My baby (2011 XJ, standard trim, normally aspirated V-8) now has a little over 90,000 miles and just developed a nasty steering wheel wobble that comes on around 40 mph and lasts up to around 50 mph. A vibration can be felt in the seat and floor at the same time. The dealer told me I had a bad front tire and replaced it, but the vibration and wobble remained. The front rotors were worn down and replaced around 9 months ago, but they just checked bad (excessive runout) and were replaced under warranty, thinking they might be part of my problem; they were not. At one point they supposedly exchanged all 4 tires and wheels with similar sized tires/wheels from a new car and told me that the vibration and wobble remained. I guess I believe them. They then spent 3 days with it and could not find the problem. Their next plan is to swap out the power steering rack and, if that's not it, to change the control arms to see if the problem persists. They were going to do an alignment last week, but decided not to do that yet because they might be changing the control arms.


I've read posts about drive shaft balance issues, but my dealer has not said anything to me about that as a possibility.


Do you have this kind of problem with your well worn-in XJ?


I have always had Pirelli P-Zero Nero tires and factory wheels on the car.

 

With everything that has been ruled out, I would say alignment, control arms, ball joints and drive shaft out of balance are other possibilities.

 

Thanks for your insight. I'll be talking to my service manager later this morning to see what they've done this last week. I might make these suggestions to him to see what he thinks.

 

I have a similar problem on my 05 XJ. I've narrowed it down and I'm fairly convinced it's either drive shaft or transmission mount related.

 

Thanks. Talked to my services guy today. They're comparing front end suspension parts in my 2011 to those from a 2012 they have in stock. They think part of the problem may be in the slight play they feel in control arms but they also believe a driveshaft issue may be present as well. I should know better in a couple of days and will update my post then.

 

I had what sounds like a very similar problem to you in my 2010 model (UK) with 90k miles on the clock.

The brakes all round where replaced at a service and immediately afterwards there was a very harsh steering wheel vibration around 50mph which could also be felt throughout the vehicle (the rear view mirror would vibrate quite considerably and my glasses would vibrate down my nose). It was almost like ABS intevention only the vibration would stop when any brake pressure was applied. It was diagnosed as faulty front discs/rotors and they were replaced under warranty, however the vibration was still there just as bad. (Why don't they road test the cars before handing them back after 'fixes' like that?)

Eventually they had to replace both front suspension shocks, arms and some bushes to resolve the problem. The causal factor seemed to be the badly mounted new discs/rotors causing excessive wear on the shocks causing them to leak and knock-on stress to the other components. The servicing dealer admitted that they did not check for run out after fitting the new brakes but refused to contribute anything towards the subsequent replacement of the suspension parts. I normally service the brakes on my cars myself but as they were needed for an MOT (vehicle safety certificate) I had the dealer do them. Never again!

Frustratingly since then although the harsh vibration has gone there has been a recurring issue with the ride height at each wheel going out of tolerance every time it is reset. The car is sitting 'bent', with opposite corners high and low so the vehicle itself is out of balance and you feel it in the handling when cornering. The difference front to back on opposite corners is around 5cm.

I hope your vibration ends with a better outcome...!

 

xdave what a nightmare. It sounds like you may want to replace the front height sensors. As for the dealer not wanting to cover the premature failure of the collateral parts that failed due to their incompetent work should be reported to JLR, IMHO.

 

Your automobile history shows you have a devotion to the XJ.

 

Isn't it amazing how OEM dealerships are so incompetent when it comes to servicing the cars they sell? In spite of the outrageous hourly fees they charge, their approach seems to be "try replacing this or that until we accidentally find the cause of your problem".

Good grief! What is really frustrating is their holier than thou attitude. My local Jaguar dealer has some of the best looking women "service advisers" you can imagine, and therefore offer "visual compensation" over male service advisers, but who are no more or less incompetent. At least after a number of incidents where my advise revealed my superior knowledge, they now tend to listen to my input.

 

FINAL UPDATE - Oct 16, 2015:
After comparing the suspension components from a higher mileage 2012 XJ, my dealer determined that the problem was in the lower control arm bushings. They coordinated the repair with my extended warranty company and replaced both the control arms and the bushings. They also did an alignment. I got the XJ back yesterday and have driven it approximately 60 miles. The steering wheel wobble and body vibration are completely gone. The total cost to me - only $98.00, which represented the deductible from my extended warranty policy. I couldn't be happier!

 

Hi there... happy you solved your problem... I had same problem with my jag xjl 2012. I took it to my dealer here in my country (Saudi Arabia Riyadh). At first, they did what I think all dealers are good at... they asked me to change good working parts to realize later that problem is still there and I just lost extra money.. I did the following for the 1st visit: changed brake pads for all four tires, discs for all tires as well. My problem remained. Then went back to them for second time they said that I need to do the alignments. I agreed to do so, but when car went for road test, the mechanic said vibration is still there.. after that, I left the car in with them for a week and then received a call from them saying I have to change the lower arms and the bushings. I said fine.... change them all and that costs me like 1000 quids. Now my car is received by my brother because I'm not in country this week and will be back on Tuesday. my brother told me vibration is gone but still feel little vibration when want to stop the car....

I was really unhappy with Jaguar servicing dealer here, but now discover it is not only here problem...

At least now I feel happy to have my jag back after three weeks in the dealer garage

 

I too had to have the lower control arms and bushings replaced on my '11 normally aspirated 4.0 L V-8 XJL at only 42,820 miles due to highly abnormal wear on the insides of my front tires that cause the tire cords to show through while the remainder of the tread still appeared brand new. Obviously the front suspension isn't very well designed or these components would have lasted at least 100,000 miles.

 

I feel your pain. I had the same issue with my 2005 Lexus LS460. The front right corner of the car was measured at 6.5" higher than the rear left corner. THAT looks really bad. I had it trailered into the Lexus dealer at least three times with the exact same problem and symptoms. They told me the computer said the car was fine each time. The problem was eventually traced to a front wheel height sensor which was leaking. Since it "thought" the car was level, it set no fault in the computer. That revelation only took Lexus 9 MONTH to find. They changed the one front sensor, but within a few months the problem was back. They finally ended up changing all 4 wheel height sensors after I emailed the Maryland Attorney General and complained. A very painful process for sure.

 

Hopefully the recognize the issue and look there first when the next XJ comes in with this problem. The most frustrating issue for me was that it took around 2-1/2 weeks to solve the problem. apparently they don't have that many high-mileage XJ bodies out there and their experience with this specific problem has been limited. Or so they say. Sounds like I was not exactly the first one out there with this problem.

Sounds to me like you may still have a brake rotor issue.