fiesta suspension WARNING

[1.6 tdci zetec s]

I own a 2010 mk7 Zetec s. My office coil spring went with an almighty loud bang yesterday whilst driving at 30mph. Luckily able to get it to a friend who jacked the car up and diagnosed broken coil spring. Quoted  £60 to repair. Now I've read some posts on this forum. Going to get both sides done with zinc plates. Also going to email watchdog that this is still an ongoing issue with fiesta. 

[ryan1995fiesta]

Well guess im screwed then XD under the hood I can see the two mounting areas for the suspension and its full of water and rust :( 

Should I just assume the springs are or are going to be rusting and done for and just replace them? 

You can hear a nasty squeaking grinding noise coming from one of the springs also the owner before replaced one shock absorber at the rear guessing the other one will need doing so should i just do all 4 springs and both shocks?

Cheers

Ryan

Fiesta MK6 2003 1.4L Zetec 

Edit: I read that this is for 05 and above but here is a link to my model :( 

[Ffoxy]

I work at a large Motor Factor and I can tell you ALL manufacturers suffer coils Spring breakage, we sell loads every week from Fiat to Mercedes.

Traffic calming and road conditions play a big part, but the springs take a lot of punishment on every drive.

With an older car just change them every 2/3 years maybe if you're that concerned, maybe change the dampers and bushes too....the handling will be great.

Ok, I'm having a bit of a giggle, but the thing is, springs give no warning.

Few crack in a place you could see it at a service and MOT really only checks the, as they are AT THAT TIME.

The significant thing here is how your dealer responds, they may well respond differently to each other, but on an older car what might reasonably be expected?

So it's not a unique Ford problem, it affects all cars with coil springs, even old leaf springs crack and break, usually less dramatically.

So, to avoid breakage, get them changed every few years.

Sent from my iPad using Ford OC mobile app

[iantt]

well said, i was going to point out the same that its not a ford only issue, far from it .

[Russ]

Had one go on my fiesta mk6, my son had one go on his fiesta mk6 facelift and I had both springs go on a cavalier 1.7 TD. They can and do break. (At the most inconvenient time!) The real problem is the cup the spring sits in doesn't stop the spring dropping (unless your lucky & it hooks itself on the cup like mine did) as the end coils of the spring are smaller in diameter than the centre coils so when they go the spring drops. If memory serves me right when you had broken springs replaced at some Ford dealers they fitted a redesigned cup to stop the spring dropping when they broke.

[iantt]

motor factors have a better knowledge of failure/breakage trends of all manufacturers and all components of a car

[Welsh Geoff]

I have an 04 fiesta Mk5, I had just replaced the rear brake drums, took the car off of the jack, got into the car and BANG!?! The offside front coil spring shattered? I was not moving, it just went - and before you ask, I am only 175kg in weight, so not that heavy. I have been driving for over 40 years, this is the second time that I have broken a spring. The other, was on an X type Jag (ford Mondeo) - and THAT, according to a Jag mechanic, is also a very common problem. Come on Ford, you have real problems with suspension, get your act together - before you kill someone

[st line x 140 driver]

On 7/10/2016 at 8:54 AM, Ffoxy said:

I work at a large Motor Factor and I can tell you ALL manufacturers suffer coils Spring breakage, we sell loads every week from Fiat to Mercedes.

Traffic calming and road conditions play a big part, but the springs take a lot of punishment on every drive.

With an older car just change them every 2/3 years maybe if you're that concerned, maybe change the dampers and bushes too....the handling will be great.

Ok, I'm having a bit of a giggle, but the thing is, springs give no warning.

Few crack in a place you could see it at a service and MOT really only checks the, as they are AT THAT TIME.

The significant thing here is how your dealer responds, they may well respond differently to each other, but on an older car what might reasonably be expected?

So it's not a unique Ford problem, it affects all cars with coil springs, even old leaf springs crack and break, usually less dramatically.

So, to avoid breakage, get them changed every few years.

Sent from my iPad using Ford OC mobile app

roundabouts and speed bumps cause this!

[Tiexen]

6 hours ago, Welsh Geoff said:

I have an 04 fiesta Mk5, I had just replaced the rear brake drums, took the car off of the jack, got into the car and BANG!?! The offside front coil spring shattered? I was not moving, it just went - and before you ask, I am only 175kg in weight, so not that heavy. I have been driving for over 40 years, this is the second time that I have broken a spring. The other, was on an X type Jag (ford Mondeo) - and THAT, according to a Jag mechanic, is also a very common problem. Come on Ford, you have real problems with suspension, get your act together - before you kill someone

Cars are not designed to last 16 years - I don't think you can blame Ford for this.

[TomsFocus]

6 hours ago, Welsh Geoff said:

I have an 04 fiesta Mk5, I had just replaced the rear brake drums, took the car off of the jack, got into the car and BANG!?! The offside front coil spring shattered? I was not moving, it just went - and before you ask, I am only 175kg in weight, so not that heavy. I have been driving for over 40 years, this is the second time that I have broken a spring. The other, was on an X type Jag (ford Mondeo) - and THAT, according to a Jag mechanic, is also a very common problem. Come on Ford, you have real problems with suspension, get your act together - before you kill someone

175Kg sounds pretty heavy to me...in fact that's more than 3 of me!  

It would've have gone on the next kerb or pothole you hit, quite lucky it went while you were at home tbh.  I've snapped springs on Fiestas, Vectras, 306s etc...it's not a Ford issue.

[Stoney871]

Not a manufacturer issue, more an age & road condition issue.

Old springs plus potholes, speed bumps etc equals broken springs.

 

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[st line x 140 driver]

27-1/2 stone does a fiesta fit?

[Guest]

Is this likely to affect 2019 model?

[iantt]

6 minutes ago, Chainsawcharlie said:

Is this likely to affect 2019 model?

Probably when it gets older. Stuff wears out. 

[Guest]

6 minutes ago, iantt said:

Probably when it gets older. Stuff wears out. 

Duh...realise that, but was more meaning if its a fault is it likely to affect 2019, rather than a general wear and tear related reason

[iantt]

The answer is no then . There isn't a fault with springs. 

[fleamoo]

I've thought a bit about speed bumps and potholes because I'm sick of 'em as I guess most of us are, and it occurred to me that when speed bumps were rarely found on the roads, say 20 years ago, reports of Spring breakage were relatively rare. Then, I thought, in a car's lifetime it would rarely encounter the kind of spring deflection that occurs every time it travels over a speed bump at 20/30mph or so. That's my theory folks! I realise in certain situations speed bumps can be a useful safety feature, but I believe they are overused and are easily ignored by wrong'uns. 

[Stoney871]

Another problem with speed bumps is that some drivers see them at the last moment then slam their brakes on which causes underside damage as the front of the car dips and also the road gets damaged by tyres biting in and thus lowers the road either side of the bumps again resulting in underside damage.

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[Eric Bloodaxe]

31 minutes ago, fleamoo said:

it occurred to me that when speed bumps were rarely found on the roads, say 20 years ago, reports of Spring breakage were relatively rare. 

I think "sleeping policemen" as they used to be known first appeared in the UK in the early 80's?

When I started driving in the 70's spring breakages were fairly common, but a lot of cars then had live rear axles with cart springs and little else to support the axle, so the springs tended to get "wound up" particularly on hard acceleration from a standstill, and one or more leaves would eventually give way.

The Morris Marina TC was notorious for this, with it's combination of a (relatively) torquey MGB engine, not a lot of weight, and basically Morris 1000 suspension. It was one of the only two cars I've ever spun completely (not on purpose!) in normal driving, the other being the Morris 1000 itself.

Coil springs as normally found today were not that common then other than on Macpherson strut front ends, but I don't recall many breakages, the issue was more of the struts poking through the bonnet due to rust in the strut top mountings!

[fleamoo]

Hi Eric, managed to spin my Viva HA van, also the one and only time. I blame that on leaf spring suspension and light loading, your honour. Think sleeping policeman started to appear in any sort of numbers on main roads in the 90s but that could just be my memory playing tricks. Since then they've proliferated massively of course. 

[Tizer]

I'm sure that springs did not break as often when the ends were ground/pressed flat and that probably tempered them a bit more too. 

I've not seen them like that on a passenger car for a few years, the last one that I had was a Rover 400 but I think they are still used on much heavier vehicles. 

[st line x 140 driver]

21 minutes ago, Tizer said:

I'm sure that springs did not break as often when the ends were ground/pressed flat and that probably tempered them a bit more too. 

I've not seen them like that on a passenger car for a few years, the last one that I had was a Rover 400 but I think they are still used on much heavier vehicles. 

wear and tear = profit😃 those where the days uk made a car BL, ROVER, TRIUMPH, MORRIS, JAGUAR before ford bought them BENTLEY, ROLLS ROYCE, ASTON MARTIN now own by Lawrence Stroll, TVR, MG now owned by indian company - among a few.

[Eric Bloodaxe]

1 hour ago, fleamoo said:

, managed to spin my Viva HA van, also the one and only time. 

Transverse leaf on the front of those as well as the normal rears, iirc! 

[fleamoo]

18 hours ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

Transverse leaf on the front of those as well as the normal rears, iirc! 

Correct!