What is life like with your car? Let us know and win £500 in John Lewis vouchers | No thanks
Citroen Xsara 2.0HDI VTR - Streering issue - renllek

Im having an issue with the streeing on my 2.0HDI Xsara VTR. Before i had the issue like to point out that i had worn wheel bearings on the front passanger side that were replaced, then had the wheels reballenced an the tracking redone

The issue is this, when i brake the steering shudders from 40 to 30mph and is fine again, also when the just the left wheel hits a bump or pothole the steering wheel gets a tug but this doesnt happen when the right wheel hits a bump or pothole

Other sympoms are that it always pulls to the left, but under hard acceleration it pulls to the right

Other than that the car drives like a dream, very smooth whith no steering vibrations right up 100mph. This was just done to test to see if there was any vibrations at all, i very rarely hit the speedos indicated 80mph (75mph on the sat nav)

I have narrowed this to either a worn track rod end or a bottom ball joint on the passenger side, am i correct in thinking this or could it be something else?

Now have been looking at these two parts and have been able to find them much cheaper than the dealers price but they say they are for the 2.0HDI (90bhp) with no mention of the 2.0HDI VTR (110bhp), would the steering really be that much different between these two cars?

Citroen Xsara 2.0HDI VTR - Streering issue - Peter.N.

If it changes direction on aceleration that would suggest worn suspension bushes allowing the steering geometry to change.

If the models are basically the same I would have thought the suspension parts would be, check them on ebay.

Citroen Xsara 2.0HDI VTR - Streering issue - renllek

Ah ill have a check of them, would worn bushes have the same other symptoms that im having?

Also is it easy to see if they are worn or not or is it just of a case of cross figers and replace and hope that rectifies the problem?

Citroen Xsara 2.0HDI VTR - Streering issue - Peter.N.

Pulling to one side could indicate worn/soft bushes, get a long bar and lever against the suspension arms looking for excess movement, try the opposite side for comparison.