Hi guys (and gals):

new member here in the Pacific Northwest. Still very proud owner of a 1999 VandenPlas which I literally drove out of the showroom when I bought her new. That was in the time of internet riches where everyone was making money in the stockmarket. Bought it cash back then, no way I could do that these days anymore!
So far she has fewer than 50,000 miles and I have loved every single one of them. Never had any major problems... (apart from an upper radiator coolant hose that burst a couple of years ago - and that was more annoying than major)

Now for my (her) problem.... For the last 15000 miles (i.e. 4-5 years!) I've had this strange "clunking" noise come from the area of the steering column when driving over little (and big) bumps and the usual turtles (those road reflectors). It doens't happen ALL the time. It's a noise that sounds like the steering column or something else steering related is loose.
Does not make any difference whether I'm accellerating, braking or coasting. Left and right turns while driving over a bump make no appreciable difference, either. It clearly seems to come from the area of the steering column, although I know that sounds often have a strange way of masking their true origins.

Over the years I've had 3 different Jaguar mechanics look at it and they all acknowledged they heard the noise. They all checked the nuts and bolts but all said everything steering-related is tight and not to worry about the sound. It hasn't gotten worse over the years but is still disconcerting nonetheless. I've searched this forum to see if anyone else has reported something like this. But found nothing...

Does this problem sound (no pun intended) familiar to anyone?

Thanks,
Richard