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| Vehicle |
Various |
| Year |
Various |
| Mileage |
100,000 |
| Repair Cost |
circa £100 |
| Repair Part(s) |
Spindle Rod - Connecting |
Steering Rack - Excessive Wear
The earliest Scorpios are now 8 years old and many will have travelled in excess
of 100,000 miles. It is inevitable that some frequent-use parts will have
started to wear, and one potentially expensive part subject to excessive wear is
the Steering Rack.
Lower models have a power-assisted rack as standard, while 24V models, and other
Scorpios fitted with the Comfort Pack, will have Sensotronic speed-sensitive
steering. This reduces power-assistance depending on speed measured by pulses
from the Vehicle Speed Sensor (VSS) on the gearbox.
The steering rack is expensive to replace, but the most common wear is found on
the inner ball joint on the track rod arm, where it meets the steering rack
beneath the gaiter, sometimes called the 'inner bush'. This is an MOT failure,
as well as causing greater wear on the front tyres (normally on the outside of
the tread) which should immediately make the owner suspicious if this is
spotted. It is easy to diagnose - with the weight off the front wheels, pull and
push the leading half of the roadwheel, and watch the track rod - if there is
any movement along its length then the inner ball joint (bush) has failed.
Enquiries with a Main Dealer are not encouraging. They will tell you that a new
Steering rack is required because the rack itself is not serviceable. Indeed,
there is no mention in the Workshop Manual of replacing the track rod, (in Ford
parlance, Spindle Rod - Connecting). The Finis number of the Spindle Rod when
the Scorpio was built was 7 292 960 and is now obsolete, which will reinforce
the technicians belief that the whole rack needs replacing. However, this is not
so.
The rack and pinion inside the rack is bathed in oil and provided this is not
contaminated will give many
years of service without appreciable wear. It is the outer ball joints,
(bushes), protected only with grease and a rubber gaiter, that are subject to
the greatest wear. The tiniest split or hole permits water to contaminate the
ball joint, which then rusts between journeys, and this wear can be very rapid
indeed. See the worn Spindle Rod - Connecting taken from mine.
The top picture is the whole nearside Spindle (Track) rod. This shows the 'bush'
(actually, a ball joint) which has been unscrewed from the steering rack. The
other end is the thread to take the Spindle Rod, Connecting Joint (Track Rod
End) The picture below shows the ball joint detail and the thread which screws
into the steering rack. Once water gets into this ball joint through the gaiter
(in my case, the hose clamp had worn a hole in the gaiter) then excessive wear
will take place in only a few months.
WARNING: This excessive wear must be dealt with quickly! If the ball joint wears
sufficiently, the joint will separate suddenly, without warning, and the road
wheel will be free to oscillate causing sudden loss of steering and damage to
the tyre, wheel and suspension.
Now, the repair. Below is the detail from the Ford Catalogue, showing the parts
concerned.
Parts
Although the item (5) appears to be an exploded view of the operating pistons
inside the steering rack, they are in fact the Spindle Rod Connecting - the
track rods. The list is as follows:
| DIAGRAM NUMBER |
DESCRIPTION |
FINIS |
| 5 |
Spindle Rod - Connecting (pair) |
1 029 836 |
| 6 |
Gaiter |
1 011 665 |
| 10 |
Clamp Hose M19 |
3 758 079 |
| 9 |
Clamp Hose M60X62 |
6 145 516 |
| 4 |
Spindle Rod Connecting (Track Rod End) |
RH - 5 030 221 |
| LH - 5 030 222 |
| 11 |
Nut Lock |
6 579 146 |
| 7 |
Actuator Assembly (speed sensitive steering only) |
7 012 916 |
| 2 |
Rubber Insulator |
6 180 930 |
| 3 |
Bolt, hex M12X85mm |
1 010 014 |
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Replacing the Inner Rack Bushes (ball joints)
The work to replace the Spindle Rod - Connecting - (the track rod) is
straightforward. Order the new one(s) and the new gaiters and hose clips to go
with each, and don't forget the new nut for the track rod end - (8). Jack up the
car onto axle stands and remove the road wheel and the under engine cover.
Slacken the locknut (11) and make a mark on the thread of the track rod with a
saw adjacent to the end of the track rod-end (4).
Now separate the track rod end (4) from the front hub (called the Spindle
Carrier, not shown on the figure) Care should be taken not to damage this ball
joint. A compressing type (nut-cracker) style ball joint separator is preferable
to a wedge type to avoid damaging the rubber boot on the ball joint. If you do
damage the ball joint you will have to replace it.
Remove the hose clamps from the gaiter (6). Pull the gaiter off the track rod
(5), and using Stilsons or Mole grips unwind the track rod from the steering
rack (1). Take this to the bench and measure the distance from the mark you have
made on the thread to the end of the ball joint (4). This is so that minimum
tracking is maintained until you can get it checked with professional gear.
Now measure this same distance onto the new track rod and make a mark on the
thread. This is where you will wind up the track rod end (4) to before you lock
nut (11) it. Now install the new track rod onto the rack, using ThreadLok. Wind
it on tightly. Grease the new ball joint and replace the new gaiter and hose
clamps, loosely at the moment. Run a finger with clean oil inside the gaiter to
assist sealing.
Wind on the track rod end (4) up to the mark you have made. Wind the lock nut
(11) onto the track rod end and lock it, then reinstall the track rod end (4)
onto the hub carrier and torque the nut (8) to 37 Nm.
Make sure the gaiter is not chafing or twisted and tighten the clamps (9 & 10)
to water tight. Now complete the assembly and have the tracking checked as soon
as possible.
Replacement Steering Rack
If the steering rack itself is leaking or otherwise suspect then it needs to be
replaced. Unlike the Ford Granada where individual parts are available, on the
Scorpio the steering rack is not serviceable. The Ford numbers for replacement
steering racks are as follows:-
| New (approx £562) |
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| Without Speed Sensitive Steering |
RHD vehicles 7 292 949 |
LHD 7 292 948 |
| With Speed Sensitive Steering |
RHD vehicles 7 292 951 |
LHD 7 292 950 |
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| Re-engineered from Ford (£430) |
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| Without Speed Sensitive Steering |
RHD vehicles 1 075 750 |
LHD 1 075 748 |
| With Speed Sensitive Steering |
RHD vehicles 1 075 752 |
LHD 1 075 751 |
Other motor factors (e.g Partco and Brown Brothers) may list the Scorpio for a
replacement recon rack, and these have been quoted at between £150 to £250 plus
VAT.
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