Hello all

Ive started to notice some slight play in the steering, its there when the car is stationary/moving/engine on or off.
Once ive put the key in the ignition and the steering lock releases, theres around a 1>2% move in the steering wheel before the wheels start doing anything.

To be honest I cant recall whether or not it was there before or not ?
Ive taken a look at the steering rack, inner and outer tie rods but I cant see anything obvious. I bought a set of inner and outer tie rods (pair) .... to fit regardless but it seems a bit pointless when there doesnt “appear” to be any obvious play.

Its even more annoying as im driving along as even though it doesnt affect the car, I find myself wobbling the steering wheel (where the play is) as im driving along. Its irritating !!!

It “appears” one of the tie rods is genuine land rover and the other one isnt, as the genuine has the LR engraving on the ball joint.

That said, I havnt removed the outer tie rod from the steering knuckle as of yet and given the inner one a wiggle.

What do you guys think ?? As i didnt wana just swap them for no reason, I might aswell take the parts back and not pay to have it tracked once ive done them.

Have a look at the universal joint the connects the steering shaft to the rack, there's a nut that holds the joint onto the spline which can become ever so slightly loose and causes the steering play. Tighten up the nut and you should be sorted.
There's been posts on this problem before, so do a search and you may find pictures or better to explain in more detail.

Hey

Thanks for the advise.After looking around in that area. Its infact the UJ thats shot !! Its definately got signs if wear as it looks and i can move it with my hands, causing a knock.







That pinch bolt was tight, so not additional tightening was required.

I either will just have to accept it due to cost of new, or look at getting a second hand unit.

As this appears to go up into the bulkhead. Will i be able to gain access to the other end inside the vehicle ?

I dont fancy removing the notirious steering column with all its woes, as I wouldnt want to create a more serious issue.

Btw - bloody bonnet cable snapped at the handle end today aswell ! - struth ! - but already on order

The section of steering column between the rack and the bulkhead can be replaced easily without having to touch the steering column inside the car. Replacement shafts aren't that expensive either, I got my column shaft and rack replaced on my old TD6 a few years ago and it wasn't expensive then. Think I still have the old shaft in the garage somewhere as it wasn't in too bad a condition.

Thanks

I have found one on ebay that looks in much better condition for £10, have been in contact with the seller to confirm its condition for a TD6 so ill wait and see what its like when it gets here.

As long as I havent got to touch the steering column....thats all that matters 👍

Dug out my old column and have made a couple of notes to show where the top of the column is located in the engine bay.

OMG ! - Thank you very much
Something tells me im gonna need to wd40 the lower pinch bolt. Looks a mess !!

So luckily enough I was able to get a second hand lower steering shaft for £20. At my local breakers that had an L322 with an engine out so it was easy enough to remove.
Painted it black and job done.

I decided that this work would be easier with a ramp so I took it to my local garage and up it went for removal.
They removed the old one by cutting the old shaft off, as they said the shaft has a small amount of movement up and down but because it was ceased they had no ability to remove it easily. It was fecked anyway so I said just cut it.

Once they cut the old one of, the new one went on easily and I was there making sure the splines were lined up.

Now all the excess play has gone - steering feels nice an precise again.

***However, to go in a straight line its now 10 degrees left hand down or so, so I took it back to get tracked as by the time I went back the ramp was full with another customers car. The guy there said that it can only go on the splines one way but to be honest I didn't really look whether it does or not.

Is there even a slim possibility that the splines are 1 spline out ? as the steering was dead positive before (all be it with the play in it) and I don't want to get it tracked if it doesnt need it

If I get it tracked, will that just mask the fact that its potentially 1 spline out ?

There is a cap and a piece on the rack that will only allow the shaft to fit one way onto the splines, as seen in the photo.

Ive swapped over the steering wheel before so thats no mean feat. interesting you mention about the steering angle sensor as I saw there new guy plugging in a snap on reader as I was comming back, I did ask why and he mentioned the steering angle sensor too.I only get that when I disconnect the battery and just do a steering lock to lock to reset it and re enable the air suspension.

Its always drifted a bit when I let go, but when holding the wheel straight its fine and ive always been happy with that.

Thanks for confirming that the shaft does only go back on one way, you see this is the problem when you get someone to do it for
you, you dont always know excatly what happens if you leave the car for a small period (wouldnt wanna stand over them anyway, theyve always helped out when I needed it)

My readers dont really pick up this range rovers odb very well for some reason.
Only seems to locate the engine ecu and not anything else.
Aside from the manufacturer specific stuff I have (odbeleven/vcds/tech2) ive got a £30 mickey mouse reader and a Carly that I use for a mutitude of motor brands and hasnt let me down yet for the basics. even does a bit of
coding on the BMWs and VWS, odd that it doesnt read this BMW Range rover properly :pp

It sounds as if he has reset / recalibrated the steering angle sensor. If the vehicle is driving true, I would be inclined to 'centre' the steering wheel rather than do the tracking, as that would throw the steering angle sensor off by 10 or so degrees.
Keep an eye on tyre wear though, but sounds like you're sorted.

So I ended up removing the steering wheel as you suggested and shifted it to the right by one spline. I
wasn't able to go any further anyway, due to the diagonal guides sticking up on the steering binnacle.

The steering wheel is now much more central on the binnacle, and when letting go of the wheel the car feels nice and true in the straight line
I can only assume that the slight wondering previously was due to the play in the lower steering shaft previous so no need for additional tracking.

Thank you again