Chapter 1 Routine maintenance and servicing

1595Ford Fiesta Remake10•8 Suspension and steering8.6 Lower suspension arm arrangement inits mounting bracket8 Front suspension lower arm- removal and refitting 3Removal1 Chock the rear wheels then jack up thefront of the car and support it on axle stands(see “Jacking and Vehicle Support”). Removethe appropriate front roadwheel.2 Remove the one-piece undertray (wherefitted), by turning its bayonet-type fasteners.3 If lower arm mounting brackets are to beremoved on XR2i models, remove the frontsuspension crossmember as described in theprevious Section.4 Unscrew and remove the lower armballjoint-to-spindle carrier pinch-bolt. Prisethe joint open using a large flat-bladed tool,and detach the balljoint from the spindlecarrier. Take care not to damage the balljointseal during the separation procedures.5 Where an anti-roll bar is fitted, undo the twobolts and remove the clamp bracket.6 To remove the lower arm from its mountingbracket, undo the two bolts that pass throughthe vertical bushes, remove the bolts andpull the arm clear (see illustration). Note thatnew bolts will be required for refitting.7 The lower arm mounting brackets are each8.10 Lower suspension arm and mountingbracket arrangementA Arm-to-mounting bracket boltsB Special “shouldered” locating boltC Mounting bracket retaining boltsretained by five bolts. To remove a mountingbracket, undo the five bolts and lower it fromthe vehicle.8 If the balljoint and/or the inboard mountingbushes are found to be in poor condition, thecomplete suspension arm must be renewed.The suspension arm must also be renewed ifit has suffered structural damage.Refitting9 Insert the lower arm into its mountingbracket and fit the two bolts that pass throughthe vertical bushes finger tight only at thisstage.10 Fit the lower arm mounting bracket to thevehicle, ensuring that the locating dowel iscorrectly located in its recess. One of the fivebolts securing the mounting bracket has alocating shoulder and a larger threaddiameter, and this should be fitted first toensure correct alignment of the mountingbracket to the vehicle (see illustration). Refitthe other four bolts and tighten all five to thespecified torque.11 Refit the anti-roll bar bracket and frontsuspension crossmember, as applicable, inaccordance with the relevant Sections of thisChapter.12 Locate the lower suspension arm balljointinto the spindle carrier assembly then fit andtighten the pinch-bolt and nut to the specifiedtorque. Note that the bolt must locate tothe annular groove on the balljoint spindle.13 Refit the roadwheel, remove the axlestands and lower the vehicle to the ground.14 Tighten the wheel nuts to the specifiedtorque.15 Tighten the lower arm-to-lower armmounting bracket bolts, that pass through thevertical bushes, by the torque-to-yield methodas follows. Note that the weight of the vehiclemust be on the roadwheels for theseprocedures and new bolts must be used.Tighten the bolts to the Stage 1 torque settinggiven in the Specifications, then back off tozero torque (Stage 2). Retighten to theStage 3 torque setting, then tighten furtherthrough the angle specified for Stage 4, usingan angle-tightening gauge. It is vitallyimportant that these procedures are followedand that the bolts are not subjected to furtherrotation which could result in them failing. Thetorque-to-yield method must be followedevery time that these bolts are disturbed.16 Raise the front of the vehicle again andsupport it securely on axle stands to refit theone-piece undertray (where applicable).9 Rear hub bearings -renewal31 Chock the front wheels then jack up therear of the car and support it on axle stands(see “Jacking and Vehicle Support”). Removethe appropriate rear roadwheel.2 Check that the handbrake is released, thenremove the rubber blanking plug from theinside face of the brake backplate, reachthrough with a suitable screwdriver, andrelease the automatic brake adjuster bylevering the catch from the pawl.3 Prise free the outer grease cap from thecentre of the hub (see illustration). The capwill be deformed during its removal, and willneed to be renewed when the hub is refitted.4 Unscrew and remove the hub nut, but notethat the hub nut threads are “handed”according to side - right-hand to right, lefthandto left (see illustration). A left-handthread unscrews in a clockwise direction.5 Withdraw the brake drum/hub from thespindle of the rear stub axle (see illustration).9.3 Removing the outer grease cap fromthe hub centre9.4 Undoing the hub bearing retaining nut9.5 Slide off the wheel hub/brake drumunit