Snail curve



  • So as per usual I am on a little pootle Saturday just gone, I turn up to work to find I had booked it off and forgotten, yay for me! so I decide to go for a pootle about, I was not feeling all that racy, just listening to a smidgen of George and generally enjoying the car, I take the long straight that leads to the first of two islands the first being quite small, I slow from 50-25 and enter the a bout, as I coast around I find I am losing the back end and with such gusto you'd have thought I was doing a great deal of speed, this was not the case but I did rotate to 180, bemused and mixed feelings taken into account, those of initial fear at loss of control and then of bravado like I meant to do it but in reality I lost the back end of my car pootling in moist weather at 20-25mph, now I am left wondering why this might be, more to the point I am papping the up coming poor weather, especially any ice that might come my way. it cannot be a down force issue because its such low speed so what else could it be? I checked the tyre treads and pressures and they are almost like new, speed was not an issue, I have been back since but due to traffic I don't want to take the risk nut had there been traffic ten I would have been very much pained by damage and pride.

    Any thoughts?



  • Have not experienced it in my mx3 but have lost other cars in second gear on roundabouts and always after a very long dry spell and on the first time it rains, so the roads are covered with a film of rubber, diesel, oil and water and it's absolutely lethal. Last time a couple of years ago I had the wife in, was in second coming off a roundabout at maybe 20 and put my foot down only slightly to exit and did a 180 spin stopping facing the oncoming traffic. She witnessed I was doing nothing wrong and her comment was "what happened there!". So maybe your conditions were similar after a long dry summer and September? And it was moist?
    If not, then can't help really.
    Ought not to go from normal handling to a spin at slow speed without some earlier signs of component failure to steering or suspension?
    Maybe there'd been a lorry with a fuel leak? Take it steady for a while and see if it starts to get wobbly again?
    Good Luck.



  • did it only happen at this one roundy bout?
    as you could have hit a greasy part of the road/oil spill etc.

    i'd drive the car somewhere else and try slowly round again a turn or roundabout. you could also have a look for anything you drove over on another part of the road on your tyres. one last thing do the rears have good thread, more so than the fronts as people often swap the fronts to the rear of buying new tyres and they say the rear needs the newer tyre more so for proper grip.

    after the tyres check the rear drop links etc for anything broken and look over shocks/springs, sway bars etc. just push down on the rear wings and see if car goes down, up a little then settles, if so shocks are fine.



  • @076179e242=Twyford4:

    Have not experienced it in my mx3 but have lost other cars in second gear on roundabouts and always after a very long dry spell and on the first time it rains, so the roads are covered with a film of rubber, diesel, oil and water and it's absolutely lethal. Last time a couple of years ago I had the wife in, was in second coming off a roundabout at maybe 20 and put my foot down only slightly to exit and did a 180 spin stopping facing the oncoming traffic. She witnessed I was doing nothing wrong and her comment was "what happened there!". So maybe your conditions were similar after a long dry summer and September? And it was moist?
    If not, then can't help really.
    Ought not to go from normal handling to a spin at slow speed without some earlier signs of component failure to steering or suspension?
    Maybe there'd been a lorry with a fuel leak? Take it steady for a while and see if it starts to get wobbly again?
    Good Luck.

    Thanks, your possibly right, there is camber to the island and the road was a tad damp at that time i have taken other islands but really slowly just in case, especially in heavy traffic, Its and auto which makes me wonder if there must has been something else to the corner, diesel or some such thing. shame though, really enjoyed throwing it into corners…..

    Thanks for your advice.



  • @2754452c7e=spoddyaz3:

    did it only happen at this one roundy bout?
    as you could have hit a greasy part of the road/oil spill etc.

    i'd drive the car somewhere else and try slowly round again a turn or roundabout. you could also have a look for anything you drove over on another part of the road on your tyres. one last thing do the rears have good thread, more so than the fronts as people often swap the fronts to the rear of buying new tyres and they say the rear needs the newer tyre more so for proper grip.

    after the tyres check the rear drop links etc for anything broken and look over shocks/springs, sway bars etc. just push down on the rear wings and see if car goes down, up a little then settles, if so shocks are fine.

    Some good stuff to check there, i have been recent cleaninng out the arches and cleaning up the brakes all round and i noticed on the bar that sit behind the rear of the brake hub that connects to the bottom of the brake assembly there is a rubber bush that looks corroded down, looks a bit squashed, it slao looks like an absolute pain to replace. i assume much screaming and scrapping of knuckles will be the order of the day, I need a long scaff bar, i think, or just let a grease monkey at it. i hate doing that though don't you? a job that if i had the right gear i could do myself i end up paying some rip off filthbag. honestly around my area they are never right in the head, I have search far and wide for a decent shop that can fix a problem for a decent price but i despise those shops that you know are taking the prevebial. who charges £90 to change front pads? who?
    any way….. i will check further into the rear end and treads which are like new front and rears look good and deep.

    Thanks for listening and your advice, i will update this when i find the issue.



  • By theway were in gods name do i get a bush kit for my presso now days? or just the rears?

    seems i may have to make them… is this a practical solution? are there other cars with the same bush i can use.



  • sounds bad you can't get a decent mechanic. you should take a pic and show it on here. some of the guys are good home mechanics on here so could advise you. plus if the sway bars etc are in good condition you could poly bush them all and the front so the handling is better all round.

    check the fordprobestore site for parts.

    http://www.fordprobestore.co.uk/store/product_info.php/cPath/51_76/products_id/1578

    was that the part?



  • @616b2c02f2=spoddyaz3:

    sounds bad you can't get a decent mechanic. you should take a pic and show it on here. some of the guys are good home mechanics on here so could advise you. plus if the sway bars etc are in good condition you could poly bush them all and the front so the handling is better all round.

    check the fordprobestore site for parts.

    http://www.fordprobestore.co.uk/store/product_info.php/cPath/51_76/products_id/1578

    was that the part?

    don't think it is no.. i will take a snap of it Sunday if the weather stays good, seems that i can't find any uprated stuff?
    do you know where i get decent uprated bushes?



  • you would need to show the part. you can try that site and see if they can help. after that best bet is your local mazda dealership as they'll have a parts dept that can check for the exact oem part and give you a suitable price.

    after that if its polybushing then try ebay etc.



  • Some of American old escorts bushes seems to be the same, but I never had a chance to check. I went to mazda dealers last year and they priced £56.77+vat for each bar.you can't get bushes separately. Have to buy all complete arm.i made bushes myself with liquid polyurethane.the front bush (one, that bolts to the chassis)of this arm I used of vw audi suspension.



  • @0cedb4c4e2=edymikis:

    Some of American old escorts bushes seems to be the same, but I never had a chance to check. I went to mazda dealers last year and they priced £56.77+vat for each bar.you can't get bushes separately. Have to buy all complete arm.i made bushes myself with liquid polyurethane.the front bush (one, that bolts to the chassis)of this arm I used of vw audi suspension.

    Really, wow hows that holding up? Is that in your build thread?

    I guess new arms are the way forward then..


 

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