FTO AUSTRALIA

Hello all!

For a little while now I have been noticing a few extra noises in my car. It First started with a very low grinding sound coming from the front of my car, around the brake area when i slow down. However it is not always when I break and not only when i break hard. I am not sure but it may occur more on hot days. My brakes have been recently fixed and all seems to be fine there.

Also as of about 2 weeks ago there is a further noise coming from the front of my car. This one is a little harder to explain. When i turn corner, or snake from side to side or even go over speed bumps the front of the car makes a creaking kind of noise. I first thought it was the suspension. However when you push down on the car this sound is not present and after taking it to the local garage they have suggested that the brakes and suspension are fine but the ball joint (sorry i dont know the name) that controls the steering for the front wheels is 'most' likely in need of replacing.

This garage doesnt really seem to know how to fix the problem or where to get the part for me car.

My questions are. Has anyone had this problem or can you give me an insight into what it might be? Also where would you take your car since this seems to be a large job and I believe the part to be in the multiple hundreds of dollars.

Thanks for your time!

Sino ... =)

hey bud
i had that problem too
its definitely the cv joints
its probably worn out as the car is old

98 is classed as old?

Glad someone else has had the same problem. Well not glad that you had the problem... you know what I mean!

How does one go about fixing this problem? costs? time? availability of parts?

Do you think its ok to keep driving the car? will more damage be done?

Thanks,

Sino ... =)

fto617 wrote: its definitely the cv joints
its probably worn out as the car is old

Do you think the grinding noise coming from the breakes are due to cv joints as well?
I have the grinding noise started to happenning 2 days ago with the brakes, however, dont have any problems/noise when turning the car..

msinosic wrote:98 is classed as old?
How does one go about fixing this problem? costs? time? availability of parts?

Do you think its ok to keep driving the car? will more damage be done?

Don't take these comments as authoritive but "generally speaking", CV joints are _very_ expensive to fix/replace. I would suggest calling a parts place that specialises in FTO's. Don't know anything of cost or availability.

If it is the CV joints, then yes, the more you drive on them, the more damage you can do, the more you'll have to replace.

hey dude
i got mine replced from a wrecker in jap
coz about 230AU incl postage
thats jsut for parts btw
labor is gona cost u like 5-6hrs?
i would say braking would cause the noise as it applies pressure to the cv joints.

That sounds a bit more resonable than the $700-$800 (for one) tentative price I was quoted yesterday.

Do you still have the contact number for these wreckers? I am also guessing that it took a few weeks to ship them out?

I was checking around my area for suspension specialists and bumped into Pedders. Has anyone had dealings with them at all?

They offer a 28 pt check for $14 and that takes 2 hours.

Apparantly they have done a few FTOs recently (believe it or not) and are almost 100% sure they will be able to replace the damage parts with new parts (3 year warranty) assuming its salvagable and not totally reuined.

Sounds like it could be worth a try.

Ohh yeah. A reconditioned CV join is likely to be in the order of $250 each side.

msinosic wrote:I was checking around my area for suspension specialists and bumped into Pedders. Has anyone had dealings with them at all?

They offer a 28 pt check for $14 and that takes 2 hours.

Pedders will find everything possible to charge you for. Read my thread on my suspension woes. Actually, I might go and post an update to that
http://www.ftoaustralia.com/modules.php ... suspension

I don't think you can judge the performance of a nation-wide company by one or two of its stores. If you're unhappy with the work of a particular outlet then boycott that outlet, but to go bashing the whole company seems a bit extreme.

The fact that this particular outlet has worked on other FTOs is a big plus. If you're concerned, ask them if you can speak to a couple of the FTO owners that they've done work for.

Ok, let me clarify.
Pedders is a large franchise. My experience and my knowledge of other people's experiences with large franchises, in particular, in regards to car maintenance is that they look for things to charge you for.
My personal experience with Pedders was they were friendly, appeared quite trustworthy and proceeded to recommend replacement of _everything_ they possibly could.
What I'm saying is there were things that needed to be done, things that could be done and things that were totally fine but they lump them all in as one job so they can stretch what they can charge for.
Every opinion from people that work in the car maintenance industry has said this same thing, they charge for everything they can squeeze out of the job.
I have yet to find someone who _knows_ something about car maintenance, to say Pedders is a _cost effective_ option for fixing your car. I want to make it clear I am not saying they do bad work, just that they will try to make the job as big as possible.
The odds are that all shops in a franchise will operate under the same corporate policy.

HiRAEdd is right, it is a common trait amonst franchises to overcharge customers. As with most business though, and this even goes for large franchises, they are prepared to bargain and if you set the rules down first and you say what you want done and what you dont want done then all should be good.

If it can be done quickly , done well and done local to me then I am all for paying a little bit extra. That is where they make their money!

At worst, I will get screwed over and I can warn you guys for future reference! =P

$14 - Loose bolt deep down inside, problem solved.

Other issues include a slight misbalance in height between left and right sides of my car of 10mm. negligable

There is also a slight misallignment of the wheels which isnt too major either. That will be fixed when i get new tires in the not too distant future.

As for the grinding noise they think that is tire related and not really their domain but could be fixed with new tires.

You could say I am very happy and rather relieved!

Thanks for your help guys.