I know there's gonna be loads of things that need replacing now, I just hope this new garage can actually tell me what needs sorting instead of being fobbed off by other garages (including a Ford main dealer I might add )!
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Sam
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Update - they reckon the power steering pump (or the rack) is gone, going to start with the pump as that's a more common failure and cheaper to sort than the rack apparently...
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alan-g-w
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As far as I know the pump cannot be the cause of your problem, if you 'switched off' the pump you'd still be able to steer, albeit a good bit more difficult! The rack itself could be the problem obviously but what did they say about the CV?
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Sam
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Picked up the car earlier today from the garage.
I've had to have a new PAS pump fitted as the old one was worn, had leaking seals and apparently the shaft was badly scored.
They've also replaced a section of leaking PAS pipe, and they've flushed the fluid twice but I need to go back in a couple of weeks to have it done again as it's not completely clean yet.
I've not noticed any locking from the steering wheel when I drove it home, but I guess the real test is to drive it first thing in the morning (this is when it always happened).
Re. the CV boot, I think he said it was just a couple of clips of some sort that needed changing on it as the boot wasn't damaged as far as he could tell.
No doubt I will probably post again to say the locking still exists and have to spend more dough out on getting it sorted (the above cost £300 to sort out)!
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3CorsaMeal
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top mounts can cause weird turning problems, especially at low speeds. They gave me alot of problems on corrado once.
was the pump noisy before they changed it?
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Sam
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Yeah it was Jim.
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