Peugeot 206, 2005 disaster tonight!

[Agile]

At 5 pm this evening at about 10 mph there was a nasty noise from the nearside.

I looked and saw the nearside front wheel lower ball joint had come apart and the drive shaft had come out. Obviously I was not going anywhere!

Told the RAC that I needed a pick up truck as nearside suspension collapsed and it will need to be lifted. It took THREE hours to get anyone to me and I spent the first hour and a half directing traffic round my poor car!

They sent a car transporter! He dragged the car up on to that! When he got to my house of course he could not put it down on my drive. So had to leave it outside!

The failed lower ball joint seems to be part of a wishbone assembly. How easy are they to change?

The drive shaft has come out and the outer part of the inner joint fallen out. Is that likely to be reuseable?

I have seen several cars recently with the bottom swivel joints failed, particularly on Mercs? Is this a common occurence? I hate to think what would happen if that happened on a motorway!

Tony

 

[Agile]

Being a nice guy, and as I was only 100 m from a boiler repair, I left the car with hazards and fitted the replacement PCB so they could be warm again.

Only took 4 min to do that.

They were nice and offered to let me stay there and have coffee but I wanted to go back to car as I don't know what legal position is abandoning a car in the middle of the road in a parking CPZ!

Oddly not a single police car passed me during my three hour wait for RAC contractor.

Tony

 

[Burnerman]

That sure is bad luck! The bottom joint must have had a split rubber boot for quite a while for it to wear to such a degree.
The joint is part of the wishbone which I believe is a forging on these. Fitting isn't actually too bad - the bottom joint is held onto the suspension strut with one 12 mm bolt, and once this is removed and the casting that it nips up is spread open a bit the wishbone can be levered down. If I recall, the other end of the wishbone pivots use one nut and bolt and one captive bolt and once these are out it's possible to wiggle the wishbone out.
They aren't too expensive, around £55 I think......hopefully the driveshaft parted at the CV joint and that can be rescued!
John

 

[Peter.N.]

I don't think I have ever had that happen, certainly not with a modern car. Morris Minors were prone to it if you didn't grease the swivel pins regularly but the last one I had actually collapse was a Vauxhall Velox in the '50s and that was because the nut had come undone - not balljoints though of course.

Peter

 

[Agile]

I see many cars in London where this has occurred, perhaps one every three weeks.

They are easy to see because they are not going anywhere and have to be driven around. Several Mercs!

With the RAC taking three hours, it is good that I was not on a main road.

Thanks for those helpful thoughts John.

Tony

 

[londoner1]

Bad luck, if only you can repair cars as well.

 

[DaveHerns]

Maybe a bit of maintenance might have picked this up before it failed?

 

[Burnerman]

All you can really do is to check the rubber boot for splitting, letting the grease out and the road crap in.
This should have been picked up by an MOT I'd think - bottom joints don't fail overnight!
John

 

[Mikefromlondon]

At 5 pm this evening at about 10 mph there was a nasty noise from the nearside.

I looked and saw the nearside front wheel lower ball joint had come apart and the drive shaft had come out. Obviously I was not going anywhere!

Told the RAC that I needed a pick up truck as nearside suspension collapsed and it will need to be lifted. It took THREE hours to get anyone to me and I spent the first hour and a half directing traffic round my poor car!

They sent a car transporter! He dragged the car up on to that! When he got to my house of course he could not put it down on my drive. So had to leave it outside!

The failed lower ball joint seems to be part of a wishbone assembly. How easy are they to change?

The drive shaft has come out and the outer part of the inner joint fallen out. Is that likely to be reuseable?

I have seen several cars recently with the bottom swivel joints failed, particularly on Mercs? Is this a common occurence? I hate to think what would happen if that happened on a motorway!

Tony

That is what happens if you don't get your car serviced regularly each year, just like boilers. by a registered Dealer. You must have had it serviced by incompetent mechanics. and dodgy MOT testers. My MOT tester when he checks suspension joints he actually puts a crow bar on the joints and tries to see if he could rip them apart, if he succeeds, he would naturally fail it there and then. If he doesn't he says all well and good, but he is good and won't fail on a number plate light bulb fail, he simply opens it up and puts new bulb and just charges for the bulb.

Tony, if that happened on a motorway at 70, you would not be writing this today for may be another two months, and we would all be saying what happened to Tony.

As long as your splines are not damaged, all should refit nicely, new gaiter, and new lower wishbone, have a look on ebay. You can do it yourself. I am not sure of Peugeots but in Vauxhalls they have a locking circlip that needs refitting to the CV joint.

 

[DaveHerns]

Probably best to check the other side as well. Wouldn't you have thought there'd be clonking or vibration before it finally failed?

 

[Agile]

I only bought this car about four months ago and it has only done about 65k so not high mileage. The MOT was about five months ago.

Because they sent a transporter it has been parked in the street with the fault on the outside so it will be difficult for me to look at it in much detail.

I may try to push the drive shaft back in and see if I can push the joint back together so I can drive it onto my driveway where I can examine it in detail and repair it.

Tony

 

[JohnD]

I once had a wheel bearing fail, and the recoveryman put a "skate" under that corner. A board with four industrial casters on it.

Have you really got the time and inclination to mend it yourself? Don't you know a local garage who can take it in?

 

[Agile]

When it has to be towed by a lift up truck everything gets more complicated!

Good garage is 12 miles away. Two close by guys don't have off road space.

So easiest to get it rolling again myself.

Nothing wrong with it that I cannot manage!

If I could drive it then another matter.

 

[nauseous]

Not allowed to give mechanical advice here. Please call a registered mechanic.

 

[Mikefromlondon]

Not allowed to give mechanical advice here. Please call a registered mechanic.

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