2009 Ford Focus Steering/esp Problem

[Andy_Wigan]

Good evening everyone.

I've just stumbled upon your forum while googling for an answer to a problem i've got with my car, a 2009 Ford Focus 1.6 (petrol) Zetec and would be very appreciative if anyone could offer some advise or share some knowledge.

The car was in at a Ford dealership on Thursday to have its service
and MOT, which it passed without any advisories or anything being
flagged up as requiring attention ... everything had a green tick next
to it, which I was quite proud of!

4 Days later ... today ... when I was driving home on the motorway, I
was following the slip road round to the right in fifth gear at a
normal, safe speed as per everyone else. A few seconds into the turn the
ESP light started to flash and the car felt as if it was backing off
itself, yet there was no obvious feeling that I was sliding. So, I
backed off even more through fear and turned off the radio to see if I
could hear anything ... on the next sweeping right hand bend there was a
distinctive, but quiet, ticking and gentle grinding noise coming from
under the bonnet, but no ESP light this time. All this stopped when the
road straightened out again.

I've just gone for another drive to see wether it was a one-off and
the same problem has happened again, a very gentle right hand bend where
I was doing only 20/25mph. No ESP light, just a quiet ticking/tapping
and a gentle grinding.

It doesn't make the noise when going in a straight line, and I havn't noticed it while turning left either.

Naturally i'll be taking the car back to Ford, but the service
department is closed for today and im abit reluctant to drive the car
until someones had a look at it, especially as the majority of my
commute is motorway driving. So if anyone could put my mind at rest ...
or gently prepare me for a massive repair bill, i'd be extreamly greatful.

Many thanks,

Andy :)