Oh my word, three hijacks in one go! I should get some sort of compensation for it
anyone got any bananas?
=======================================
'96 Citroen Xantia Dimension 1.9TD
Oil change: DONE 12/01/08
Coolant change: DONE 20/01/08
To do: Brake pads, Gear Oil, Hydraulic fluid change
Last fitted: Havoline 15w-40 Oil and filter change, Advanced 5 year coolant (10C temp drop!)
Rugby, UK
=======================================
Yes! We have no bananas!
right ive got the car back from the garage today......lets see,
knocking gone-yes
vibrating at speed gone-yes
vibrating at speed on corners gone-yes
holds the road-yes
tighter steering and more responsive-yes
im not always rubbishing the galant, i just put a different point of view across, from someone who has had problems.....ive spent shed loads on stuff that is needed, and havnt cut any corners on it.....what your not understanding is, that this is the first car i have ever looked after, and it just goes wrong, regular services every 5k.....i am still in 2 minds about the car, ive had an image in my head how i want the car, but the other part of me is telling me to cut my losses on it, and buy an engine......if nothing goes wrong with it in the next few weeks, i might keep it, other than that, its getting compleltly sorted out, and sold.....
but either way i dont care......
after having the rack ends replaced im experiencing none of the syptoms you describe anymore, so i would definatly say thats your problem
.
Glad you got it sorted mate!
I'll let you know what mine is over the weekend
out of interest, how much did the bill come to?
havnt sorted the bill out, at guess parts were 30quid so, 60 quid the pair, and he was on the car for half hour, so 100 tops, but i know my mechanic very well and in he is very cheap anyways, he did my cambelt and front pads and discs(i supplied disc aand pads) did all that for 130 quid, gearbox oil changed for free.....hes really cheap in his work, hence why hes always so busy.......it took no longer than an hour to do at max so its 60 quid plus hours garage time....wasnt alot of work to do get that old bits of and put new ones on.......
i hope this is your problem, its improoved my car so much now that i am thinking on keeping the car, ill see what i think on the weekend, gunna chop the 2 middle boxes out of my exhaust and weld some pipe in, see who loud it is and if i like it.....
hope this is your problem now, because its naff all to do, and improoves the car so much
Ok so I took it in the garage.
The problem is a few things.... firstly the offside track rod end has lost all its lube and dry as a bone, so needs replacing...
secondly the nearside track rod end has SOME play in it, probably the reason the galant vibrates out of corners but not the cause of the knocking.
The knocking is the rack end.
All in, £230 to repair, £185 if I keep the nearside TRE fitted.
And I was due to buy a load of airgun kit this month
how much????? for track rod ends.......did you provide the vaseline or was that free of charge, mine cost me 90 quid to get the rack ends done both sides......in fact my mate got charged 90 quid at a diff garage for track rod ends and getting the tracking done on his fto...
id go to another garage if i was you
I must agree, that is stupidly overpriced for doing the track rod ends. An untrained person could change both in less than an hour and the parts are £20 each from Camskill
By their own admission they are charging £45 per TRE wich is a 125% markup on the above so they are charging £140 for a half hour work lus tracking, which would only be one wheel. I would seriously question the validity of your garage's prices and find another one ASAP. I reckon I could come and do it for you for less and that's using the Leggy to get there and back!
I think the price increase is due to the rack end - £75 from mitsubishi plus vat and fitting.
£45 per track rod end is part plus fitting...
But yeah, TW couldnt help me on friday (i left early from work!) so popped around the corner to another place who are generally budget
I'll see what TW say on tuesday, if needs be I'll just get the rack end done and do the TRE myself
Get the rack end from camskilll too, only £40. I'll be ordering mine when I get back from France.
you not wrong. 2x track rod ends, 1x rack end comes to £76 total
3 hours work qouted, so gonna be about £100 labour
Could you do the work yourself? I'm likely to do my own with the only concern being the tracking after changing the track rod. The plan is to do it when I know the local tyre place can fit me in immediately afterward.
I might just do the end at the same time as the one on that side is stiff. Would be a big saving for you and there's a guide for changing the boot in the members' area.
my rack ends cost 36 quid each looking under 100 quid for the parts
so say its
76 quid because thats what youve got a price at now
230-76=154
so there charging you
£154 labour for under an hours work.....what a rip off, complete ripoff its not even a hard job either.....get to another garage if i was you
yeah, problem I have now is that TW dont do labour unless they supply the parts. if they supply the parts they aint gonna be that cheap, plus the labour and im into shafting area again.
Is it an hour for the whole lot or an hour for the rod ends? currently being quoted mates rates 3 hours from a chap at work to do and i supply the parts
Reading the article by OSiRiS he claims 1-1.5 hours for a boot change. I must admit that after re-reading it I would imagine the boot only taking 30-45 mins as there's nothing too complicated in it.
THe problem is the fact he doesn't mention removing the track rod from the rack which may have implications on steering fluid etc. This is probably where the bulk of the time is spent as a drain and fill will add time to the job.
3 hours at mates rtates if it includes tracking is probably not too bad but I'll find out what's involved in changing the track rod before passing final judgement.
doing the rack ends affects no fluid, and the track rod ends shouldnt affect doing a fluid change either.......
the problem with the rack ends, is that they get on there that tight they are a bit of a bugger to get off.....but you got qouted way to much there, rack ends are 20 mins a side mine were and they were on there pretty tight aswell.....
If that's the case and you were changing the rod end too could you possibly utilise the rod end as something to clout to get it out.
If there's no PAS fluid problems then I'm definitely tempted to do my own. The rattle is just annoying me now as I have nearly everything fixed. That and the front bumper/bonnet are all I have left to sort.
Ok so, got the car back.
We COULD NOT FIND the knocking noise ANYWHERE.
Had the rod ends done, they woulda failed the mot, and the rack end done (which were replaced but mechanic said they were rock solid, he showed me).
We tried tracking th enoise down the steering column, bearings and hub, wheel was a little wobbly but would only cause the vibration im getting, but after a day of a mechanic looking, tightening, banging, wobbling, the noise is still there but the car is safe, would pass any test you gave it for play or wear.
So, going to live with it for a bit, see if it gets worse of gives any further clues, one thing i did notice was that if i broke hard, then coasted, then booted it it there was a clong as if it was gathering up some slack in the right assembly somewhere
What now, engine mounts? loose disc clonking about?
The mechanic said when he went out he thought the strut was banging against the chasis (what sounded like), yet on inspection yet again its all tight as a nut
Car drives nicer in the corners now rod ends all new, but shame we couldnt find the cause of the noise, the mechanic mate was a bit reluctant to charge as the car is safe but the problems not been solved. But if me, him and an aston martin veteran engineer cant find it, I'm a bit unsure Im gonna get anywhere without a specialist
Last edited by RugbyPete; 04-05-2007 at 09:38 AM.
Pete,
glad to hear the car feels beter, sorry to hear it hasn't solved the clonking. To be honest I have been waiting as I couldn't see how the track rod could cause the noise myself, only been going on Pitslayer's advice. I experience the same problem, when coming off power and coasting then accelerating you get a delay in power application followed by a jarring uptake on the drive with the associated clonk.
Which side di they change the rod on then? If it was the wrong side I suppose it would leave the problem in place.
Yeah, the guy was gonna put the old one back in cos it was absolutely fine.
~and I too am getting that clong where yo lift off (say for the lights changing to green from red) then plant it, you get a definitive clonk
Funnily I spoke to the steering specialist here at aston martin, they have the same problem with the DB9! You go over bumps you get a donkydonk noise, and they cant track it down either. They are heading towards an issue with adjustable pins at the base of the rack, but they're consulting more specialists. He said if I can find the manufacturer of the steering rack they may have engineer contacts from that company.
Were now looking at the ball joint in that area, previous cars and various experience from different guys and mitsubishi 'hat sites' has shown these can be deceiving, but we're on the case because the guys are baffled here and would love to know whats up.
One passing comment was "sell the car on a flat road" but after having a drive themselves, they loved the sweet engine on startup, and the drive impressed. They understood I couldn't get rid of her that easy! I'm considering a 3rd party warranty, then if anything DOES break, I can have the whole lot replaced at mitsubishi's price without a heart attack!
Last edited by RugbyPete; 04-05-2007 at 11:31 AM.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote