Hello again everyone,Car's been not to bad recently but went for an MOT today and it's failed because of a track rod.The garage has told me that because it's integrated into the steering rack I need to have a whole new rack fitted at £900!Seems ridiculous if true. Is this correct?

no its bolloks, just went out and looked at mine and its a normal one on there

the part is even on ebay under £20 delivered

Hi Dave,
Thanks for that.

I had a look on Euro Car Parts and they've got them for 16.74 each so I really don't understand what they mean by needing to change the whole rack.

I guess it they must have told me the wrong thing - it can't be something as simple as a track rod although they did say that they can normally change them and they only cost a few pounds. It'll be on the report though so I'll soon find out.

Very odd.

Just picked it up from the garage and the fail is "Nearside track rod steering system has excessive free play detected at the stering wheel (steering rack fitted) (2.2.A.1b)"

The visual health check says N/S/F track rod worn and the quote is £973 incl VAT and fitting.

What I can't get my head round is why Euro Car Parts have one for £16.74 (Part No.: 606725070) when it can't be replaced.

dave said:

no its bolloks, just went out and looked at mine and its a normal one on there

the part is even on ebay under £20 delivered

Click to expand...

Dave is right, it is a separate part. The LH one is part number 77363713 and the RH side one is 77363712.

Available from fleabay for £11.95 delivered. They even have apretty picture to prove it.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FIAT-CROM..._CarParts_SM&hash=item3f0dc4ab43#ht_652wt_952

they are trying it on, was you wearing a shirt n tie when you took it in?

i had the same warning a year ago
excesive play in steering rack

i replaced track rod ends and it's absolutely fine
no need to change steering rack, they want to bend you over me thinks

Hi Dave / Arti,
Yes I was wearing a shirt and tie - guess that makes me a target.

I've had a look on eper and couldn't find the specific part - thanks for the part numbers.

What I still can't get my head around is why they would not only say it over the phone but then put it in writing.

It's going to another garage on Thursday so hopefully he'll be able to fix it.

Is it an especially difficult thing to fit? I mean, is it that they just couldn't be bothered?

Thanks again.

There could be play at the steering wheel because the engine was not running, try it both ways.
I had a similar advisory but the same place have passed it twice since without comment. There is slight play when switched off.

Hope I am wrong, but there is a possibility they mean the internal ball joint has wear in it. By that I mean the one that is screwed directly to the steering rack itself, not the tie rod end you can see. I say again I hope I am wrong but if it is the case I would look at refurbishment of the old unit, there must be an aftermarket factor that can do this somewhere.

its a 15 min job, they tracking has to be checked

Hi Keith,
Not sure what they mean by excessive play. Would you know how much it's supposed to move?

There doesn't seem to be any difference between left and right.

Hi Bobby Blue,
Would the ball joint be something that would be replaceable on a "normal" car?

They were quite clear that it was the track rod that is worn and that it's very unusual for it to be integrated into the steering rack meaning that the whole thing has to be replaced.

Lets hope they have got their terminolgy correct.

Track Rod is the rod (two off) that are part of the steering rack. These do have inner 'ball joints' at the end of the toothed rack than connect the rack to the rods.

At the end of the track rods are "track rod end ball joints". These connect the rods to the wheel hub steering are.

We also have "Track Control Arms" - these are in effect the equivalent of old style 'lower wish bones' and connect the wheel/hub/strut assembly to the vehicle chassis. These control arms also have a 'ball joint' the allows your to turn the wheels.

You can quite easily check your track rod end ball joints with the help of an assistant (if you want to).

1) put assistant behind steering whell
2) assistant start engine
3) assistant turn steering wheel fully clockwise
4) you go to N/S (left wheel) and ly down on ground behind wheel looking into wheel arch
5) at around wheel center height and a little behind wheel center you will see a thin rod comming from inside the wheel arch/engine area. This is the N/S track rod
6) place your fingers round the rod and run them down the rod outwards to the end. You should be able to feel/see a larger round topped component with a small rubber gaitor that connects to the steering arm on the back of the hub. This is the track rod end ball joint.
7) place your fingers gently on the round top of the ball joint/track rod interface and over the rubber boot and over the hub arm and lower securing nut
8) tell assistant to gently and slowly rock the steering from side to side.
9) IF there is play in the ball joint then you should feel it as your fingers move relative to each other.
10) Try to memorise the amount of play you felt.

Now do the same all over again but this time reverse the steering lock and test side of car.

Do they feel the same? Is one more sloppy than the other? are both sloppy?

Fitting a new track rod ends is not difficult for a garage. 30 minutes max for one and most deccent garages should be able to do both sides in 30 to 40 minutes. After they have been replace the front "tracking" MUST be adjusted. Ensure the garage hve done this or get it done yourself and a tyre specialist.

Hope this helps.

Hello again s130,
I'll have a go at that and see if I can tell the difference.

If it's the ball joints would that be terminal for the steering rack?

I just can't get my head around why the garage could be so apparently incompetent.

Hello Brian, S130 has comprehensively covered all the points in his reply, if it was the rack internal ball joints they are not generally available to Joe public, I don't know what your mileage is but these normally only fail at high mileages because they run in a clean environment and rarely give wear issues. I had it happen to a car I once owned but that had done 196,000 miles. Best of luck.

Mileage is only 59830 so high for a 56 plate but not excessive.

However, I've been out and had a feel and a look at it. To my completely untrained hand and eye I can't tell the difference between the 2 sides.

I am worried though because even to a complete amateur like me it does look really straightforward to change and I can't think why they wouldn't just change it. Mind you, they did say that if the track rod had been available as a separate part from the steering rack and they had changed it the bill would be about £150 between the cost of the part, fitting, vat and wheel realingment.

I guess I'll find out when it goes for a second opinion on Thursday.

what town do you live in? some one may be able to recomend some where better to look at it

Right folks we have been here before.

https://www.fiatforum.com/croma/263259-steering-rack.html

Following on from this thread I have discovered the following from eper and t'internet.

There are four types of Croma steering rack:

51753895 is for the 2.2 Petrol

717440550 is for the 8v Diesel

717440551 is for the 2.4 Diesel

717440552 is for the 16v Diesel and the 8v diesel if fitted with ESP.

All these racks are also used in the Vectra C and Saab 9-3 but I can't find any way of cross referencing the part numbers.

However if it turns out to be the internal ball joint I have found that there is a tie rod repair kit available from TRW and Lemforder.

The tie rods are the same for both sides of the car irrespective of whether it is LH or RH drive.

The tie rods for the 1.8, 8v diesel and 16v diesel are common, the 2.4 has a different one.

I cannot find a UK company that supplies them, but they are available from a German company.

The Lemforder one for the petrol and 1.9 diesel is £23.83 plus £13.92 shipping

http://seekpart24.com/lemfoerder/axial-joint-tie-rod-2772701?c=100198

The TRW one is £16.26 plus £13.92 shipping

http://seekpart24.com/trw/axial-joint-tie-rod-jar958?c=100198

Fitting them is a piece of cake for any reputable garage and should take no longer than an hour plus re-alignment.

Got to be better than £900. Simples!

Hi Radlet6,
It's an 8v diesel.

Thanks for listing out all of the bits - for the life of me I still can't understand why they'd say that it can be replaced.

I'll have a read through the other thread, thanks for that as well.