Noises coming from the front of recent, so jacked up and had a look. Think the knocking noises are coming from the ball joints (drivers side shown in first photo, but other side pretty much the same). Would appreciate confirmation from a more expert eye that the joint is knackered (which I think means that the wishbone needs changed?). Also found that the drivers side gator on the steering rack is badly twisted and holed - again assuming not good and needing sorted (second pic)? Other thing wanted to check is that the passenger side spring is properly seated (third photo) - seems secure enough but the end of it doesn't seem to be braced against anything? Also appreciate any comments on the condition of the big wishbone bushes (pic 4).
Cheers.

Well, from the photo's alone, the suspension needs a refresh that's for sure. If it was me I'd replace the lot. If you are doing the job yourself rust is going to be your biggest problem, plenty of penetrating oil & a source of heat as well.

The last picture looks almost the same as mine I would replace it until its making noises.

The rubber gaitor at the knuckle looks split so that pin could be the source of the knock, in which case a new wishbone would be a good call. Are your sure it's the wishbone though? Are the tyres worn on the inner shoulder? I've had knocks (even bought the new wishbones in anticipation) and it turned out to be the driveshaft.

Before you give it a go, buy all-new bolts the right length. They'll be metric fine pitch (e.g. M10 x 1.25) rather than just regular metric thread and probably 10.9 marked.

And new nuts. Metric fine. Buy loads of nuts since all the suspension (damper bolts, tie-rods, knuckle etc.) are the same and you will need them sooner or later.

The steering gaitor just needs a new gaitor by the looks of it.

The spring looks the same as mine. The upper bush is just rubber, with only a shallow moulded stop for the spring so it's tricky to see it unless the damper is apart. I dunno how it stays in there.. but I assembled a new one from parts and once you have it all aligned (quite tricky with such a shallow spring "cup" made from rubber) and the spring is under full tension, it stays where it is.

Big wishbone bushes looks "okay" but they could just as easily be knackered. The key is how much movement there is in there. Since you're probably changing the wishbones anyway, then any excess movement won't be a problem any more.


Ralf S.

Thanks Ralph.
I've not long put some nice new Continentals on all round, the previous set which had been on for a while weren't totally on the markers, but weren't obviously worn on the inside at the fronts. So, on balance think that maybe the wishbones will cure the knocking probs and tighten things up?
Btw is it normal for the bolts for the bolts to have a bit of "wiggle" room in the bushes, seems logical given that they are m10 and the bush diameter is 12mm/12.5mm, but just wondered, given that I had thought that you would want as little movement as possible (and that the last time I did the wishbone on another Stilo one of the bolts was solid in the bush and involved the gratuitous use of an angle grinder to get it away....).
Cheers.

The bolts aren't supposed to have wiggle. If the bush is ~12.5mm then the bolt needs to be an M12, not an M10. I wrote "M10" since I spent the weekend faffing about with a groaning track rod end (needed a new nut and some tightening)... but the wishbone bolts could well be M12. They're fine pitch, which is the main thing, if you want to order some new ones before dismantling the old ones.


Ralf S.

Does this look like too much wiggle..... (these are the bolts that came with the wishbone its Febi Bistein make, supplied by Mister Auto). Tried to post a wee video but couldn't get it to load up.....
Cheers.

Those look okay. I remember my old Alfa 145 arms had the same apparent slack but I never had any problems with them, other than wrestling with the old bolts.

If your old ones are a mission to undo, when you have finally cut them out with an angle grinder or oxy-acetylene torch Ahhhh Ahhhh Ahhhh have a look to see where the thread/nut/bolts have gone rusted/seized and stick a load of grease or silicone sealant in the same place on your new parts, so they come apart easier next time out.

I dunno if you need to grease up the metal sleeve (the old bolt will probably be fairly clean) but again, if it looks like moisture has got into the old one (and if it was me) it may be worth a dab. You'll know you've done it, even if it makes no difference.


Ralf S.

This stuff any good for the steering rack, under the rubber bellows?
Tia.

I have no idea what grease the steering rack likes.. but olde worlde Fiats used to specify gear oil, then that later changed to Molybdenum grease, so I'd check that the Stilo really wants a graphite grease. It's not impossible that it uses graphite.. but moly' has "previous".


Ralf S.

tessiedog said:

This stuff any good for the steering rack, under the rubber bellows?
Tia.

Click to expand...

The Fiat eLEARN workshop manual has a list of all recommended lubricants used on the car. It doesn't mention any lubricant for the steering rack.

The eLEARN procedure for replacing the rack bellows doesn't mention any lubricant.

It would appear that the rack is lubricated for life, and doesn't need any additional lubricant.
.

Thanks Ralph and Davren

This is on the back of the recent discovery of a large twist and hole in the gaiter on the driver’s side of the rack when I was having a mooch around underneath looking at some bits of the suspension, as mentioned earlier in this thread. Dunno how long it’s been like that, but not mentioned at MOT time in June. Poked a finger in the hole and it seemed very dry and made a mental note to self to do something about it sooner rather than later, and in the meantime have been building up to doing the wishbones, and probably the track rod ends, on both sides, which are past their best.

However, co-incidentally (or maybe not) during the week last week the steering developed a reasonably vague stiffness, not overly obvious, but mainly noticeable in a reluctance for the steering to re-centre from around the “ten to” and “ten past” positions. Don’t think that it is power assistance related, since turning the steering wheel to make the turns through the full range still feels as it should. Adding two and two to get five, I concluded that this was something related to the burst gaiter, so have been on the trail of what to do about it, hence the enquiries about grease (I’ve got a tub of the graphite stuff in the garage, as well as the type that goes in the driveshaft boots). At the weekend, I scooted some silicon grease into the boot, which will probably turn out to be the one thing not to do, but coming up the road this morning, the steering did feel a bit easier, if not totally perfect. I’ve got a replacement boot coming and had presumed that I would need to put some form of lubricant into it (I see that some of the boots on the market come with CV grease as part of the package?). Any thoughts on this greatly appreciated, as always. I’m hoping that I’m not looking at the need to replace the rack, which as far as I can make out is a fairly big job requiring the sub frame to be lowered ….?, probably something not DIY for me and so would be a bit of unwanted expense at the garage.

Cheers

My reasoning would be;

If it's supposed to be greased, then any grease is better than no grease.

If it's supposed to be not greased, then having grease on it won't hurt (tyres and brakes and the interior headlining might be exceptions).

If it's supposed to be greased then it's more like a CV joint than a hinge, so I would go with a CV joint grease (which I think is molybdenum).

Ralf S.

Hi folks
Update on the grease/no grease on the steering rack, which is that it's now had a couple of skooshes under the holey boot with the silicon grease and the stiffness seems to have disappeared. So when I come to replace the damaged boot, think I'll put a touch of the CV grease in, as you say Ralph, prob can't do any harm.....
But also got a question - anyone got to hand the torque values for the two big wishbone bolts and the balljoint pinch bolt? I've seen on the web 100nm for the horizontal front bush and 105nm for the vertical rear,but not sure if this is reliable info. Can't see anything mentioned for the pinch bolt, although believe typically that the value is somewhere around 40 to 60nm?
Cheers and thanks again.