Xantia steering wobble when braking

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PaulGN
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Xantia steering wobble when braking

Post by PaulGN »

My 1996 Xantia TD estate has a slight steering wheel wobble only when braking. Front disks, calipers and pads all recently replaced. No odd tyre wear evident. Brakes work fine otherwise. Any ideas?
Chris Peddie
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Post by Chris Peddie »

Hi,
Don't assume because the disks have been replaced that this rules them out as a cause, at least this is the simplest explanation. I recently (edit: actually this was over a year ago! Re-using the original disks solved the problem until I found some good ones) went through 3 sets of disks from a well known accessory shop, each set warped and causing vibration under braking, althought they were very good about it and did refund my money!
Only the fourth set from a different supplier was any different and have shown no problems, now three months on the car.
I might also check the caliper bolts are tight, but aside from my own experience I can't offer any other advice.
HTH,
Chris
Edited by - Chris Peddie on 12 Jul 2002 17:36:22
douglas_xantia
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Post by douglas_xantia »

I have the same problem with my 1996 TD LX Estate - I am assuming it is the discs, but have not done anything about it yet. Certainly that's the initial thought.
Xantias are not ALL bad
alan s
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Post by alan s »

Here's a few things to check that all can cause these symptoms.
As has been suggested, discs warped or running out will do it for sure, as will, faulty wheel alignment (just sorted a similar problem on my Ford Spectron that the "experts" couldn't find), wear in ball joints &/or tie rod ends. Worn rack end or wear in the steering rack and the most common one that mechanics will never own up to when they have fitted new pads or worked in the region of the disc rotors; grease or oil contamination on the actual rotor giving you "hot spots" when the brakes are applied.
Amazing how many times taking out the pads and carefully roughing the face followed by thoroughly cleaning the rotors has fixed this problem! The most important thing is to get it done ASAP after it's noticed as if this is the problem, it can cause areas of the disc to overheat and thereby cause the disc to warp, whereupon the culprit who caused it simply says "not me guvner" and gets away with not only causing the problem but gets another job to do as a bonus.
Alan S
sooty
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Post by sooty »

I had a similar fault on my daughters 306 td, although it was slight when braking soft to medium and there was a very slight vibration of the wheels at 70/80 mph. The disc's, pads and steering joints had been checked. I had the wheels balanced and that cured it.
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