53 replies to this topic

[mini danny]

hiya there ive noticed over the last few days my sterring will so rock solid, so cant turn the wheel then it will jault and making a snapping type of noise and feels like the fornt left wheel has ran somethink over, ive checked the bearings there all good the same with the ball joints would i be right in thinking my cv joint bearing are knackered, and are falling out of the "holder" and locking the sterring them popping back in giving me the sterring back ??? forgot to say it will only do it when turning very slowly and i go to accelerate, hope that makes sense

thanks danny

[sonikk4]

Whoa are you still driving this?? hopefully not. I would check the ball joints again to see if they are binding or breaking down internally. CV joints when they start to go make a knocking noise especially when you turn the steering hard in either direction. They don't tend to fail instantly but over a period of time unless of course their gaiters are torn and there is no grease in them.

I have seen a very badly worn CV joint on a Talbot where there was no grease at all, just rust and that made some very weird knocking noises and it made the car jump when turning the steering. Whip the gaiters off and have a look.

You could disconnect both of your track rod ends and check your steering rack to see if that is the culprit. What ever it is do not drive the car until you find the cause of the problem.

[tiger99]

Seconded, do not even think about driving it! I think you have a badly worn or broken cage in the CV joint. They have been implicated in fatal accidents, and I have personal experience of one, not in a Mini, which did exactly as you have described. It very soon became totally uncontrollable. But check your ball joints again, very carefully, and the track rod ends, also the subframe mounts.

I hope you have not fitted a steering column drop bracket, or done any work on the column, without loosening both rack U bolts. A rack misaligned to the steering column can cause binding, but far, far worse, is guaranteed to cause sudden and complete steering failure fairly soon. The reason that I mention it is that there have been far too many cases of that on the forum recently, and if people keep getting such a basic thing wrong, it is only a matter of time till someone is killed.

[mini danny]

i give up on this mini I've checked everything regreased everyrhink and.it still does it i reversed and the front wheels locked up solid so drove coundnt reverse so drove forward and then back again and.it was fine but steering was snatching and clunking when i was test driving i dipped the clutch to hear for noises and it felt like someone slammed on the.brakes and front end clunked could this be more of a gearbox fault i think it might be but unsure as.it.does it.when the clutch is pressed if not could it.be the dif


hope that makes sense on my phone so bit crap


thanks

Danny

[mini danny]

forgot to say when i.had her jacked up i could spin.the disk freely then ever 7-8 turns it would go really stiff

thanks Danny

[mk3 Cooper S]

Sounds like diff to me.

[mini danny]

my worst nightmare the thing is it will only do.it on lock and would the diff make the steering jump

Danny

[mini danny]

can i replace.dif without removing engine/gearbox

[mk3 Cooper S]

Yes and no I'm afraid

[mini danny]

how much would a.new diff set me.back

Danny

[mk3 Cooper S]

Could you not borrow one out of one of your spare engines?

[mini danny]

just spoke to my mate who grass tracks them he's got a spare one how hard are they to replace

[mk3 Cooper S]

Easy with the engine out. Make sure the large gear is the same as the one you remove or transfer it over.

Obviously investigate the diff further before you pull the engine out!!
Guessworks - where have you gone?

[mini danny]

ok thanks and how would i go about investigating further at this point

thank Danny

[tiger99]

You most certainly CAN change a diff without lifting the engine. I would not make that claim unless I had successfully done it. I was actually only changing the final drive ratio, i.e. crownwheel and pinion, but the diff had to come out anyway to do that. It was quicker than lifting the engine, even though I have an engine crane.

But to do that, or lift the engine, the driveshafts have to come out anyway. I still think the symptom is EXACTLY that of a failing CV. They don't lock until the balls are not lying in the same plane, which may take several revolutions at a small angle. Please do try to avoid what may be needless work by doing a simple check. Take the suspect drive shaft out, remove the CV, and remove its rubber boot. Turn the innards to every possible angle, and see how much sideways clearance the balls have in their slots. Two or more of the slots are quite long, to make assembly possible, it is not the length but the side clearance that is critical. Take it apart, and check the cage very carefully for cracks.

If it is the CV, you have saved many hours and a lot of money. If it turns out to be the diff, you have only added the cost of a tube of CV grease and a new boot clip to a very large bill.

Oh, and you might want to strip and check the inner pot joints too, although I don't think they are likely to be the problem. It is just about possible that one of them is defective, which might cause some effect on the steering.