Mondeo wandering/vibration through steering wheel

[mattwillco]

Morning all, 2014 2.0TDCi Saloon, 78000m, owned by me since 2021.

Vibration through steering wheel / wandering on even the flattest of surfaces / momentary stickiness of turning the steering wheel left after a period of driving straight.

2- and 4-wheel alignment done, check of trailing arm bushes and track rods done without anything obvious, new front tyres - no curing of the problem.

Any ideas? Thanks in advance.

[Frembrit]

Bottom ball joints, anyone check those? (hopefully they have been checked when checking track rod ends).

Recently replaced both wishbones on my car after both ball joints fialed (orignals). Noticed car was tramlining more and steering wasn't so accurate (would change line when turning/cornering)...and the occasional knock.

[mattwillco]

It's going for MOT/Service in a few months, so I'll get them to check.

It's had the problem throughout my ownership of the car and it's never popped up as an advisory, etc.

No obvious knocking/clicking noises. If I could get it sorted, I'd keep the car for the foreseeable, but if it can't be diagnosed/rectified, I'll be selling way below its true value.

[RMurphy195]

Vibration - typically, out of balance wheel (balance weight fallen off), or a tyre fault e.g. split or bulge - needs checking out ASAP, if not before!

Wandering - track rod ends, ball joints, steering rack or column - most common of these is the track rod ends and ball joints.

Why does the car wander? - it doesn't, you do! Because you are going to overcome steering stiffness by putting more effort into the steering, so you end up turning the wheel too far - think about the tiny corrections you make to the steering that you do all the time, without noticing!! Can get really exciting if you have to swerve ...

I'd get your local garage to have a look now rather than waiting for the MOT

[mattwillco]

2 hours ago, RMurphy195 said:

Vibration - typically, out of balance wheel (balance weight fallen off), or a tyre fault e.g. split or bulge - needs checking out ASAP, if not before!

Wandering - track rod ends, ball joints, steering rack or column - most common of these is the track rod ends and ball joints.

Why does the car wander? - it doesn't, you do! Because you are going to overcome steering stiffness by putting more effort into the steering, so you end up turning the wheel too far - think about the tiny corrections you make to the steering that you do all the time, without noticing!! Can get really exciting if you have to swerve ...

I'd get your local garage to have a look now rather than waiting for the MOT

Thanks mate.

Re the Vibration - fair point, I could swap the tyres to see if the effect changes.

Re the Wandering - I'll get this looked at.

Re your final paragraph - there's actually no stiffness, the steering is actually quite light and responds too readily to any imperfections in the road. I've driven and continue to drive other cars (including Mondeos) for work and have never experienced this feeling.

[Frembrit]

What tyres do you have and what size are they? Have seen posts in the past about some tyres causing problems, although I see you've changed them, were they a different brand?

[mattwillco]

4 hours ago, Frembrit said:

What tyres do you have and what size are they? Have seen posts in the past about some tyres causing problems, although I see you've changed them, were they a different brand?

Er, don't know off hand, but the same issue has been present before and after tyre replacement.