I finally got my front suspension looseness looked at. I'm told all I need is front sway bar bushings. I was quoted roughly $550 for parts and labor. Does that sound about right?

They also heard my squealing center prop shaft bearing and want to take a look at it. That's roughly $200 in labor plus whatever the cost of a new one is, if necessary. I told them to hold off on that for now. I want to try spraying it really well with WD-40 before I shell out money on that. Plus from what I've seen on this site, the fix doesn't last long before it squeals again. At least the cold weather is almost over so it will be silent again.

 

I bought my 2005 in the fall of 2008 and it was still under warranty. That winter the propshaft started making noise and it was replaced. This winter it started making a little noise again . So, I am guessing replacing it is good for at least 5 years

 

Your quote for the sway bar sounds expensive.
I recently bought new sway bar (anti roll bar in the UK) from a genuine parts supplier in Kent here in England for £15 each (Jaguar charge £30 each), so to you that's about $50 for the pair or $100 from Jaguar direct.

The dealers and many garages reckon you need to drop the entire subframe to gain access to the mounting bushes but you don't.
You only need unclip the steering rack boot and slide it out the way a little to get to the bolts and there are only 2 bolts per bush so it should take no more than around 45 mins per side. It's a little tight but with a decent small ratchet wrench and a little patience, the clamps come off easy and the bush is just pushed on over the bar and comes off without any fuss. Refit is just the reverse of removal and the either a new metal clamp for the steering rack boot or a decent zip tie

 

Evan, like was mentioned, replacing the bushings on the bar itself is pretty straight forward and should not require the dropping of a lot of pieces. The big thing will be getting both wheels off the ground at the same time so the sway bar is not under tension. From there, you undo 2 bolts on each side, remove the clip, slide the old bushing out and slide in the new one. Not that bad. If you are talking about the end links, then those are even easier as you get to everything from the wheel well as I recall.

 

As for the centering bearing, do not use WD-40. Get your hands on a grease gun and squirt some termaline grease into the bearing. That will last much longer than the WD-40 will. You just need a needle attachment on the grease gun to get behind the seal. I did my car many years ago and all is good to this day. Just make sure to add grease in atleast 3 spots around the bearing (as evenly spaced out as possible).

 

Yeah, I found them for ~$35/pair at SNG Barratt. I'm going to my usual shop today to ask what they'd charge me for just labor (they always let me supply the parts) after I explain to them that it's not necessary to make a project out of it.

Chris, I did that about a year ago and it never really fixed the problem. I'm not sure if I did it correctly but regardless it's still squealing. My thinking behind the WD-40 was that, since it's liquid, it should be able to penetrate deeper into the bearing than the grease. If it doesn't work, I can always try greasing it again. I definitely don't want to pay $250 for them to just take off the bearing and look at it though. If I feel inclined to inspect it, I'll attempt that myself on a warmer day.

Here's the grease I used:

Let me also add that Firestone wanted to bill me for the links too. They claimed, "they're plastic and may break when we remove them, so they might need to be replaced" which sounds like an attempt to get more money out of me when they quote me at $60/piece on them.

 

I have to agree with this. WD40 is great stuff but not for lubricating bearings.
If you spray any such stuff into the bearing all you will do is wash the grease out. WD40 will dissolve the grease and leave you with little to no lubrication at all.
As annoying and inconvenient as it is, there really is no other way but to either re-grease in situ or remove, lubricate properly and replace.

 

Alright, I'll have another go at it with the grease gun. Is that Royal Purple stuff I linked to in my last post good for this job?

 

That sounds like them blatantly saying they break things and charge people for them. Those links may be "plastic" but they are sway bar end links! They get put through MUCH more stress while being used on the car than anyone should ever come close to using to remove any part. If I were you, I'd NEVER go back there again.

 

Exactly! If these parts haven't broken in all the years and miles this car has been through then what the hell are they doing in that shop that would break them?

The only reason I went there was they were initially very helpful when AAMCO told me I had a leaking crankshaft seal and I needed a second opinion. They also have a tech who used to work at the Jag dealer who they always put to work on my car. They've always been fair to me, but this latest quote makes me think twice about going back.

 

Ugh, now after going to my usual shop they're convinced it's the links and not the bushings. They put it up on the lift and said everything is tight. Then one of the techs took it for a drive and I went with him. For some reason the noise/"feeling" is more pronounced on series of small bumps than anything. He too felt it through the steering wheel and suspects the links. I was told the links can dry out and then don't move as freely as they should, causing the noise/feeling. They will change those out for me tomorrow and we'll see what happens. They recommended I start there since that's the most likely cause and is a relatively inexpensive repair.