Honda FR-V pulling to left

[VanDerSnow]

Hi all,

This is going to be lengthy one.. So make a cup of tea!

The car is:
Make: Honda
Model: FR-V
Engine size/Type: 2.2 diesel
Year: 2008
Mileage: 125 000

Bought the car with few issues but the main one is that the car pulls to the left. The pull doesn't seem to be constant (as in the amount of force I receive at the steering wheel). If you drive in right (faster) lane which has slight angle to the opposite side as left lane the car seems to drive straight. So suggests something with suspension, right?

Here's the deal, I have replaced:

• New front suspension arms
• New ball joints
• Second hand front struts
  
• New stabiliser drop links
• New left hand side axle (as it was slightly bent)
  
• Second hand steering rack (twice)
• Second hand power steering pump
• New PAS fluid
• Wheels balanced
• Tracking (x3 times)
• Brake discs and pads (all four)
• Second hand brake callipers with carriers (all four)
• Front brake hoses
• Front wheel bearings

Yet, the car is still pulling.. The guy who did tracking suggesting either bent subframe or gearbox (diff issues).

If it was bent subframe, I would expect constant pull, while sometimes it pulls very little, and then few bumps later you really need to hold on to the steering wheel!

I was also thinking about the stabiliser but it is not really connected to the steering system?

When I brake, it doesn't pull any more than coasting.

I noticed it doesn't pull (or very little) under heavy acceleration, could this be clue it is the gearbox?

When tracking was done, they noticed each time rear was out by a bit - it is a bit worn at the back but I expect unless major failure it wouldn't cause immediate pulling effects - the tracking technician noted steering wheel turned itself slightly to the left when reversing out of the bay!

It also feels easier to turn left than right. And when you set off the steering turns around 10 degrees to the left ans stays there (obviously car doesn't go straight).

Any ideas welcome..

 

[Burnerman]

Alarm bells start ringing for me when you mentioned the N/S driveshaft was replaced, because it was bent
Has this car been written off and rebuilt?
John

 

[VanDerSnow]

Hi John,

No it was not, it had a little bump to the front left side, resulting in bent wing. Not sure if axle damage is related, but the shock was 1° out of alignment (camber).

Previous owner said it happened in the car park and judging from the damage wasn't really big accident..

 

[Burnerman]

Hmmm a nudge in a car park doesn’t bend a driveshaft, I’m afraid......it takes a fair old whack to do that!
Anyway, a ‘proper’ bodyshop can check the bodyshell with laser alignment just to see if the thing is straight - tyre services folks can’t really do this. Bodyshops can get alignment data from Honda.
Considering all the work that you have had done, I’d suggest the front subframe was bent and you could maybe look at it for creasing. Damage like this would also trash the steering rack.
As well as checking the camber angle, the castor angle needs to be investigated....this affects the self centring action of the steering, as well as giving a ‘dead’ feeling at the steering wheel.
John

 

[VanDerSnow]

Good point, my old steering rack was definitely damaged, as on full lock wheels used to shake a bit! But since I replaced it with another unit it seems to work fine.

How about gearbox? I have read the differential can cause similar problems. I "think" there is some sort of noise coming from the gearbox but haven't located it yet properly due noisy roads/traffic. Will try to look at it over the weekend.

 

[Burnerman]

I can’t see differential issues causing this pulling problem, although there may have been damage when the driveshaft was bent.
Diffs are heavily engineered, much more so than the gearbox itself so as long as there are no oil leaks or a droning noise when coasting I’d ignore this for now.
Pulling to one side indicates tracking issues, or tyre pressures, initially followed by a dragging brake on that side but you seem to have addressed all of that.
If the steering ‘bumps’ on full lock this indicates air in the system or low fluid levels.....but they all self bleed eventually so the former can be ignored.
I guess the tracking was checked using laser gear, and an experienced operator?
John

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

A classic Mini I owned began pulling to one side, only the left I recall, I really had to fight with the steering wheel to keep it on track, very un-nerving, turned out one of the teeth of the crown wheel had chipped off and was sporadically getting clogged up somewhere, causing the pulling to one side. I agree I can't see this being the issue here. I'd be looking at a good 4 wheel tracking expert too.

 

[baldykev]

Car requires a geometry test . You could crudely check by measuring distance between centers of wheels (back to front) both sides and see if they are the same also measuring diagonal front to rear.

 

[Diver Fred]

Sounds very much like the car has been 'Kerbed' very heavily. The subframe could be cracked and/or split, the mountings torn or otherwise damaged particularly as the previous owner has commented on (car park) damage. All of which allows the car to have some form of self steering.
The car park damage may be more drastic than what the repairers believed.

I'd go and find a Honda dealer with their own bodyshop and get them to do a thorough investigation.

 

[VanDerSnow]

Car requires a geometry test . You could crudely check by measuring distance between centers of wheels (back to front) both sides and see if they are the same also measuring diagonal front to rear.

Good idea, will do the check to see if it's out.

The tracking is fine, I'm pretty sure of that. The guy who did it has good laser alignment tools and I am ex mechanic having done these things myself in the past I see he does it right.

This morning, while driving car to work I definitely noticed some sort of noise coming from gearbox side. It is difficult to identify source but it certainly wasn't there before (few months ago).

 

[Old Salt]

Brother had a ford escort years ago, hit at walking speed whilst parked, repaired but never drove the same. He got rid within a few weeks.

 

[gman76]

You don't mention tyres? I've had various issues with different FWD vehicles, fit two new matching front tyres - suddenly like a new car.

 

[VanDerSnow]

Tyres have been rotated but that didn't make any difference. I measured the distance between front and rear wheel and it seems similar (difficult to get precise measurements so it may be 1-2mm off but nothing more).

The noise that I believe is coming from gearbox I believe has intensified. Plus when the car is up, the left wheel is more difficult to turn than the right one, I had brake pads removed together with the calliper and it was still same, so not brakes related.

Since it had a knock on the left hand side, could pushing the axle inside have done some damage to gearbox which results in this pull and more difficult wheel spin?

I'm tempted to just get secnd hand gearbox and replace it but it's hell a lot of a job!

 

[Burnerman]

Personally I wouldn’t put too much emphasis on the different levels of drag when you spin the wheels.....on one side you only spin one gear in the diff, turn the other and you spin all of the gears.
On many vehicles the drag is much more than you would imagine, even on a perfect gearbox.
Of course we don’t know if any damage has occurred but I’d hate you to fit another box just to find it’s just the same
Most transmission noises generally come from the wheel bearings rather than the diff - the taper bearings of which are huge by comparison to others and rarely give trouble.
Final question....does the car freewheel well, or does it feel as if the brakes are on?
John

 

[VanDerSnow]

Yes, I am well aware both sides will not spin equally free, but I felt the left side is much more resistive than I expected.

If you coast with neutral or clutch down it pulls just the same as under normal acceleration. If you do heavy acceleration it pulls either very little or doesn't at all.

On may way to work this morning I notice d that by the end of 20mile journey the pull is a bit stronger than at the beginning of the trip. I also noticed there's vibration under acceleration (which I'd normally think is related to driveshafts).

Since my clutch isn't that brilliant (pedal quite stiff and it's quite high) I'm really tempted to get the gearbox changed and at the same time do the clutch.. but if that's doesn't fix it, I'll burn the bloody car!