Was going to wait til the weekend when im back home in kent to get the car up on some ramps but driving back from uni the problem got far worse. The car violently pulls to the side with any more than marginal throttle, got an exam tomorrow morning so looks like i need to get it taken to a garage before i drive home.... Pulled over at a petrol station, its def not engine mounts, im hoping and guessing its ball joint/s as suggested above..
I did the l/h lower ball joint on mine today & the car drives much better. I fully expect everything to be back to normal once I've done the other side For reference, I paid 46 for 2 new tie rods & 2 new lower ball joints from GSF. No where near enough money to justify buggering about.
Cheers Benjo, im sure it will be ball joints but was hoping to get it home so i could order the parts through a mate and use my garage, looks like i might be at the mercy of the local mechanic now....
I checked the bolt is there but havn't been able to check its tight, will hopefully be able to fault find in 5 mins tomorrow with all the info on here so won't get my pant pulled down at the garage
Id put money on it being a loose wishbone bolt or missing/damaged/fit issue with the locating roll-pin thingy with your new poly wishbone bushes Worth whipping the rear bolt out to ensure the roll pin is fitted/not damaged in any case. It is essential that it is fitted
WINNER! Turns out one of the wishbone bolts ahd worked its way loose and was close to falling out! Thanks a lot for the standard rapid replies and accurate diagnosis!
Had it before on my old 8v & it scared the bejesus out of me. The car felt so un-nerving to drive.... Glad its all sorted
Been having the same issue with my Mk2 16v - recently rebuilt engine and had to refit my old transmission still it's an AUG box and feels solid, was wondering if a knackered diff could cause these same symptoms?? I too thought it may have been something to do with the suspension mounts but on inspection yesterday I couldn't find anything loose or looking like the culprit?? Puzzel after reading this post thou it would be amiss of me not to get the wrench out and have a go at the wishbone bolts and see what happens
I don't think a tired diff would cause that. More likely ball joints or wishbones. If you've had the hubs off recently, by splitting the ball joints, are you sure the pinch bolts are actually through the groove in the ball joint pin?
Right so just been over the wishbones and checked all bolts, none loose, then checked the ball joints all good there as far as I can tell, tierod ends are new by about 500 mile and bottom end ball joints look good and feel good. Then standing there scratching me nads I lent on the left wheel arch - result felt like a soft pillow.. rigth hand side firm - recently changed all springs to Eibach Pro lowering springs but didn't do the dampers - lack of funds lack of time - now looks like I'll have to do the dampers, question is for the amount of degredation in the damping there is loads of instability on road? Steering rack looks and feels fine too. Also top mounts were replaced with new springs.
