Hello, Can anyone out there help. I have a P38 2001 Range Rover. I have a bad shake on steering wheel which only occurs when driven approximately 3/4 of a mile from cold. It shakes the steering wheel badly for about 30 seconds to a minute and then stops completely. It doesn't happen again until starting again next day. I have checked the props, renewed brake discs and brake pads, checked wheel balance etc, but still shaking badly in wheel. Please help.

 

How long have you owned the vehicle?

Have you just replaced thetires on your vehicle?

Did you renew the brake discs and pads after or before the problem?

How many miles/kilm has the vehicle done?

Is the vehicle stock standard or have any mods been done i.e. Lift, non standard tires, anything?

Seems odd that it should ONLY happen in the first .75 of a mile then not again until until cold - Does this mean if you drive it at 8.00 am for 1 hour, then park for 4.00 hours before driving off again is the result the same?

Sorry for all the questions, I'm not being pickybut anyone that may try helping you needs to know ALL the info leading up to the problem.

 

Hello Bill, Thanks for your message. Would reply to your questions as follows :
1. 4 Years.
2. Yes both front, but only to see if it got rid of the problem as someone did mention to me that it might be a faulty tyre but it made no difference at all.
3. Before the steering problem I was getting a violent shake when I started to brake hard. I took it to a mechanic and he said it needed new discs and pads which were all fitted. Then, the brakes seemed to be fine. About a month and a half later I discovered this problem with the shaking of the steering wheel. I have asked so many people and no one seems to know what it can possibly be. The props have all been taken off and checked and I was told they are fine. The vehicle has done 63,000 miles and yes it is fully standard.
One thing I have noticed, after I had the brakes fitted is that as soon as I turn on to a field and turn the wheel to the right, the traction control comes in with the clicking noise. That is something I have never had before the brakes were changed.
In answer to your question 6. - Yes it does come back, but only sometimes. I have just been out today and from home to where I was going, was about 10 miles, and I had no shake at all. I left the car for 3 hours, started it again to come home, and within half a mile the shake through the steering wheel started, but yet again, it only lasts for about 200 yards, at approximately between the speeds of 50 and 60 mph.

If you could shed any light on this problem it would be a really great help, as all mechanics seem to want to do, is keep replacing bits and that is knocking the fun out of owning the car. Thank you very much for your time.

Andy

 

Andy

One thing I forgot to ask about, haveyou checked the front steering damper?

Is the shaking violent or slight?

I'm not that familiar with the P38, (They can't be that different), about a year ago I had a bit of a problem with my steering after I had a new left hand ball joint and bearings etc replaced, there appeared to be an occaisional stiffness in the steering but only at a couple of points, 10 and 2 o'clock positions, only when vehicle was cold.

I returned to the repairer who has a very good Rover reputation in Perth, they put the vehicle on the hoist and the weight taken off the front wheels, theydropped the steering rod and the stiffness was there but only after the vehicle had cooled for a few hours.

They suggested that the short steering shaft and universal joints between the bottom of the steering column and the steering box might needto be replaced at a cost of approx $AUD400 but they couldn't say for sure if it was a fix or not, suggesting it might be wise to see if it got worse before doing this.

I went home, thought about the work done on the ball joint and bearings and concluded that the whole front end must have been steam or pressure cleaned before they had worked on it - Everything was pretty clean.

I bought a can of lanoline lube aerosol spray because I thought lanoline couldn't hurt the rubber in the universal joints mentioned above, drove the vehicle for approx 30 klm untill it warmed up then sprayed both joints with the lanoline - PROBLEM FIXED.

Cheap fix, that might be worth a try, a silicone lube might also work but I chose lanoline.

Hope this helps.