Mondeo Broken Suspension Springs

My Mondeo (1997 2.0i 121K miles) failed it?s MOT yesterday due to broken front suspension springs (both sides). The garage says the car should not be driven. I?m OK with the advice, but the problem is the car was serviced by the same garage (a Ford agent, not a main dealer, which I have been using for the last 4 years) less than 4 weeks ago. I had it serviced before going on holiday to France and it was too early to get an MOT done at the same time.

I have driven the car since the service, and haven?t noticed any bangs that might have indicated the springs going, nor have I noticed any differences in how the car is handling.

So, a couple of questions:

  1. Should the garage have spotted the broken springs during the service? The car has been serviced twice by them since they did the last MOT. At the last service they also changed the tyres so the wheels were off the car.
  2. What is the likelihood that both would have broken in 4 weeks and approx 1000 miles of driving without me noticing?

The cost of replacing them is not an issue ? it?s more about the inconvenience of having the car off the road for a couple of days, and more importantly having driven the car to France and back in a potentially dangerous state.

Any thoughts would be welcome.

Cheers

Kevin

Reply to
Kevin
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Depends where it snapped. If it snapped in the 'cup' where the spring is bolted to the chassis, then it's unlikely they'd have noticed unless specifically looking for it - as they do on the MOT.

This could well have happened, you wouldn't always notice as the spring is under compression, so depending on where the spring broke (see above) it may well not have 'twanged' out of place.

I didn't notice a broken spring on our Alfa 75, until I was told it was broken, then I paid more attention to the way the car was driving and could detect it.

Reply to
SteveH

Yes. However an MOT tester has to show at least a basic competence to do the job. A main dealer service monkey could've left school yesterday.

Vanishingly small.

Couple of days? I did my Mondeo springs in less than an hour for each side. And that's with cheapish spring compressors. The 400odd quid ones Ford have makes the job even quicker.

John

Reply to
John Greystrong

John - I don't feel like having a go at this myself, even if it appears relatively straightforward. The garage is 2 men down this week so the earliest they can do it is Mon along with the re-test. The guys doing the MOT also do the servicing.

Cheers

Kevin

Reply to
Kevin

You can take it to absolutely anywhere to have them fitted. It's one of those jobs that you have to work really hard to screw up.

Reply to
Conor

Kevin writes

I had a 1999 1.8 Mondeo, and had both front coil springs break within about a nine month period, and the car had done less than 40,000 miles. On neither occasion did I notice a difference in handling, and one was discovered at an MOT test, and the other during a service, (both main dealers). The first break was discovered a few weeks after hitting a deep pothole, but there were no incidents before the second discovery.

On the second occasion I was so incredulous that I insisted on being taken to see it, and it had broken almost at the upper anchor point. The guy in the overalls was looking a bit askance at me because I had come to check, so I thanked him for his thoroughness and asked whether road 'humps' might be a cause of it. Both he and the foremen shook their heads and said "Wear and tear".

I was bemused at this.....

Reply to
Gordon

The 'Service Monkey' who found one of mine at a service was an experienced guy about 40 years old, at a guess. ;-)

It happened to my Mondeo within about 4000 miles.

Reply to
Gordon

The message from Conor contains these words:

So, that rules out KwikFit then?

Reply to
Guy King

It's one of the most common faults on the mondeo,for some reason they snap at least once while you own the car. If your'e doing it yourself remove the whole leg(disc)still on the strut as

99 times out of 100 the pinch bolt will snap that holds it onto the strut and cause you a whole new load of grief.
Reply to
simondo

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