Yep, you guessed it, you know where this is going and you're probably wondering...'why oh why Benty, you've been around these parts long enough to know nothing good would come of it'
So last fortnight i bought an immaculate 2010 WS Fiesta Zetec, one owner old ladies car with a mere 55,000km's on the dial.
Upon inspection i noticed the usual thing with these cars, soft rotors we're lipped and being granny spec a bit of gutter rash from touch parking.
I negotiated a good deal based on these points and away i went.
So during the first week i noticed a slight knock in the front end and at highway speed it tended to wander around a bit, i figured it cant be much with only 55k on it, i'll take it to someone and get them to have a good look.
Now, who could i take it to i wondered.
I wanted someone i could trust, an expert, someone who could diagnose the problem and without the BULL.
But instead i took it to this mob who advertise all that but deliver the opposite.
Thats right, my local Pedders.
So i roll in, explain whats going on and the friendly guy punches in a few details, grabs my keys and throws them to a pimply faced kid who's probably had less hot dinners than i've had cars.
I roll my eyes and think here we go but i'll give the young guy the benefit of the doubt, you never know, he might be one of us and actually care about cars and his job.
So 45 minutes later my car reappears in the carpark and old mate at the keyboard appears with my report which you'll find here...
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That circling was old mates attempt at trying to convince me of his expert opinion and that it needed urgent attenttion, he also stapped a note pad with the same pen a few times to reinforce his authority, i was scared for my life.
Note the report clearly says Front strut mount plate FAIL and a description of the bearing failure causing noise when turning and a quote of $319 in parts and $240 in labour.
Old mate then decided to ask if i wanted it in a meal with new struts as my OEM items we're soft and its cheaper to do them at the same time as they need to come out to do the plates, what a considerate guy you're thinking right.
So i thank him for his time and suggest i'll consider his expert advice and get back to him.
I then go to my tyre guy for a balance and wheel alignment as i want to rule out poor alignment or wheel damage before i start to spend up.
Sure enough tyre guy finds quite a bit of camber on the fronts, i mention the expert advice and possible collapsed strut mount plates and whilst he suggests simply fitting a camber bolt kit i figure the poor camber may very well be due to those pesky strut plates.
He also finds 2 of the 4 rims have buckles which i thought may be the case as it had a vibration at highway speed.
He said its quite common in granny spec cars from touch parking etc.
So what do i do, well, what any car guy would do, i hunt around for prices and find old mate NO BULL experts $319 strut plates to be roughly 130% dearer than every other supplier, so i grab some KYB items from Bursons, some new rotors and pads and order a set of shiny new rims.
I fit the rotors and pads and have a good look whilst under there, all looks good, cant see this metal on metal our expert suggests going on at the top of the struts but as the bearing is concealed i give him the benefit of the doubt.
So last night after work i decide to replace the strut plates, only problem is, upon removing the first one i find its actually as good if not better than the aftermarket item im putting in its place, no failed bearing, no metal on metal, rubbers perfect, no play or noise.
So i figure i'll swap it out and move on to the other side as it might be the culprit.
You guessed it, same as the first, here, look for yourselves.
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So now im $130 out of pocket for something my expert says has failed and is causing my persistant noise and guess what, the ****ing noise is still there!!!
So im up bright and early on a Saturday morning, i've neatly packaged my worn out. metal on metal, noise causing failed strut mount plates and am about to take them down to my friendly expert and ram the ****ing things down his throat, wish me luck.
Rims look good though.