ricvic888

I drive a 1996 Ford Escort LX N reg' with a 1.6 16valve zetec EFI engine,
Since i have had this car, it has had:-

SUSPENSION BOTTOM ARMS (wishbones) ON FRONT COMPLETE WITH ALL BUSHES

TRACK ROD ENDS

4 BRAND NEW TYRES

DRIVERS SIDE FLEX BREAK PIPE

AND HAS JUST RECENTLY PASSED A PRE M.O.T at a cost of £30

The problem i am having is that it still seems to want to lug to 1 side or another when normal driving as if the wishbones were knackered again. When cornering on a roundabout or right hand bend, sometimes it just lugs a bit more and without increase or any decrease in power, the car lugs round and the turning circle suddenly gets sharper.
I have had this car in and out of 3 different garages and all have said that there is not anything wrong with any of the components underneath, it has been off and on ramps more times than i have had hot dinners!!!
But when i have a passenger in the front seat, the car is fine and it drives smoothly! Only when i am on my own, does this happen. In fact the latest garage i had this car in at said that the car is in great shape for it's year.
What i want to know is if anyone out there ever experienced a problem similar and how did you rectify it?
Could this be a transmission problem?
I think this as when i rebel, and wheel spin away, only the drivers side front wheel spins, the other don't do anything.
Shouldn't both wheels have same amount of traction?
PLEASE HELP!!!

ricvic888

Come Kind People, There Must Be Somebody Out There With An Idea?
It's Mental Because When I Have An Adult Passenger In The Car, It Stops And Drives Smoothly.
It Is So Weird, I Have Never Came Across It Before.
If It's Not The Suspension Bottom Arms Again, Or The Track Rod Ends, Or The Steering Rack/column, Then What Could Possibly Be Causing This??????????????????
Also There Is A Slight But Distinct Rattling When Pulling Away Gently And Reversing Around A Bend.
And Theres A Bad Knocking That Seems To Come From Passenger Side, Close To Under The Seats Sort Of Area And Maybe Passenger Side Wheel Ish!!

Johnny Mullet

You need a new mechanic.

Seriously, unless I can actually ride in your car and feel the problem you are camplaining of, there is no way to do an internet diagnosis.

Jaydee001

Did you fit genuine Ford bottom arms? When I bought my car it had just had a pair fitted (non-genuine) it wasn't long before it started pulling around the road (mine was when accelerating and decelerating though and was worse with a passenger in it) I had a few mechanics look at mine who said all was well, I eventually got a guy to look at it that said (without even looking at it) that the bottom arms were shot. They looked spot on (no signs of deterioration of the bushes) but when he got the car on the ramp he spotted that the bush on the osf arm was sat slight skew compared to the left (took some spotting) I wasn't convinced but shelled out for some ford ones and it has been fine ever since. The guy who fitted them had the older version of my car and said he had gone through three sets of non-genuine arms before he fitted the ford ones and hadn't had a problem since. Don't if that helps.

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Jaydee