Saxo passed mot but steering advisory

jim22

Hello my Citroen saxo 02 reg 1.1 , with 36,000 on clock passed its MOT. I only do about 2,000 miles per year.

An advisory has been thrown up with the exact wording

"Steering system has slight free play detected at steering wheel"

How long is a piece of string I know, but any suggestions to what could be causing it? I'm looking ahead and thinking of getting rid of the car. At next years MOT if this problem has got worse what is the worst case scenario?

Also service brake was 53% requiring a minimum of 50%

parking brake 19% requiring a minimum of 16%

I have read that saxo brakes are notoriously bad.

Many thanks.

Woody._2

jim22 wrote: »

Hello my Citroen saxo 02 reg, with 36,000 on clock passed its MOT. I only do about 2,000 miles per year.

An advisory has been thrown up with the exact wording

"Steering system has slight free play detected at steering wheel"

How long is a piece of string I know, but any suggestions to what could be causing it? I'm looking ahead and thinking of getting rid of the car. At next years MOT is this problem has got worse what is the worst case scenario?

Also service brake was 53% requiring a minimum of 50%

parking brake 19% requiring a minimum of 16%

I have read that saxo brakes are notoriously bad.

Many thanks.

You crash and die!

jim22

Woody. wrote: »

You crash and die!

I was thinking more of the possible cause rather than outcome!

Woody._2

jim22 wrote: »

I was thinking more of the possible cause rather than outcome!

So spending a few quid is worse than death to you?

gilbert_and_sullivan

jim22 wrote: »

How long is a piece of string I know, but any suggestions to what could be causing it? I'm looking ahead and thinking of getting rid of the car. At next years MOT if this problem has got worse what is the worst case scenario?


Also service brake was 53% requiring a minimum of 50%

parking brake 19% requiring a minimum of 16%

Worse case new steering rack, could be no worse next year, might be worth lubricating, it certainly won't hurt it.

Have the brakes been inspected, cleaned and lubricated, that would be my first job. Given your low mileage the pads and or discs might have deteriorated over time. Remove rear drums and have a look at the shoes, check the slave cylinders too whilst there.

I can't give you a price for a rack but new pads, discs and rear shoes will set you back around £60 the lot for good quality aftermarket from a decent motor factor, easy home mechanic job, but get some star spring clips for the handbrake lever, they invariably break and they are seldom if ever in the new brake shoe box. Rear slave cyls are cheap if needed too, istr £20 the pair.

Oh, do take one sides pads and shoes for patterns, but do not dismantle both sides of the rear shoes together, you need one side complete to refer too when reassembling...i don't need to say any more do i..;)

Overall i'd spend a few quid on this car, one of the most underrated small cars of the last 20 years, together with it's twin Pug 106.
They don't rust, they are a treat to drive, handle well, pretty and reliable, economical and easy to insure and have good all round visibility, apart from Yaris 1 and Starlet before it where will you find that lot.

edit..I like your answer in post 3 by the way, and some fell on stony ground.

s_b

is it more specific for the steering ie does it say in rack ends or downshaft or anything?
if its an advisory then there is play but not sufficient to make it dangerous although it cant make itself better so it could get worse,so the ball is in your court
saxo brakes can be good if maintenance is up to scratch,yours arent so i would advise you get them looked at in case one of the rear shoe linings delaminates:)

jim22

s_b wrote: »

is it more specific for the steering ie does it say in rack ends or downshaft or anything?
if its an advisory then there is play but not sufficient to make it dangerous although it cant make itself better so it could get worse,so the ball is in your court
saxo brakes can be good if maintenance is up to scratch,yours arent so i would advise you get them looked at in case one of the rear shoe linings delaminates:)

Thanks for your answer. No, nothing else was written in the advisory. I've looked at previous MOT'S and no play in the steering was ever mentioned. This is my first MOT with this particular car and to be honest I'm surprised (but obviously) glad that it passed without work. And I went to an independent garage which is not known for being particularly MOT friendly, if you know what I mean.

jim22

gilbert_and_sullivan wrote: »

Worse case new steering rack, could be no worse next year, might be worth lubricating, it certainly won't hurt it.

Have the brakes been inspected, cleaned and lubricated, that would be my first job. Given your low mileage the pads and or discs might have deteriorated over time. Remove rear drums and have a look at the shoes, check the slave cylinders too whilst there.

I can't give you a price for a rack but new pads, discs and rear shoes will set you back around £60 the lot for good quality aftermarket from a decent motor factor, easy home mechanic job, but get some star spring clips for the handbrake lever, they invariably break and they are seldom if ever in the new brake shoe box. Rear slave cyls are cheap if needed too, istr £20 the pair.

Oh, do take one sides pads and shoes for patterns, but do not dismantle both sides of the rear shoes together, you need one side complete to refer too when reassembling...i don't need to say any more do i..;)

Overall i'd spend a few quid on this car, one of the most underrated small cars of the last 20 years, together with it's twin Pug 106.
They don't rust, they are a treat to drive, handle well, pretty and reliable, economical and easy to insure and have good all round visibility, apart from Yaris 1 and Starlet before it where will you find that lot.

edit..I like your answer in post 3 by the way, and some fell on stony ground.

Many thanks. I haven't done anything with the brakes since having the car 9 months. I should have really. I have a haynes but its a while since I did any mechanics. It took me a month to open the bonnet! I couldn't get my hand through the mesh!

Your are so right about doing only one side at a time lol!!

jim22

These brake percentages surprise me. On the parking brake it only requires 16% out of a hundred? Or am I misunderstanding how it works?

Muscle750

Working as a mechanic for 30 plus years maybe i can help Yes saxo brakes are bad because the brake servo and mastercylinder are off set to the brake pedal basically it was designed for a LHD car there is a bar which transports the operation of the brake pedal to the master cylinder its in the engine bay on the bulkhead My daughter had one and her brakes were useless.( you would be better off sticking your leg out the door) another fav is the lining on the rear shoes comes detached and ive known for the wheel to lock up solid this usually happens if the slave cylinder in the rear brake is leaking and contaminating the linings Play in the steering proberly a worn rack as any play in track rod ends ball joints etc should have been picked up as well One thing is make sure the pinch bolt at the bottom of the seering column where it bolts to the rack spindle is tight ive known them to come loose Handbrake i expecthe self adjusters are siezed and the cables may of seen better days end of the day it passed dont think you got a great deal to worry about to be honest

mikey72

Leave it alone.
It passed.
Self adjusters on the back brakes are poor, but it's a real pain to get the drums off, then new shoes and new hub nuts and covers. Leave it until the handbrake starts to be noticeably poor.
Even the adjusters for the cable are under the middle of the car.
Steering could be anything, but if it passed it's still ok to use on the road.
It is 8 years old.
I've got a car that still has a steering box with about 1/4 of a turn of free play in the wheel.