AU steering rack recall, who's done it?

[GK]

Originally Posted by Xcel

I had mine done 2 weeks ago,

A week later the clutch cable wore a hole through a power steering line and my mechanic had to reposition the clucth cable, so my mechanic told me.

Dont know if Ford service stuffed around with the clutch cable while doing the recall, but I only got problems after it went into them.

Man! It seems that nearly everyone has a different story. No wonder so many say "yeah get it done" and others cry in anguish "don't let Ford get near it!"

George

I didn't have a choice.

Took her in to get the radiator replaced, got it back saying the steering rack was modified. Two days later got a letter from Ford telling me to bring it in...

[GK]

Originally Posted by Bangers

I didn't have a choice.

Took her in to get the radiator replaced, got it back saying the steering rack was modified. Two days later got a letter from Ford telling me to bring it in...

How did the job they did go? Did you have any hassles with it? Were you peeved that they just did it without asking?

George

[Steve_T]

Originally Posted by AUGZMK

Well the problem is that it's a QUICK FIX. I'd rather find out how they tackled this issue with AUII/III and see if that same method can be adopted to the AUI rack....

LOL - that's exactly what they're doing. Yep, seems the way it was tackled on the AU2/3 was to put a spot weld on the bolt :hihi:

I say this after having a look under my AU3 ute. As said, the rack is secured to the cross member with studs. The studs screw into the cross member and protrude out the other (front) side. I looked at mine and saw on the L/H stud where it protrudes it has a spot weld dabbed on it. IIRC it was only on the L/H one though - dunno why - do they figure as long as the rack's still holding on by one bolt 'she'll be right' LOL Also noted that 'cause the weld is towards the end of the bolt (prolly so as not to melt the aluminium cross member when they do it) it means while the stud can't come out completely it can still loosen right up at which point I don't see what would stop the nut that secures the rack bracket to the stud from loosening and falling off thus resulting in your rack still being able to fall off (?) This is a bit of speculation until I have a better look under the car again - maybe I missed something??

I think loctite or welds are both less-than-ideal fixes. As someone suggested, a castle nut with pin would be good but I think it would be even easier to just lock-nut it. IE. screw a nut onto the protruding part of the stud and do it up firm, then screw another nut on behind that and lock it up tight against the first nut. Even use loctite on the nuts just to be sure. Then I reckon there's no way it could even come loose but you could easily still remove it when needed. Seems like the best way to me and screwing two nuts on is an easy DIY job too I can't recommend it to anyone of course being a safety issue like this but food for thought anyway for people making up their minds.

Steve.

[Au2falcons]

Just to clarify things

The problem affects AUI & II, doesn't affect AUIII

[GK]

I'm really enjoying the forum.

It's good to hear from many people on many issues. I visited this forum for about a week before joining up. I really liked the kind of free advice and information I could pick up.

With regards to the steering rack "fix" I reckon it's far easier and cheaper for Ford to simply weld a blob on the threads rather than use a couple of locknuts. It's all about money!

My best mate has the same wagon as me, but his is an Au2 Futura. Man does he get some extra gear. Upgraded brakes, bigger wheels, thicker firewall, different seatbelt holders (you know the height adjustable ones) nicer mags, and seemingly different suspension. Can anyone clarify this?

There are lots of little things too, the different heater/cooling control cluster, the slightly different needle length on the instrument cluster. I'm sure I've missed many other things too. Can someone fill me in?

Blessings,

George

By the way, exactly what do you get in an ESP package? I'm sure the BA is great! It has twin climate control doesn't it? Great for the misses! LOL

[Steve_T]

Yeah, that's sorta why AUGZMK was asking - it doesn't affect AU3's (inc. late model AU2's) so therefore Ford must have done something different during the production of AU3's so that the problem was eliminated. I was just stating that all that did different was exactly the same thing they are doing to fix up the AU1/2 recall vehicles at the dealers. So in other words some ppl have to take their AU1 in to have a spot weld to fix the issue whereas my AU3 doesn't have to go in for this cause it came with the spot weld from the factory. AUGZMK was just thinking they would have come up with a more elegant solution for a production line change than just the recall spot weld idea.

Hope that clarifies if you thought I meant something different.

Steve.

[GK]

I agree, the spot weld doesn't look crash hot.

George

[Steve_T]

99 Futura Wagon - you posted exactly same time as me lol. You're dead right - the reason they spot weld instead of the (proper IMHO) solution of locknuts is simply about money as always. There might be some threads around re. difference between AU1/2 but if not there would be on fordforums.com - have a search around and you might find some info.

Steve.

[GK]

Good idea, I reckon the info's got to be around here somewhere.

On that note, I'm amazed at the extra stuff Ford stuffed into the series 3 AU. Just looking at the Forte sees the extras like body coded mirrors and side mouldings. Makes me feel like I should've got an AU2 or 3 Futura wagon instead! Ahhh doesn't matter! It's all good!

George

[loxxr6]

99 Futura Wagon : Check here and just find the brochure for the series 2 model your mate has. In short tho, it should be better equipped than a series 1 model.

[GK]

Originally Posted by loxxr6

99 Futura Wagon : Check here and just find the brochure for the series 2 model your mate has. In short tho, it should be better equipped than a series 1 model.

loxxr6,

The link you supplied was excellent. It's great to see the original brochures. As I bought my Au1 2 years ago, I obviously didn't get any.

Thanks heaps,

George

[12]

Steve_T, if what you say about late AU2's and all AU3's having the weld also, then I'm very very disappointed to say the least.. It's a quick fix, nothing more, nothing less. Surely Ford could have come up with a better way to fix this issue. I too was thinking the same as what you have posted about a second locking nut. Might be something to look into further.

Anyone got a pic of what the area looks like after the Ford "fix"? Need to know what I'm looking for when I go to my local service centre early tomorrow.. oops, I mean this morning.

What I don't understand is, if Ford put the weld on late AU2's and all AU3 models, why did they take so long to recall the AU1 and early AU2 models? Ford obviously knew that there was a problem, as the weld was done to the late AU2 and all AU3. I hope I can at least get some decent answers from the service dept, but I doubt I will.

[JADED6]

Originally Posted by AUGZMK

Surely Ford could have come up with a better way to fix this issue.

The answer is disappointing but... Why come up with a better way when you can come up with a cheaper way.

It's ALL about profit margins, making money & saving time, who cares who you **** off in the meantime. Sure you may not buy from them again, so what, someone else will. We'd all like to think car manufactures love us but you're just a figure/number who bought the last piece of junk that rolled off the production line.



So far it seems that people have complained about problems occurring after the fix has been carried out, same things could happen next time you get it serviced.
If i owned an AU (almost did) i wouldn't hesitate to get it fixed.
Still LOVE to buy a series 1 AU Ghia V8, burgundy, full body kit, dodgy tac welded steering rack & tickford 17's.

[StorminaTcup]

I know it's off the topic, late last year when car was @ coffey's it had the steering recall done as well as a coolant recall, engine flushed and coolant replaced. Anyone able to shed some light?

[Au2falcons]

When i got my AUII it had the radiator replaced and the water pump o'ring replaced. It had red coolant in it at the time and they replaced it with green coolant because the were no longer using it. Maybe it was a recall? The other cooling recall was a modification to the thermostat housing/thermostat to bypass some coolant, which allows the temperature in the radiator to gradually rise, before this didn't happen and they had alot of cracking radiators. On the reciept for the work it should say recall no. RCMC252 for this recall.

Cheers,
Adrian.

[FRDGAL]

Originally Posted by AUGZMK

Oh man, I'm more confused than ever now

I'm still worried about this myself but I've gone ahead and booked mine in. I sat down and looked at it like this - if I have problems after it's done, I'd rather that than to have a loss of steering especially since I have 3 kids in the car all the time. But I am having the car checked before it goes in to Ford so I guess if I have problems afterwards, I can atleast show them that there were no existing problems before their "fix".

Originally Posted by Au2falcons

When i got my AUII it had the radiator replaced and the water pump o'ring replaced. It had red coolant in it at the time and they replaced it with green coolant because the were no longer using it. Maybe it was a recall? The other cooling recall was a modification to the thermostat housing/thermostat to bypass some coolant, which allows the temperature in the radiator to gradually rise, before this didn't happen and they had alot of cracking radiators. On the reciept for the work it should say recall no. RCMC252 for this recall.

Cheers,
Adrian.

You wouldnt know the recall No. for the steering box fix or where to find out what recall No.s relate to what repairs. I just got one for PRGC300A?

Anyone know?

Cheers



O

[FRDGAL]

Originally Posted by O-one

You wouldnt know the recall No. for the steering box fix or where to find out what recall No.s relate to what repairs. I just got one for PRGC300A?

Anyone know?

Cheers

Just call or email Ford and ask them.

[Au2falcons]

nope sorry, only just the ones i've had done

[GK]

Originally Posted by Fairmont_Krissy

I'm still worried about this myself but I've gone ahead and booked mine in. I sat down and looked at it like this - if I have problems after it's done, I'd rather that than to have a loss of steering especially since I have 3 kids in the car all the time. But I am having the car checked before it goes in to Ford so I guess if I have problems afterwards, I can atleast show them that there were no existing problems before their "fix".

As a family man myself, I reckon that's a very good idea.

George

[12]

Originally Posted by O-one

You wouldnt know the recall No. for the steering box fix or where to find out what recall No.s relate to what repairs. I just got one for PRGC300A?

That's the steering rack recall.

[12]

I went to 3 different dealers and got 3 different stories.. LOL. The first dealer was not much help, the female I spoke to, didn't have a clue and when I asked if I could speak to someone more knowledgeable on the issue, I got told they're all very busy and I should just book it in.. :thebirds:. The second was much better and explained exactly why the recall came about and why it needs to be carried out. He also agreed that it's a quick fix, but it's the only fix. Not convinced, I went to another service center that I use to take my AU XR8 to, and they were very helpful. Answered all questions I had, and showed me diagrams on the computer of the rack bolts and how they mount to the K frame. Better yet, he took me inside the garage where there was a AU3 on a hoist and pointed out to me the effected area. I asked about adding a nut to the bolt instead of welding the threads, but this idea was put to rest 'cause the nut would not sit flat against the K fame, plus the nut would have to be of the exact same one that was on the other side of the bolt to do the job "properly", but it won't fit in the given area that's available. Plus, there's not much thread left for the nut to be put on.

Click to enlarge.


The photo above is of the drivers side rack mount bolt and how it's attached to the K frame on my TS50. Where the arrow poits to, this is where Ford dab a bit of weld to the side of the bolt and along the thread. IF the bolt did work loose, the weld would stop it from coming all the way through. As you can see, it is very difficult to attach another nut to the rear of this bolt as the angle of the K frame where the bolt comes through, prevents the nut from being tensioned right to the bottom. That's only a minor issue, as the biggest issue is there's only two full turns left on the rear of the bolt even if you did find a nut that would fit. Not enough "grab" for it to be of any use.

The problem only occurs if the rack mount bolts have been torqued beyond the specified limit if 78 Nm, and thus breaking the seal of the loctite. This then, IF you're VERY VERY VERY unlucky, and in VERY VERY VERY extreme cases, causes the bolt to work it's way out, fall off, and you'd loose control of the vehicle. Personally, I think I've got a better chance of one day walking on the Moon than the bolt working it's way out, and so agreed the Ford personnel I spoke to, but it could happen.

I took the car to a friend who is a engineer for a firm that designs and produces parts for semi-trailers. We went through all the if's, and's, maybe's, what about's, trying to come up with a better solution. Taking everything into consideration, the "quick fix" seems the only way this problem can be tackled apart from re-engineering a whole new K frame and few other bits :, which I guess is what Ford did for the BA. The late AU2's and AU3's had this "quick fix" done from factory as a production line change as mentioned by Steve_T in his post above. I won't be rushing to get this done on the TS50, but I probably will sometime in the not too distant future.

[Ay-You-Steve]

What about if you brought a second hand AUI? Can the recall still be fixed by Ford if it hasen't already been done?

[FRDGAL]

Originally Posted by Ay-You-Steve

What about if you brought a second hand AUI? Can the recall still be fixed by Ford if it hasen't already been done?

Yes. Mine's second-hand and it's being done. I assume they track you down by the VIN # because they found me - I never went to them about it. And I've changed plates too and they still found me.

Also, I have a recall sticker on my car with #SRCC215 on it and never knew what it was for (as it was done before I bought the car) so I rang Ford today and found out it was for a recall on the throttle cable. It was to change the rubber grommet. So for anyone that didn't know - there ya go

[Steve_T]

AUGZMK, since you saw a pic of the stud, can you describe it to me? I assume it's not a uniform diameter throughout it's length - does it have a flange in the middle or is it stepped diameter etc.? Are both sides' studs the same?
Thanks.

Steve.

[5speedTE]

hey guys i just bought a 2001 II falcon would mine need doing... when was this recall issued....

thanx guys

[GK]

Originally Posted by Fairmont_Krissy

Yes. Mine's second-hand and it's being done. I assume they track you down by the VIN # because they found me - I never went to them about it. And I've changed plates too and they still found me.

Also, I have a recall sticker on my car with #SRCC215 on it and never knew what it was for (as it was done before I bought the car) so I rang Ford today and found out it was for a recall on the throttle cable. It was to change the rubber grommet. So for anyone that didn't know - there ya go

Krissy,

I didn't know there was a recall for the throttle cable. Can anyone shed some more light on this?

George

P.S Blessings to all during this Easter time.

[Au2falcons]

5speed TE, your car falls under the group that require the recall, have a look inside the drivers door, on the a-pillar near the hinges. If you have a silver 'feild campain' sticker with the number SRCC500 on it that means the steering recall has been carried out on it. If not give a ford dealer a ring and they will check their records.

99 Futura Wagon, try this link for more on the throttle cable recall

http://www.autoweb.com.au/cms/A_53575/newsarticle.html

[FRDGAL]

Originally Posted by 99 Futura Wagon

Krissy, I didn't know there was a recall for the throttle cable.

You do now Georgie :P

Au2falcons beat me to posting up a link but there you go...