XANTIA - strange pulling or wobble movement on the steering

studiodaz · Post by **studiodaz** » 28 May 2008, 22:52

Just got myself a 1997 CITROEN XANTIA 1.9 TURBO D SX from ebay.

I am getting a strange pulling or wobble movement on the steering when I take my foot off the accelerator and also when I press my foot down again.

Do you know what this could be?

The guy I got the car from (ebayer) said he did recall a slight steering wheel twitch but have always put this down to a driving characteristic of the car so have never bothered about it, and the MOT didn’t show up any faults so cant be anything serious.

The MOT was done 7 days before I got the car.

any ideas what it could be?

AndersDK · Post by **AndersDK** » 28 May 2008, 23:10

1) worn/detoriated rubber bushes in the lower control arm inner mountings. This will shift the steering heading quite noticeable going from acceleration to deceleration or vice-versa.

2) worn steering track-rod joints - same symptoms as 1

3) the steering axle universal joint may be worn because of corrosion. A wellknown special Xantia problem. Tends to give steering heading wander.

4) worn lower swivel joints. Mostly same as 1, but a more abrupt on/off like action, sometimes not present.

All pretty common problems, no big fortunes to repair. 2 and 3 are easy diy tasks, while 1 and 4 requires a skilled home mechanic to diy.
To trace the fault, you simply attack the parts in question with muscles to visually look for the evident slack that causes the problem.

Cant understand why it was NOT failed during MOT. Any issue with the steering is a serious fault.

studiodaz · Post by **studiodaz** » 28 May 2008, 23:17

thanks for the info.

the car seems fine until it is driven at around 30 mph, moving the steering wheel is fine.

I am hopeing the MOT is a real one aand their isn't anything more wrong with the car.

MikeT · Post by **MikeT** » 28 May 2008, 23:45

For peace of mind, you can check the V5 authenticity here
Click the Vehicle Enquiry sign on the left and follow the instructions.

and MOT here

bigjl2 · Post by **bigjl2** » 28 May 2008, 23:45

Could also be an engine mount, I broke one on my dads R5 years ago, and that made the steering interesting, as it was lifting the engine and gearbox up and pulling the wheel, in the OP's case a mount could be starting to fail, but I don't know much about Xantia engine mounts.

Post by **admiral51** » 29 May 2008, 00:54

i would check the cheapest option first get the tyre pressures checked and the balancing done.if the mot threw up no advisories then work your way in check/discount the obvious and then delve deeper

dont forget to check the rear tyres for pressure aswell a soft rear tyre can give some wierd feedback through the steering wheel the system is setup to operate on a specific set of paramiters

Colin

Stempy · Post by **Stempy** » 29 May 2008, 17:29

I had a steering wobble on acceleration and deceleration which only happened at certain speeds a few years ago on a Xantia I had at the time. It was cured by fitting new drive shafts.

studiodaz · Post by **studiodaz** » 29 May 2008, 18:11

thanks guys.

So I guess I need to jack up the car and see if anything feels loose around the wheel area?

AndersDK · Post by **AndersDK** » 29 May 2008, 20:57

studiodaz wrote:thanks guys.

So I guess I need to jack up the car and see if anything feels loose around the wheel area?

Correct - except you should start with weight on wheels - as you REALLY need to put muscles in your investigation. No fun to have the car land on your feet while rambling it.

Start with the dead simple test :

Car in normal height, handbrake applied, both hands on top of one sides tyre. Then rock the car as hard as ever possible you can sidewards. This will instantly diagnose slack in the supension componets.
Dont be surprised if you quickly loose your breath. This is really hard work - and it is necessary ...

Using a crowbar or tyre rod, try if you can make the lower control arm move in the mountings. There will of course be the slight movement from the fact its fitted with rubber bushes. But worn bushes is a whole different kettle of fish. That can be cm's of movement at the wheel

Post by **RichardW** » 30 May 2008, 07:48

I had a vibration on my previous Xantia that was so bad it almost yanked the steering wheel out of your hand on overrun / light braking - I was convinced that something was seriously amiss.

My Sister had a really bad wobble on her Xantia too - started aftr a heavy braking effort on the M6. This was so bad the steering wheel was rocking 30° or so at about 15mph - I was convinced a CV joint was away.

However - both turned out to be front tyres that had bulges on them. I would never have believed a tyre could cause either symptom, but went away totally once the tyres were changed.

So I know where I'd be starting on this one....!!!