Hello there

The below problem only happens when braking.............

I have a Zetec Estate (2003) and really need some help with trying to get a problem sorted out with steering wheel shake. I bought the car 2 years ago and at the time it was test driven only at fairly low speeds so the steering didn't seem a problem. As time has gone on, the steering shake has got worse and worse but then seems to get better intermittently when we have something replaced/fixed. I will explain what happens: The car used to be fine braking at low-medium speeds, it now shudders (all the way through the car but especially the steering wheel) when you brake at any speed above 30mph but is excessive when you are braking downhill or above 60mph.

Is it the fact that the car has alloys because I have never experienced anything so ongoing as this but have never had a car with alloys before and the pot holes were pretty bad last year! I have also read on a car advice site that 1 in 9 cars are made not lined up properly so discs have to be lathed to fit them like the original ones.

We have been told over and over that it is the discs - we have had them changed twice (and are about to do it again), the car shake lessens a bit when they are done but still comes back really badly very soon after.

We have had a dented alloy changed (although were told it wasn't this as the shake only happens on braking).

We have had front 1 track rod end replaced (6 mths ago on driver's side) and 2 wheel bearings (on the same wheel,passenger side) within the last 6 months, which seems ridiculous that the bearings have gone twice so quickly on the same front wheel. Same story - shaking seems to get better for a little bit, but never completely goes away then comes back with vengeance!

We have just had the whole back brake system overhauled,new calipers, discs and shoes as a mechanic friend said this could be the problem as the calipers used to stick therefore making the handbrake not work. This has not helped the shaking in any way (have a great handbrake now though)!

We are so so stuck with what to do. We can't afford to take the car to a garage to let them spend hours and hours maybe fixing it but maybe not. It is getting so bad that the car feels quite unsafe (this could be my paranoid brain through) when braking. Sometimes when you are braking at low speeds it seems like the car has oval wheels.......?

Has anyone please got any ideas or experienced this?

Please heeeeeeeelp! Many thanks Cath

Would also like to add that I have had all tyres replaced and it it still shakes. If I get the front brakes done (pads and discs) is it worth getting the callipers done too (haven't got them atm) or will making sure the pins slide well do the job?

Is your car going through front tires fast? If not then I would think it's your brake rotors that are warped or one of them is chipped.

The front tyres do seem to wear quite fast and unevenly too. Had all the brake rotors replaced twice!

Well its an alignment problem then. If your tyres wear unevenly then they are not sitting on the road right. Have you ever got your track rod ends relined!

No,didn't even know you could! Would this affect only on braking though as the car is fine at all other times?

Yes it will as your tyres are not sitting on the road properly. That's why your tyres are wearing unevenly too.

We have had the track rod ends aligned (you mean tracking yes?) - just checked and it was done last time tyres were changed so it isn't that. Any other ideas?! Errrrr, it is an annoying problem that no one seems to be able to cure! Thanks for your help so far though :)

Would maybe worn front wishbone bushes be causing the problems?

Could be with a car that age they're past their best and are one of the things you've not mentioned having checked or replaced.

To your knowledge, has the front subframe ever been removed (EG has it had the clutch replaced at some point in its life)?

If its ever been removed or even loosened and not been lined back up using the alignment pins then this can cause issues.

We are checking the bushes when doing the front brakes on weekend. Not sure if subframe has ever been removed. How would we know if it is out of line? Would both of these problems only affect the car just on braking? Thanks for your help :-)

Just to let others know, if they are reading this post for a similar problem, the solution was to replace front discs, pads and calipers (which seemed to wearing fine), grease the pins with engine oil not copper oil (as copper tends to go gunky) and now it all works brilliantly. The pads,discs and calipers looked fine but replaced them as wanted to rule everything out. Pretty sure it was a problem with the pins sticking though and that they hadn't been regreased when having the brakes done before. The problem of 2 years of wobble solved.Yeah!

It's amazing that such a severe problem can be fixed with a bit of oil :)