Focus MK3 ST Pulling to the right

[Aaron Harris]

Hi all,

Over the last few months my car has been pulling to the right when the wheel is straight when coasting along and i cant work out what might be causing it. 

I first noticed it when I had new tyres fitted I had a set of 4 'Goodyear eagle f1 asymmetric 5' fitted. 

The tracking was checked at the time and again after at a couple of different places and was told that was fine but was still pulling. I rotated the tyres round to see if this improve anything which it hasn't as i though maybe its the tyres.

The front break pads needed replacing so i cleaned up the calipers and checked that the wheels spin freely once jacked up so i dont think its the breaks causing it to pull. 

I am going to have another look under and around the wheel to see if anything has been damaged but I am not aware of hitting any big pot holes etc. as i always try to avoid pot holes.

Anyone got any thoughts what else to check?

Thanks 

Aaron 

[DaveT70]

Use forscan and reset "Steering Straight Ahead or angle (can't remember)" setting and "Pull-drift compensation".

These are in the maintenance section

These are done with engine on, not moving and wheels straight

[F0CUE]

7 hours ago, DaveT70 said:

Use forscan and reset "Steering Straight Ahead or angle (can't remember)" setting and "Pull-drift compensation".

These are in the maintenance section

These are done with engine on, not moving and wheels straight

Good to know 👍 

[YOG]

Bit more info here. I, and many others, have had the PDC turned off:

 

[Aaron Harris]

12 hours ago, DaveT70 said:

Use forscan and reset "Steering Straight Ahead or angle (can't remember)" setting and "Pull-drift compensation".

These are in the maintenance section

These are done with engine on, not moving and wheels straight

Can this be done on the lite forscan version? 
 

Thanks Aaron

[DaveT70]

7 hours ago, Aaron Harris said:

Can this be done on the lite forscan version? 
 

Thanks Aaron

I believe not mate, you need windows version with extended (free) licence

[Aaron Harris]

8 minutes ago, DaveT70 said:

I believe not mate, you need windows version with extended (free) licence

Ok I will go down the windows version as it going to give me more options. Is there a particular cable to go with. Looking on amazon there about £20. 
 

Aaron

[DaveT70]

6 hours ago, Aaron Harris said:

Ok I will go down the windows version as it going to give me more options. Is there a particular cable to go with. Looking on Amazon there about £20. 
 

Aaron

It depends what you are planning to do, you won't go wrong with the OBDLink EX, it's the recommended lead, fast and more reliable than the ELM327 (Most of which are fake) and not overly expensive

[Aaron Harris]

On 4/21/2021 at 12:12 PM, DaveT70 said:

Use forscan and reset "Steering Straight Ahead or angle (can't remember)" setting and "Pull-drift compensation".

These are in the maintenance section

These are done with engine on, not moving and wheels straight

Tried this today. Forscan tells you to do it with the ignition on. Hasn’t made any difference. 

So it continues to try and find out what causing it to pull. 
 

[unofix]

Hi Aaron, I once had a similar problem with a car that always driffted to the right. After nearly 6 months and checking and replacing just about anything and everything on the right hand wheel - - - the left front shock absorber failed and had to be replaced. I replaced both sides as I thought that would be best and after that the car was fine, no more pulling.

Maybe check for problems of the other side of the car, like a stiff shocker, just a thought.

[Aaron Harris]

2 hours ago, unofix said:

Hi Aaron, I once had a similar problem with a car that always driffted to the right. After nearly 6 months and checking and replacing just about anything and everything on the right hand wheel - - - the left front shock absorber failed and had to be replaced. I replaced both sides as I thought that would be best and after that the car was fine, no more pulling.

Maybe check for problems of the other side of the car, like a stiff shocker, just a thought.

Thanks. I was wondering while sitting with a beer this evening if there is something on the left that could be causing it. I had another look under the car on the right today and couldn’t see anything wrong. 

[Aaron Harris]

So I have checked if the wheels spin freely again on the car while jacked up. The fronts spin freely but the rears that I didn’t check before are really stiff! Can only just about move them and yes the hand break was fully off. 
 

Makes me wonder of this is causing me issues. Do I need a special tool to push the pistons back on the rear callipers ?

 

thanks

Aaron 

[Tizer]

If you suspect that one or more of the Brakes are binding then the easy way to check is to put your hand near the Brakes after a run, If one is binding then it will be obvious. It is not a good idea to touch them though because you may burn yourself.

[DaveT70]

It's the handbrake mechanism that seizes most of the time on those, especially off pressure washers.

Free off and lubricate the handbrake mechanism first👍

[Aaron Harris]

So it turns out it was the tracking after all. 
 

I decided yesterday that I would go back to where I got the tracking done last and explained everything. So they checked it again and it was wrong even though they said it was bang on before. Bit annoying but all sorted now.