Good morning all!
So I have a recurring issue with my S-Type. One which I have been head scratching over for a little while now, and finally decided to take to the forum. For about the last 25k miles I have been having issues with steering wheel wobble, similar to what one would expect from poor wheel balancing. After changing out from budget tyres to a full new set of Pirelli P-Zero's and not one, but two re-balancing jobs, my issue remains. The first was undertaken by the mobile tyre fitters themselves, and the second by a company I often use. I also had the alignment checked by two individual garages. The first found no issue. The second using a more exact system found the toe was out by about -0.04° on the nearside, and if I recall it may have been about 0.03° positive on the offside. Miniscule numbers, but enough to cause a bit of a fight between the wheels and probably also the cause of my problem. I had them correct the alignment, and from my first drive away from the garage there was noticeable improvement. Although the issue was still there, it was barely noticeable, even at speeds up to 100mph.
However about 2 weeks after the alignment reset, the issue had started becoming progressively worse again. It's not back to where it was before, but it is still an annoyance. Especially so when under heavy breaking! There are in fact times where the steering actually feels abnormally light for fractions of a second, as though my commands through the steering wheel are sluggish getting through to the actual wheels. Sometimes I can make out just the slightest droning sort of noise from somewhere under the front end, but that may just be the tyres trying to deal with the constant minor shifting caused by this wobble. Other than that there are no knocking noises to suggest any worn bushes etc. I've had the suspension and steering checked by a Halfords autocentre and my local Qwik Fit. Neither of which turned up any issues, besides Qwik Fit finding the slight discrepancy with the alignment. I've even been more regularly checking the tyre pressures, in case I happened to have a very slow puncture or some such issue that might cause the car to get off kilter. My first thought for a time was it may have been as issue with brake discs. But these were replaced along with new pads amidst my troubles, and no effect was noticed. My thought now is turning to the track rod ends. Perhaps they are wearing out and so when the camber/toe are reset everything goes back to near normal, but they are unable to maintain the settings for more than a couple of thousand miles. I should also add that previous tyres when changed showed no signs of abnormal wear, which struck me as odd, especially given the nature and severity of the wobble.
Any knowledge gratefully received.


Thanks,
Johnathon

 

Johnathon,

I've moved your question from General Tech Help to S-Type forum. Members here with the same model will be able to help.

Graham

 

Has anyone checked the condition of the inner tie rods?

 

I did see a similar issue on an Audi A6 I owned. I went through all the suspension joints, bushes, steering arms, inner and outer track rods and more than one alignment to no avail. It turned out to be the power steering pump. I only found it 6 months later when I changed the pump as it started leaking from the front seal. I tore the old pump down and there was a bad internal seal causing the fluid pressure to pulse.
Only a thought, may have nothing to do with your current issue.

 

What is it, V6,V8, petrol, diesel, and most important.

How many miles.

Halfords auto centre ,Quickfit and the local tyre fitted, I am sure do a good enough job, but may not be in that much depth to identify and correct your issue(s).

With the alignment, and wheel balance removed from the equation.

It could be anything, bushes, ball joints, loose mounted wheel bearing, have a poke around with a 2" x4" and see what moves on the front suspension.

 

I have a similar situation, and I thought it was due to prior accident damage. I found that even a 2 psi difference in tire air pressure between left and right would make it more pronounced.

 

Hi Abonano. I hadn't thought of inner tie rods. Might just take her to my local mechanic and ask him to have a look. Thanks Geezer. I'll certainly keep an eye on the power steering. Though I quite regularly check fluid levels and such, but have not noticed anything being drained at an unusual rate. Hi bydand. It's a V6 diesel, with just a smidge over 110k miles on the clock. My usual go-to mechanic did have a poke around under the front end on a couple of occasions while the car was up on the ramp, and found nothing loose or rattling etc. Warspite (love the battleship reference btw), the tyre pressures have been kept religiously precise since the problem started, but thanks for the suggestion.

 

Good suggestions all around.

To check the inners properly make sure your mechanic disconnects the outer tie rods. Any excessive/easy movement of the inners they're worn, even if it's only one side.

They should be tight and rather difficult to move.

I just changed my rack on my 00 S Type the other day due to my steering wheel wondering and the car having a mind of its own, including a slight wobbling steering wheel on the road above 30 mph.

My inners were beyond shot. Basically they dropped (with the outer tie rods removed) once I lifted the rack off the ground. And these were just replaced 2 yrs ago.

If you find your inners are shot replace the entire rack. (Inner tie rods are included)

Stay away from MOOG - their suspension parts suck on Jaguars.

I also replaced my outer tie rods for safe measure and after an alignment on the Hunter machine I was told to get the rear tie rods replaced as well.

Even though my car now drives as straight as a bullet at 70 mph with a firm steering wheel, while the rear/front needs further suspension alignment tweaks once the new rear tie rods are installed.

Also, take a peek at the condition of your PS fluid. If it's dark might be time for a flush.

Hope this helps.