MOT failure on damaged steering rack
Sometimes the statements made by customers are priceless. I’ve lost track of the number of times a vehicle has come in for its MOT and I’ve been told: “It should pass everything OK.”
The owner of this 2008 Ford Fiesta bought the car in because the power steering had failed, saying “I don’t think it’s serious, because when I top up the fluid, it works.” This was true, but it only really proved that the steering pump was operational. The reason the fluid wasn’t staying in the system was because the power steering rack had blown a seal, which, in turn, had pushed the fluid out along the rack until it eventually blew off the rack boot.
On the Fiesta, although the subframe needs to be lowered to get the rack out of position, the job itself isn’t too difficult. Once the excess oil had been mopped up from under the subframe, we could replace the rack. It only remained for the steering to be bled out and the tracking to be set up before the owner could have their Fiesta back.