2013 Fiesta ST Steering Problem

[Gex010]

Im still experiencing the same steering/handeling problem on my 14' FiST. Except its the reverse. I get more resistance cornering right and feels nice and normal cornering left. The car drifts left or center but never ever drifts to the right. Ive done about 7 wheel alignments in one year. Took it to the dealer a handful of times and they claim the car drives straight. The last time they kept it for two days and drove it for over 30miles and said the Steer ahead was off. It kinda feels like its a sway bar/end link issue in mine bit the end link is attached and tight. In order to chexk The sway bar I would have to drop the sub frame. Or it could be the EPS or Steering rack which im dreading to find out. I dont wanna pay a shop to do all this and discover no problems. This issue has me depressed for a long time now and im on tje Verge of trading it in for something other than a ford.

Sounds exactly like my story 3 years ago, I gave up though, I kept telling myself I would eventually take it to someone who could figure it out even if I pay for it but I just never did, since I got the car I've just had other things to deal with, but I don't think I can take it much longer.

 

[stuntdoogie]

Sounds exactly like my story 3 years ago, I gave up though, I kept telling myself I would eventually take it to someone who could figure it out even if I pay for it but I just never did, since I got the car I've just had other things to deal with, but I don't think I can take it much longer.

Im trying my best to stick it out till I finish paying for the car in 2018. I also added a Pierce 2 point brace hoping that would help but not really. I love this little car so much man that im having a hard time parting with it.

 

[alnhoo]

I did the Pierce brace too and it doesn't help =(

Might be changing the steering rack soon even though I'm not sure if that's the actual problem or not. Will report once I've replaced it.

 

[stuntdoogie]

I did the Pierce brace too and it doesn't help =(

Might be changing the steering rack soon even though I'm not sure if that's the actual problem or not. Will report once I've replaced it.

I would check Tasca Parts, you'll probably find the rack cheapest there.

 

[Intuit]

The owner's manual states that the system will reduce assist as the system starts to heat up. This implies that it has some ability to monitor temps.

Left vs right steering resistance may differ depending on how much contact is applied to the positive vs negative camber side of each tire. For "narrow" cars and more especially those with wider tires, that effect can be more easily experienced on roadways where high pavement temperatures and heavy truck loads, have deeply "trenched" the road. This type of "road steer" is a little different from the water drainage-related type of road steer that most people refer to.

Can you post the alignment specification sheet that is created and optionally printed? That sheet will contain actual numbers. Keep your sheets from one alignment to the next. This helps you track down parts that may be damaged, worn or defective.

 

[alnhoo]

I would check Tasca Parts, you'll probably find the rack cheapest there.

Unfortunately I'm in Australia and we are right hand drive with a different part number for the steering rack. I'm now thinking to look at the LCA first.

The owner's manual states that the system will reduce assist as the system starts to heat up. This implies that it has some ability to monitor temps.

Left vs right steering resistance may differ depending on how much contact is applied to the positive vs negative camber side of each tire. For "narrow" cars and more especially those with wider tires, that effect can be more easily experienced on roadways where high pavement temperatures and heavy truck loads, have deeply "trenched" the road. This type of "road steer" is a little different from the water drainage-related type of road steer that most people refer to.

Can you post the alignment specification sheet that is created and optionally printed? That sheet will contain actual numbers. Keep your sheets from one alignment to the next. This helps you track down parts that may be damaged, worn or defective.

Here is the alignment report from last month which I had it done last. Note that I removed the camber bolts prior to the alignment, however the camber bolts or not, it doesn't make a difference.

 

[alnhoo]

I would check Tasca Parts, you'll probably find the rack cheapest there.

Unfortunately I'm in Australia and we are right hand drive with a different part number for the steering rack. I'm now thinking to look at the LCA first.

The owner's manual states that the system will reduce assist as the system starts to heat up. This implies that it has some ability to monitor temps.

Left vs right steering resistance may differ depending on how much contact is applied to the positive vs negative camber side of each tire. For "narrow" cars and more especially those with wider tires, that effect can be more easily experienced on roadways where high pavement temperatures and heavy truck loads, have deeply "trenched" the road. This type of "road steer" is a little different from the water drainage-related type of road steer that most people refer to.

Can you post the alignment specification sheet that is created and optionally printed? That sheet will contain actual numbers. Keep your sheets from one alignment to the next. This helps you track down parts that may be damaged, worn or defective.

Here is the alignment report from last month which I had it done last. Note that I removed the camber bolts prior to the alignment, however the camber bolts or not, it doesn't make a difference.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8_b_BtUW7HjX1BVWFpBckFnZTg/view?usp=sharing

 

[stuntdoogie]

Unfortunately I'm in Australia and we are right hand drive with a different part number for the steering rack. I'm now thinking to look at the LCA first.



Here is the alignment report from last month which I had it done last. Note that I removed the camber bolts prior to the alignment, however the camber bolts or not, it doesn't make a difference.

That image is broken, cant view it. I would like to compare to mine.

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[alnhoo]

I would check Tasca Parts, you'll probably find the rack cheapest there.

That image is broken, cant view it. I would like to compare to mine.

Sent from my SM-G935P using Tapatalk

Oops, try this link

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8_b_BtUW7HjX1BVWFpBckFnZTg/view?usp=sharing

 

[NJBooST]

[MENTION=96]stuntdoogie[/MENTION] Did you ever get this sorted? I'm experiencing similar symptoms and have been through the whole front end. Can't locate the source and the dealer is of zero help.

 

[alnhoo]

Replaced the steering rack and still same issue

Is there any chance the half shaft/axle shaft could impact on the steering?

 

[jparadacen]

Hi everybody, this is my first post and I had exactly the same problem described here. This problem is better know as Steering System Pull/Drift/Wander

Luckly, my problem was FIXED at the dealer. The root cause is a front sub-frame misalignment. What the dealer did, was to re-align the sub-frame, then aligned the tires and finally runned a recalibration of the PSCM (This is part of the EPAS system). And Voila! Just make sure that the supplier applies the proper torque to the studs since mine were losen and the sub-frame suffer a new disalignment.

Please guys let me know if this works for you, I know this problem can be so annoying.

 

[stuntdoogie]

Hi everybody, this is my first post and I had exactly the same problem described here. This problem is better know as Steering System Pull/Drift/Wander

Luckly, my problem was FIXED at the dealer. The root cause is a front sub-frame misalignment. What the dealer did, was to re-align the sub-frame, then aligned the tires and finally runned a recalibration of the PSCM (This is part of the EPAS system). And Voila! Just make sure that the supplier applies the proper torque to the studs since mine were losen and the sub-frame suffer a new disalignment.

Please guys let me know if this works for you, I know this problem can be so annoying.

Thank you so much for this. I had a feeling it was the sub frame. Gonna go to the dealer in a couple days when I get a chance and ill post back results.

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[jparadacen]

Thank you so much for this. I had a feeling it was the sub frame. Gonna go to the dealer in a couple days when I get a chance and ill post back results.

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Any luck on this???

 

[stuntdoogie]

Any luck on this???

No, Ive been so busy havnt had a chance, i dont drive my car much 2014 and only has 25k miles and my warranty expired in November...so I know they gonna hit me in the head $$$. Im gonna take it in two weeks while on staycation. If I have to pay a few hundred to fix tje problem so be it I just want to have fun driving my Fist again.

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[kansei]

Any of you with lower braces or coilovers actually try to get this fixed at the dealership? I'm very willing to pay them to realign the subframe or reset computer things, since the issue in my case was caused by an alignment I just got done recently (at 1400 miles). I'm just worried they're going to try and void my warranty with the mods. Like some others in this thread, I added the Pierce bracing after noticing my steering feeling a bit sloppy after an alignment, before I had figured out that the problem was something else.

I took my car on some properly good roads this past weekend only to find out it's legit dangerous in corners because of how loose the steering gets. Under acceleration it's fine, but under braking or when entering a corner it gets squirrely. Feels like the two wheels are dancing about not really connected to each other much at all. The steering feel is similar to understeering on ice but all you have to do is give the wheel some more turn and it's fine. Even get the stability control coming on during hard engine braking in a straight line, on dry pavement, at low speeds, with no slip whatsoever.

 

[alnhoo]

Chassis alignment worked for me. I took it to someone who drove my car, and told me chassis alignment was the problem. The issue was finding someone who is knowledgeable about these issues and knows how to fix it.

My advise is if you can find someone who can drive your car and tell you what is wrong with it straight away by relating it to chassis alignment, then you have found the right person to correct this issue. I have had a number of people drive my car, and believe it is normal or think I just need an alignment. Which I can tell it is not an alignment issue as straight after an alignment, I can still feel the same pulling issue. I would not even bother going to a dealer as I have taken my car there for the regular service telling them about the issue and they have come back telling me the car drives fine.

It involves measuring chassis reference holes to the reference holes on the subframe and cross measuring to ensure the chassis and subframe are in-line and square.

In my case it was not just the subframe that was not aligned, it was also the rear beam, so the wheels look like #1 which is exaggerated to show the difference. And when aligned they are square like #2.

After I had the subframe and rear beam aligned, I did not even have to get an alignment done and could instantly feel the car was driving straight again. Alignment is still recommended though.

 

[stuntdoogie]

Chassis alignment worked for me. I took it to someone who drove my car, and told me chassis alignment was the problem. The issue was finding someone who is knowledgeable about these issues and knows how to fix it.

My advise is if you can find someone who can drive your car and tell you what is wrong with it straight away by relating it to chassis alignment, then you have found the right person to correct this issue. I have had a number of people drive my car, and believe it is normal or think I just need an alignment. Which I can tell it is not an alignment issue as straight after an alignment, I can still feel the same pulling issue. I would not even bother going to a dealer as I have taken my car there for the regular service telling them about the issue and they have come back telling me the car drives fine.

It involves measuring chassis reference holes to the reference holes on the subframe and cross measuring to ensure the chassis and subframe are in-line and square.

In my case it was not just the subframe that was not aligned, it was also the rear beam, so the wheels look like #1 which is exaggerated to show the difference. And when aligned they are square like #2.

After I had the subframe and rear beam aligned, I did not even have to get an alignment done and could instantly feel the car was driving straight again. Alignment is still recommended though.

Wow I wish I would have known sooner I would have kept my 14 fist and took it to a chassis expert. I was on my last year of payments and was ready to go hybrid or big turbo, now I have a new 5 year deal in a 17 fist but at least the payments are cut in half, better color, android auto and base seats which are more comfortable for me. Thanx for your reply although I wish it were a month earlier lol.

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