Hi all..

I have a 1.2 2003 punto active Sport - which runs like a dream

However, i noticed some wear on the inner front tyres, so decided to get the tracking checked.

I swapped the rears to the front to reduce any further wear and took it to a local tyre garage.

Prior to the trip to the garage, the car drove fine and then tyres now on the front were new 4 weeks ago.

They carried out lazer alignment ( it was way out apperently ) , corrected it and off i drove.

As soon as i hit 40 mph it started to pull violently to the right on acceleration... and violently to the left if i backed off.. This got worse if i went faster.

Upto 40, its not very noticeable.

I took it back, and it was rechecked.. the alignment was still out.. 20 minutes later, off i went - same issue.

Back again, and it was still out... They tweaked again and although better than before, it wasnt right...

Back to the garage, who swapped the front wheels around and had to car up on the ramps looking for any signs of the issue ( warn bushes etc )... They found nothing and told me to see how it went with the wheels swapped.. if it pulled left instead of right, it was the tyres or wheels..

I did my usual test drive onto - That made no difference...

They are now saying that the tracking is right and there is another issue ( although they couldnt see anything on the ramps )

Has anybody experienced this before.. ? any pointers what to look for before i go and get a different garage to check the tracking.

thanks

It is quite possible although they have looked and can't find any obvious problems, that you still have a badly worn suspension component.

The veering to the left or right depending on if accelerating or not is a classic sign something is worn and moving.

Either - they aren't doing it correctly
Or there equipement needs reconfiguration / calibrating

OR

there is something causing the issue

I prey to go they haven't wound the arms out to far - and they aren barely held on via a thread....

There is going to be something moving - causing the issue

Tyres can play alot of havoc though - if you have 1 new one 1 side and 1 old on the other, the difference can become very noticible

Ziggy

I got mine tracked a few weeks ago after replacing a balljoint, (NCT Failure) It wasn't bad before I went in but after 4 wheel laser tracking it was pulling desperately to the right, took it straight back and got it done again, no problems that time, I have horrible alloys on it and they are well marked etc, I reckon that the clamps were on an uneven part of the rim and threw out the tracking totally. Again a lot depends on the person doing it, I had a similar experience about 10 years ago and had to go to a different place to get it done, I would suggest that if it wasn't bad before then either the operator or machine is wrong!

Thanks for the feedback from everybody..

Ive got an MOT booked for next week - so ill ask the garage to give it a propert going over.. If all looks fine, ill get them to adjust again - failing that, ill try another garage

thanks

Hi,

A couple of months later....

Flew through MOT and my mechanic spent the best part of 20 minutes going over the front end.. nothing obvious.. he concluded the alignment was incorrect..

took it back to the tracking place several times - who didnt really want to know..

on the 3rd trip back, one of the guys took a big bar to the wishbone, pushing and pulling it on the bush.. it gave way ( was fine when checked for MOT ) and they blamed the play on the now faulty bush...

Swapped the wishbones and got retracked - by a totally different gararge..

same issue

pulls to the right on acceleration... Pulls back to the left if i back off.. When coasting along at speed, there is no pull and it feels fine.. steering wheel is central.. so it is only on acceleration..

Also put it up on a ramp last week and tested the acceleration with the wheels off the floor, and there was no obvious pulling / movement to the sides..

any other ideas ?

thanks

You may have damaged your shaft or gearbox after jacking up the front and accelerating it... Not a good idea, damaged my old nissan doing that, unless you jacked it up under the wishbones then id get shafts and gearbox checked...

bit of an obvious one since you said you swapped the front wheels round and it pulled the other way. Are the tyre pressures correct and the same both sides ?
Also are the tread patterns the same ? I once had a car pulled to one side and it was different tyre pattern caused it

Are they even the same tyre size?

This is why i heavily pressurised people in getting MATCHING axle's

It helps prevent pulling - it gives more stable handeling too!

Ziggy

Hi,

Defo all the same tyre - make and size..

And i tried swapping them around.. makes no difference.

I'm thinking along the lines of gearbox / engine mount..

if i press the cluth in, as i come off the accelerator, it still pulls back to centre ( to the left ).. so even disengaged, its pulling.. but once it corrects itself and i dont accelerate, the drives straight..

i dont think clutch or gearbox engine mount is gonna pull your car to one side when you let go off steering wheel, its something else

suburban kid said:

Hi,

Defo all the same tyre - make and size..

And i tried swapping them around.. makes no difference.

I'm thinking along the lines of gearbox / engine mount..

if i press the cluth in, as i come off the accelerator, it still pulls back to centre ( to the left ).. so even disengaged, its pulling.. but once it corrects itself and i dont accelerate, the drives straight..

Click to expand...

I had this on mine and it was a worn engine mount (the one near the gearbox). Mine pulled to the right when accelerating hard and then pulled to the left when I let off.

Hope this helps.

Cheers.

well it wasnt the mount..

mount was past best, with a lot of play in the rubber, but it didnt fix the issue

any other ideas folks ?

thanks

You should get your brake calipers and hoses checked sounds more like your problem

Are the suspension springs on the front OK?
Maybe you should post some underside shots to see if anyone can spot anything.

But if it was OK, and then it was tracked, and then not, you have to wonder what they did...

In terms of tracking the basic punto, what can you actually adjust? Toe only?

outer track rod end

if it was fine before tracking, they ****ed up something or you just didnt notice it before

atom0007 said:

Are the suspension springs on the front OK?
Maybe you should post some underside shots to see if anyone can spot anything.

But if it was OK, and then it was tracked, and then not, you have to wonder what they did...

In terms of tracking the basic punto, what can you actually adjust? Toe only?

Click to expand...

Toe adjustmemt only
But it also slightly knock caster/camber too
But there normally fixed

Ziggy

Hi

have you got it sorted yet??

My Doblo did exactly the same

I could change lanes on the motorway just by accelerating or braking.

Turned out to be inner ball joint on steering rack, beneath rubber boot,

If you can, squeeze the boot between 2 fingers to feel the balljoint and get somebody to rock the wheel to and fro. You may feel some play in the joint. Fiat make their rubber boots out of a particularly inflexible rubber so it's not easy to feel the play.

They are not always easy to find play in and are mega tight to get off the rack, but luckily not expensive, but if replaced you will need tracking done again.

Hi All,

Sorry for the delay.. Had another daughter, so very little time to get online / tinker..

However, i did manage to swap the shocks over while on paternity leave - and it made no difference at all - so its eliminated the shocks..

so i'd kind of figured it was drive shaft, but ill look at the inner ball joint this weekend..

In terms of the issue.. i noticed that the steering wheel actually pulls the oposite was to the car when accelerating..

ie coasting straight / non acceleration - hand at 12 o clock.. car smooth and straight..

Accelerate - wheel gets dragged left, so my hand is now at 10 o clock... car is pulling right...

take foot of the accelerator - makes no difference if done slowly - car pulls back to the left and hand snatches back to 12 o clock..

so ill check ball joints later.

thanks

Is the rack properly centred?

D