Istr Corsas were mentioned as having dodgy steering gear. A friend was thinking of buying one and brought it round to mine - the amount of backlash on the column gave pause for thought.
Hmm, I doubt a bit of steering backlash was responsible for that.
Tim
No, but the consequent breaking of something that should never have broken - steering box - leaves one with no option but to scream and hope.
That happened to a car my mum was driving when I was young, as we turned sharp right the steering wheel span and clonked , the flexible coupling had failed and since it was fitted badly or the car was badly straightened after a crash the pegs did not give emergency steering, we went up the bank and stopped.
A few small cars (Corsa, Micra, BMW Mini?) have 'featured' on watchdog over the years for being physically unsteerable once the power steering fails. I think it was the particular layout of their steering components that made large amounts of unexpected work necessary for small (and not so small) shoulders in state of panic.
Um, unless I'm missing something, the cause of the crash isn't mentioned in that article or any of the linked ones.
When did cars last have "steering boxes"? Not for a few years I'd wager!
Tim
I tried disconnecting the elctric column on a corsa and the car was almost impossible to manouvre at parking speed, but OK but heavy when rolling along. Sudden failure at low speed would be very frightening, but they (all?) give warnings before they die, usually just a bit of a twitch as you move the wheel, a vagueness at the centre point of the steering, or pull (usually to the left for some reason) I am not a big fan of the electric column, although it is an excellent idea, it is not reliable enough, I see them failing at less than 40k miles on Corsas.
Stepson?s went at under 20k. The dealer then didn't set the replacement up properly, so it didn't self-centre when turned to the left. Made it interesting to drive...
The Corsa he had was a pile of crap; He had it on a 3-year finance deal, but swapped it at a loss after two years for an older Astra just to get shot of it.
Chris
In message , Grimly Curmudgeon writes
This is what can happen if the nut behind the steering wheel fails:
well mercedes still fitted them into the 90's...
As did BMW. Mike.
In article , Gordon H scribeth thus
What's the Russian for
"You alright mate" ;?....
You would lose your wager.
Fairs dos. I just haven't heard the term used for a long time. There's still no link quoted between the crash and any steering problem though.
Tim
I replaced the steering box on a Jeep a few months ago. as far as I know Jeep and Merc still used steering boxes on some models. Also common on commercial vehicles.
No, but if experience with the Jeep is anything to go by the symptoms can be subtle and not so subtle. The Jeep had a slight crunch feeling on hard lock. That would not be noticed by many drivers because few actually steer lock to lock. Within a few days the Jeep refused to turn left. If I had taken it on road it could have killed.
The failure was catastrophic, one minute a slight noise the next a lethal steering problem. Imagine that happening at speed on a twisty road.
Apparently, it was the faulty new road surface which was likened to driving on tiny marbles, fine at low speed and a straight line, but very little grip at anything else.
MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.