13 replies to this topic

[cawoodni01]

Recently my '98 Mpi Cooper has taken to doing a lot of weaving around while driving. The steering feels quite numb and doesn't respond in the way a Mini should and when for example a large car or a truck goes past in the opposite direction the car lunges towards it but with no feel through the steering wheel. I've been under the car and checked the rack mounts, the front subframe mounts, bearings, hubs, tie rods and nothing seems to be out of place as far as I can see but the problem persists. Anybody have any ideas or suggestions as to what else to check before it gets sent in to get a proper looking at.
Any help would be much appreciated, cheers guys

[The_Mistro]

have you adjusted the ride height or hit any bad bumps recently? the tracking could be out a bit if you have! or a tyre might be a bit soft, check the pressures to see if they are evenly inflated!

and welcome to the forum!

Edited by The_Mistro, 29 May 2009 - 03:19 PM.

[evansisgreat]

Recently my '98 Mpi Cooper has taken to doing a lot of weaving around while driving. The steering feels quite numb and doesn't respond in the way a Mini should and when for example a large car or a truck goes past in the opposite direction the car lunges towards it but with no feel through the steering wheel. I've been under the car and checked the rack mounts, the front subframe mounts, bearings, hubs, tie rods and nothing seems to be out of place as far as I can see but the problem persists. Anybody have any ideas or suggestions as to what else to check before it gets sent in to get a proper looking at.
Any help would be much appreciated, cheers guys

My mini (97 Mpi Cooper) did this for a good few weeks a while ago and I jacked the car up and gave everything a look and wiggle but couldn't find anything. It was only 3 weeks till my MOT so I decided if there was a problem my mechanic would find it (he's very good). So a few days after I checked everything both ball joints on my front n/s wheel sheered off while I was driving and a drive shaft got ripped out! (Lucky I was doing 25mph on a straight quiet road) I reckon I just wasn't strong enough to move whatever was wrong when I checked it so the probelm continued. So the week before my MOT I gota bill for £350.
So if it were me I'd take it apart, and check EVERYTHING! Or take it somewhere for checks if you have the cash.

[cawoodni01]

Well can't really avoid any bumps around here some of the roads are awful. An the tyres and tracking have all been checked, tracking was out by 7.5 degrees but sorting that didn't make a huge amount of difference. Its now been booked into Minisport on Saturday so as long as it manages to last me another 47 miles all should be ok. Going to be very intrigued as to what is wrong when they find it because its had me baffled for weeks and weeks

[maurais]

ive got a very similiar problem with my 88 designer and i cant work out exactly what it is seems to do it worse in the rain, i havent properely checked it over yet as i havent had the time but will be getting it up on a ramp tomorrow at work to have a butchers plus ive got solid sub frame mounts and a flip front.
ill let u know if anything comes conclusive

cheerz maurais

[icklemini]

with the help of an assistant:
open bonnet
look at engine
get assistant to move steering wheel from left to right.
observe to see if the engine/subframe is moving = subframe mounts shot...

Edited by icklemini, 29 May 2009 - 06:41 PM.

[icklemini]

was out by 7.5 degrees

Wow that is a *huge* amount..

[minicooper1.3i]

I had very dodgy steering on my project MPi when I bought it and eventually I took it out of the garage for it's MOT. I thought it was just the tracking. Turns out it failed the MOT on a knackered steering rack and track rod ends. Can't remember exactly what was on the fail sheet, but basically, it was as knackered as knackered can be. And the car had only done 32k ish miles.

If it is the steering rack then I advise you to do it yourself. A new/recon one is only about 25 quid and it only takes arond half an hour to fit, as longs as you're handy with the correct tools that is.

[cawoodni01]

Been to Minisport with it and told them the issue. Had all the ball joints replaced, a cv joint and a wheel bearing and still hasn't made a huge amount of difference. Subframe is sound as are the mounts. Spose all thats left for it to be would be the steering rack itself just haven't got a huge amount of time to get it in bits at the moment as i'm away at college until the end of August. MOT is due in a few weeks though so I suppose if anything is majorly wrong it should get picked up then. If not....keep upgrading bits until it stops i suppose

[cawoodni01]

was out by 7.5 degrees

Wow that is a *huge* amount..

Yeah thats what i thought when they said, glad I got that done. You could actually see the front wheels pointing different directions!

[jaydee]

Maybe your tie bar are bent. Tracking out by 7,5 deg., steering issues, do you have braking issues too dont you?..sounds to me as a bent tie bar.

[newdawn1st]

Been to Minisport with it and told them the issue. Had all the ball joints replaced, a cv joint and a wheel bearing and still hasn't made a huge amount of difference. Subframe is sound as are the mounts. Spose all thats left for it to be would be the steering rack itself just haven't got a huge amount of time to get it in bits at the moment as i'm away at college until the end of August. MOT is due in a few weeks though so I suppose if anything is majorly wrong it should get picked up then. If not....keep upgrading bits until it stops i suppose

Did Minisport not suggest what else it may be? Thought they would of had a good poke around first, I'm assuming you needed all these bits replacing, or was it merely a process of elimination? Heard Minisport charge labour at £60 an hour, is that about right?

[minidaves]

sounds to me the rack needs to be tightened to the floor comman problem on sportspacks and 97 on mini's

[redhotmini]

sounds to me the rack needs to be tightened to the floor comman problem on sportspacks and 97 on mini's

thats what happened to mine, started wandering about on the road. noticed a knocking noise when i moved the steering wheel about, jacked it up and found the rack was slightly loose so tightened the bolts up after adding a bit of loctite on the threads. been fine since.