An exercise in overthinking - Junits15's street build

[junits15]

I've been running into this weird issue while turning sharply at low speeds. A few noticeable pops happens when the wheel is at full lock, usually in a parking lot or similar.

here's a video of it happening on my car


Been hunting it down for months, the car still had warranty when it started, so I've been working with a local ford dealer.

They've been good, once I demonstrated the noise they've been extremely helpful and attentive to it. They've replaced a strut mount and a steering shaft and still no dice. These people here have the same issue:
https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/threads/steering-popping-vibration-when-sharp-turning.20064/
https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/threads/front-end-popping-snapping.101970/
https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/threads/popping-clunking-sound-when-turning-2018.104808/


Mine is only when turning left, it is not being caused by the tire compound because it did it in the winter too on soft tires.


They've had my car for 3 days to do the two repairs and are still investigating, we'll see what they find. My guess is its either the rack itself, a ball joint, or a really weird bearing failure.

I've been driving my Fiancee's Honda Fit, which is a good car but very boring. I got in a "race" with a prius on an on ramp

They fixed it!

Almost like a miracle lol, they replaced the strut mount, upper steering shaft, and the lower steering shaft. The lower steering shaft was the thing that finally did it.

It took 5 days, dropped it off early Monday morning and just picked it up. The shop foreman said he had never ran into an issue like this before, so much so that he plans on taking my defective part and putting it in a car they have temporarily to see if he can recreate the issue. I hope they tell me what the outcome of that is but I doubt I'll hear back. Such a strange issue for sure.

Either way I'm happy, they were pretty attentive once I was able to show them the issue.

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[Duece McCracken]

They fixed it!

Almost like a miracle lol, they replaced the strut mount, upper steering shaft, and the lower steering shaft. The lower steering shaft was the thing that finally did it.

It took 5 days, dropped it off early Monday morning and just picked it up. The shop foreman said he had never ran into an issue like this before, so much so that he plans on taking my defective part and putting it in a car they have temporarily to see if he can recreate the issue. I hope they tell me what the outcome of that is but I doubt I'll hear back. Such a strange issue for sure.

Either way I'm happy, they were pretty attentive once I was able to show them the issue.

Five fucking days though.

What loaner did they give you?

 

[junits15]

Five fucking days though.

What loaner did they give you?

No loaner, would have had to wait months for that which I didn't feel like doing.

I drove my fiancée's Honda fit, which although slow, it not a bad car at all.

 

[Duece McCracken]

No loaner, would have had to wait months for that which I didn't feel like doing.

I drove my fiancée's Honda fit, which although slow, it not a bad car at all.

Ugh, did you inspect their work? Reinstall that tire too, in case they blasted the lugs on.

 

[junits15]

Ugh, did you inspect their work? Reinstall that tire too, in case they blasted the lugs on.

not yet, I'll be under the car again this Sunday to finish up this meth install. I'll give it a once over

 

[Duece McCracken]

not yet, I'll be under the car again this Sunday to finish up this meth install. I'll give it a once over

Yeah man. Trust nobody. Way easier to sort it on your terms now, then a failure or complicate a different install.

 

[junits15]

I did a lot this weekend, I took a video recapping everything but it was just 5 minutes of me complaining about how I don't have e85, how this install sucks, how hot it was, how humid it was, and how much I hate wiring.

All that's left is:

• mount the tank
• Run a trigger wire (blue wire from reverse camera)

I don't know how I'm going to actually mount the tank, its the same width as the mounting plate so there's no easy way to bolt down the straps. I may buy the actual tank it's made for because its only $60. Then figure out this nice tank at a later date. Might be the move.


Things I did this sunday:

• Run LED wire
• Run CAN bus wires
  • solder them into the main harness
• Wire up things to the main controller connector
  • Pump, dual wires for current capability (high side switching)
  • pressure sensor (power, ground, and signal)
  • flow sensor (power, ground, and signal)
  • solenoid (high side switching)
  • LED
  • power (3 wires)
  • ground (4 wires)
• Fix the injection plate
  • needed to clearance the nozzle holders

CAN bus wires are some twisted pair I pulled out of an ethernet cable, should work mint for only $7.

I'm so close, just a few more things...

 

[junits15]

Done

It’s raining so I’m looking to get the first few things set up in the tune tomorrow.

 

[wingnutt]

lol…didn’t realize that was YOU from the ST forum, how many of us have migrated?!?

 

[junits15]

lol…didn’t realize that was YOU from the ST forum, how many of us have migrated?!?

Oh dude there’s some kind of ST to GT pipeline, I even outside of the st forum I know a few people that made the switch.

 

[Duece McCracken]

lol…didn’t realize that was YOU from the ST forum, how many of us have migrated?!?

Yeah he's a transplant.

Oh dude there’s some kind of ST to GT pipeline, I even outside of the st forum I know a few people that made the switch.

Well, front wheel drive is dumb.

 

[CR151S]

Yeah he's a transplant.



Well, front wheel drive is dumb.

Wouldn’t an ST make a good daily driver though?

 

[Duece McCracken]

Wouldn’t an ST make a good daily driver though?

Its personal preference. People get weird about stuff.

People try to get this huge compromise of a car.

I want it to be quick, but great gas mileage.

Easy to park but fit 5 people.

Handle really well, but not too stiff

Lightweight but lots of cargo room

Creature comforts and sport seats but not too "huggy"

All under 30k dollars out the door

Its this bastard of an econobox with a couple "performance" parts slapped on it.

For some people its a gateway to modding and learn to appreciate better platforms.

Or they bitch about it's shortcomings, or try really hard to make it something it's not. It's fun to mod things, but be somewhat practical or realistic about it. Or just say "this is insane, but it's what I want, and It's my car" then thats legit in my book, lol

I have a Bullitt for temps over 34 degrees F.

I have a Gladiator for everything else.

I'd rather have two tools that work amazing, then a multitool that does a lot of things very mediocre.

 

[junits15]

Wouldn’t an ST make a good daily driver though?

It’s a spectacular daily driver, but it has a low ceiling and is let down by the chassis.

If you leave it stock it’s perfect because it’s 220 wheel and it’s designed to hold on well like that. Sadly, stock is the best way to enjoy a focus st.

what happened to me was that it was my first fun car, coming from accords I wanted something fast, a focus st isn’t fast. I modded it, and then it turned into a game of whack a mole, modding and upgrading because “this part will finally fix it and make it perfect”. At the end I had a 380~whp FWD focus that couldn’t hold on for shit in any gear below 3rd. I got frustrated, and decided to sell the car while the engine was still healthy.

the mustang stock had better performance all around than the ST with all its mods, and I also wanted a v8, so it was an easy choice

 

[junits15]

A focus ST is a great car, it’s a golf without all the euroboy showmanship.

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