dj31499

My 2000 XJ doesn't ride well. Whenever I hit a small bump in the road or drive over a pothole or manhole cover, my steering jerks to the side, usually on the side that went over the bump/hole. It also rattles the entire car when I go over a bump at 25-30 mph. The Honda's and VW Bug I've also driven in my household absorb these without a problem. So far I've put new Rancho shock absorbers in both the front and the rear, and a new steering stabilizer. My next step is the sway links/bushings and then ball joints because I was told that they're shot by my mechanic. Here are some pictures on my front end, hopefully these'll help diagnose my problem




The bushings on the driver's side, obviously need work.



I honestly have no idea what happened here.



Decided to include a picture of the rear leafs, they look pretty worn out to me, not sure if they could be causing the problem. Will be replacing them soon anyway.



Track Bar bushing, not sure if it needs to be replaced or not.

andrewmp6

The rear springs are shot your swaybar end links are shot and that track bar end looks pretty ugly it might be shot.The steering have someone rock it back and forth while you watch the linkage and tie rod ends.If theres any slop in a tie rod end its shot.

dj31499

Here's a video of the tie rod ends while turning the wheel.

andrewmp6

Looks ok but does it make any clicking sound or feel when you turn ?

tony270

When the steering reacts as you've describe I'd suspect tie rod ends, steering damper, pitman arm, lower ball joints.

tony270

I saw your other post, the steering gear could cause this issue too, but you would notice that because it would have sloppy steering. We would jack the front end up and get under, and while on our back in a bench press position we will manipulate the components to see which ones are loose, a pry bar can be used to assist.

On the leak I would use brake parts to clean the area around the leak (I don't use high pressure water because if not careful it can enter the system or foul electronic). Then run it and work the steering, then look for the leak, sometimes you have to wait for the leak to develop, like the next day.

dj31499

Is it the pitman arm itself, or are there any bushings around it that need to be replaced? I already did the steering stabilizer when I did all my shocks, and is there any way to tell from the video that I posted if the tie rod ends are bad, from one of the pics they look a little warped but I'm not sure if that's just the way they're designed.

As for the second post about steering, I was skeptical about power washing everything too. Today I'll probably go under and clean everything and report back in a day or two to find out where the leak is coming from. By just popping the hood and looking near the PS reservoir, and below, I see most of the fluid on the link between the column and the box. I'll see if I can get some more pics and upload them to that thread.

tony270

The tie tod ends, ball joints, and pitman arm should all be tight, hard to manipulate by hand or small pry bar, nothing should be loose or sloppy, get under there and try to move those components, take a video of that, it is not that hard to find. That's how we troubleshoot and dagnose a steering malfunction like this. You might have a hose at the PS reservoir, that is more commom. You have to remember there's a lot of air passing through there blowing and moving the wet area around, that can make a leak difficult for a novice to find.l.

tony270

It doesn't look like the steering gear is leaking, and that looks like the plastic costing that covers the outside of some seals, so IMO that seal isn't bad because of that defect. To me it looks more like the leak is related to this area, it may be that the fulid was blown there.

dj31499

I'm going to go under there in a little bit and take some more pics of the steering assembly from under neath and from the hood, as for getting a video of me moving stuff can you be more specific of what you want me to do?

dj31499

here's some more pics I didn't take a video because of how cold it is in NY right now. Hopefully this will help, I didn't see any leaks around the hoses

tony270

Okay, that does look like a steering gear issue that must be addressed, a leak, leaks are classed as class I wet, II forms a drip in a 24 hour period, and a class III leak forms a quarter size spot on the ground. A class I leak in the steering hydraulic system is a deadline vehicle.

Anyway if the steering gear is leaking it must be replaced, even if it isn't causing the whiplash at the steering wheel.

Okay with the steering wheel locked use a wrench to grip or wedge a screwdriver into the joint behind the steering gear (red circl). Then use a wrench or your muscles to manipulate the pitman are or drag link. The screwdriver should move with the pitman arm, without any delay. If that is tight, grip the pitman arm and move a tire and observe the drag link ends, then look at the tie rod ends, then move the other tire, then move both tires together. Is there any delay at any of those connections?

tony270

I would bet that your problem will be fixed after the steering gear is replaced. A note that some systems there is a need to make sure to index the steering wheel with the steering gear. This is so that the steering wheel won't be off center after everything is said and done. If it is too much off center you can't adjust it without recentering the wormgear. This job requires a manual specific to the vehicle, especially for a person that isn't familiar.

But a failure in a different front end suspension component could have put pressure on the steering gear causing it to leak and malfunction. It would be prudent to inspect the lower and upper ball joints, upper and lower suspended arm bushings, stabilizer bushing, steering damper, and tires.

tony270

I was finally able to watch your video and it looks like the steering gear is slipping.

dj31499

The video of the wheel turning where I looked at the tie rods? If so would you mind explaining to me what that means