MOT Advisory - "Slight play in steering rack side rods"

[dt2703]

I'm working my way through the advisories, most are easily remedied but not really got a clue on this one.

Obviously not a failure, but I get a knock if I pull the car round into full lock on either side, and i'd like to put this right before it develops into something more serious.

I'm getting a bit of a 'floaty' feel at speed, and some torque steer when pulling out around a corner from stop (i.e pulling out from a side road).

Also, had to brake a bit hard for the lights today and the steering seemed to have a mind of its own as it pulled up..

Not sure if it's relevant but the front brakes are f***ed, pads practically gone and calipers now sound like they're binding. Having new discs and pads fitted front and back this weekend. Will bleed them too if need be.

Worth also noting that there's another advirsory for "Tail end of nearside rear spring broken", which a mate at work thinks could be affecting the handling and causing the floaty feel. I'm having new springs fitted at the weekend also.

Any advice on the steering rack side rods? What remedy is needed? What sort of cost i'm looking at?

Cheers lads
Dave

 

[lemonnobby]

could be the inner tie rod has play you can replace them if you want.
rear spring if it is broken should be a failure

 

[MaintenanceMan]

I replaced my rods n rack ends recently, but I had the proper tool to remove the rods. Without the tool It would be a nightmare as theres no room, but the tool is about 60quid, so it might be cheaper to pay to get it done.

 

[Dominic172]

The rear spring should be a failure, my old clio had the same problem with the play on both inner track arms... not such a bad job to do if you have the proper tools at hand

 

[dt2703]

Cheers for the replies.

Will this be a Renault/Clio specific tool? I've got a couple of mechanic mates who may have what's required if it's a common tool (for example on jap cars)...

Am I looking at a straight forward repalcement of the rods, or is there some grey area where it could be one of several things?

 

[Fred@BTM]

i made my own tool, easy

 

[Andyrg@ ClioTurbo]

i made my own tool, easy

plus 1

 

[sideways danny]

i made my own tool, easy

I had an old lathe/mill tool spanner that fits perfectly. Lovely and slim

 

[mantis946]

Got lucky with the spring there, Ive had 2-3 CM missing from mine before from a very small break and it failed, mates was the same. P.S if you ever have to change these careful with spring clamps, had a set fail on quite a bit of compression and nearly lost a knee.

 

[dt2703]

K-Tec have quoted around £290 to replace the tie rods, which is roughly a 50/50 split of parts and labour (£146 for inner and outer rods on both sides).
Not really what I wanted to hear. I’ll phone Ren-tech at some point today and see what they say…. Not exactly inspired to do so right now though after just shelling out £320 for acomplete brake and suspension overhaul.

 

[dt2703]

Ok, I've been chatting to a mechanic mate at work (admittedly not a renault guy) and he's confused at "inner and outer track rods". This is just what I picked up from my chat with K-Tec but not being a mechanic myself I could well have got this wrong...

Is there actually inner and outer track rods? Or is it in fact, inner and outer ends to a single track rod?
My mate is asking me if i'm referring to radius rods/lower control arms, etc, and to be honest, I don't really have a clue.

Can anybody clear this up for me? As in the title, the advisory note says "Slight play in steering rack side rods" - could someone elaborate on what exactly this means? or could mean, or is likely to mean?

Any help much appreciated.

 

[lemonnobby]

yes there track rods which are the inners and there track rod ends outers there advisoy means the inner one i expect.

 

[guysy]

Last MOT the bloke said word of mouth your steering roads will need doing next year didnt know back then weather he ment inside or out, had an advisory for the outer drivers track rod, changed that, then changed the passengers a few weeks later, was s**tting myself it was the inside rods as well only for the fact that ive already spent enough on tyres and parts

So when i was changing the outer track rods i unbolted the bit that connects to the hib and give it some stick to see if they where ok, theyre was no clunking so i guessed they where ok and seems they where.

have you had it confirmed that the inners need replacing? might just be the outers, personally id take it to a mechanic and ask him for a tenner to do a quick front inspection if possible

Just so you can see because it took me as a noob a small bit of research to realise where they went...

This is the inner tie rod, big bit goes to steering rack, bit with thread connects to outer track rod...

Outer rod screws on inner rod, then the bolt pointing up connects to hub

 

[dt2703]

Cheers for the feedback guys.
I changed the brakes and springs this weekend, and gave the track rods a good bit of stick to try and find which had play, but they both seemed rock solid to me.
I phoned K-Tec (who did the MOT) but the guy I spoke to couldn't give me any more details. Said he had hundreds of 172's pass through and couldn't possibly know the exact details for this car that was done in December (fair comment).
The advisory just says "slight play in side rods" so I guess the only way to find out what the problem is will be an inspection. I need to have it serviced soon so i'll get it checked then.
On a plus note, since fitting the new Eibachs, the handling is 1000 times better. The broken spring we took off was properly broken. Not sure how it got through the MOT, the guy that fitted the new ones with me was shocked when we took it out. Here's a pic:

 

[guysy]

Propper job on that spring there haha!

Hope you get there in the end mate