Steering Wheel Knock Noise

[AdvRide]

Well I just dropped off my LR3 this morning to have the "knock" looked at and a NAV software glitch addressed.

The tech I try to get is one of the better ones they have at this dealer. He took the TSB paper I brought with me so he could reference it when pulling the complete thing up on their system. So I hope it will be fixed.

The knocking noise is nothing that annoys me unless driving off pavement. Off road the noise is very noticeable. You can feel the slight play from side to side when on pavement and sitting still by lightly rocking the steering wheel back and forth. A loaner LR3 I had did not have this play at all.

Will update you when I pick it up.

Oh, the website I think was this one.
http://www.disco3.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3134&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

 

[AdvRide]

Well I got the service bulliten performed on the steering wheel knock. They did call me while my truck was in the shop and said that the regional Land Rover engineer or some title to that effect was in the shop and he stated that the TSB was for UK vehicles only even though my truck VIN fell into that grouping. But they said he waived it and sure enough the part that was replaced was just like the ones they are pulling in the rest of the world. Sounds like they were trying to say they were doing me a favor while the entire time it was their responsibility to replace the thing anyway. Oh well it got fixed. So if you have the same issue you certainly are due a fix it appears.

 

[bizdack]

It's funny they claimed "UK" only while the TSB says "All Markets".

 

[manoftaste]

Houm, yeah the montero was nice, i had about 50k on it when i sold it. Very well built.

And for some reason i had to re-register here again so, amir = manoftaste.

On the steering knock issue, a couple of weeks ago i had the shop foreman test drive my car with me, and i was able to re-create the noise which he acknowledged and mentioned to me about a known issue on this. Anyways, so the truck goes in for service, and a week later , there answer is that they were not able re-create the problem and the car is outside the vin range for the recall (i had emailed them the TSB number and some threads/postings from another forum regarding this). They said that they essentially would be replacing the revised part which my truck already has. Interesting enough, in the postings, one owner had the same issue with his truck with his LR3 being outside the vin range as well and his dealer did the recall for him anyway which took care of the knock. I am just not gonna worry about this anymore unless it gets worse, but it really bothers me, the noise/rattle, when i go over rough and dirt road type surfaces.

 

[manoftaste]

Update on the steering knock.

I had decided to not worry about this slight knock/rattle business which was more noticeable on the rough dirt road type surfaces. But since last few weeks I started to notice a slight play in the steering. I would notice it when I would reverse out of my garage and would have to turn the steering back and forth to manuever out of the garage. Seemed like the issue AdvRide was having. Anyways took it to the dealer and to my surprise this time they actually were able to recognize the rattle/knock and replaced the upper and lower steering columns under warranty.

So far so good and no rattel/knock/play anymore. The steering does feel a bit tight/heavy tough. I am guessing its because of the new parts and that they need to break-in. AdvRide did you feel the same when this work was done on yours?

I will take it to a dirt road in the next couple of days to check if the knock is completely gone. The truck rides much better now as far as the solid steering feel except that it only took several visits to the dealers and after 18k plus miles the issue has been addressed.

 

[Houm_WA]

Amir, who is your dealer? What part of the country do you live in? Just curious because I know a dude named Amir in my neck of the woods.

 

[nwoods]

I have had this knock also on my truck. Darned hard to duplicate on the polished road surfaces around SoCal, but oh so prevalent on the trail. I eventually convinced one of the two dealers I frequent to do the steering column TSB, and it helped, but it has not gone away altogether.

Another common cause of this is bushing wear on the lower front suspension control arms. I still need to have these bushings replaced to make the problem go away altogether. It seems that most dealers just replace the entire a-arm assemblies rather than just the bushings, because it's faster to do it that way.

I'm still trying to figure out a way to have this service done on my truck.

 

[manoftaste]

Houm_WA, i am in SoCal, and yeah amir (pronounced: Aamir, "A" is stretched like the "A" in the word Father.) is a very very common name. Growing up, I used to have several Amirs in my own social circle, school, college, etc. But i am not really a true Amir (Ameer, like the rich ones) otherwise we'd be having this conversation on the Ferrari forums

 

[manoftaste]

Spoke too soon. The knock is still there. The steering columns replacements (both upper and lower) helped but the damn knock/rattle is still there when i drive over sharp bumps. The play in the steering (loose feeling, while rocking the steering back and forth) is almost gone now.

nwoods you are right on the money, its too hard to duplicate this on the pavement, but luckily now i have found a couple of spots nearby where the knock happens every time. So i will take the beast to the dealer and test drive it with them "again". But the sevice peeps have been really helpful.

This knock/rattle is present from day one I got the truck but the steering play/looseness only developed recently. And I have not taken the truck offroad not even once yet (all highway miles). So i am wondering if the real cause of the knock (bad bushings or what not) had caused the steering play to appear in the columns, and if that is the case they better get this thing cured pronto before this damn knock/rattle plagues the new steering columns that have just been put in my truck.

FYI, it took six or seven trips to three different dealers, almost two years, and 18k plus miles on the truck, to finally get this problem recognized. And this knock has been plaguing my driving experience from day one

 

[Houm_WA]

Okay...the Amir I know lives up here in the Seattle area.