First off I want to thank everyone for their informative posts concerning our cars. This site has helped me out a lot already!

I just traded my 03 Cadillac DTS for an 02 Jag X Type 2.5. So far, I'm pretty happy with my trade but I do have a few concerns.

One thing the previous owner failed to mention was the amount of rust it has. There is a little bubbling by the rear quarter panel but underneath close to the doors is very unpleasant.

On the bright side, there are no warning lights on, no CEL or anything. It runs beautifully and shifts perfect at 153k miles. My two compaints are when I'm driving down the interstate it feels as if the rear end is swaying back and forth and it's almost scary. The sway bar appears to be "ok" so I'm not totally sure what else to look for. Secondly, on the front driver side, when I hit a small bump it sounds like someone hit the underside of my car with a hammer. If I can manage to fix those two issues I will be satisfied. Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

 

Welcome to the forums. As you are finding out there is a wealth of knowledge on here and a lot of friendly people willing to help.

As for your issue in the rear, chances are you need rear lower control arms at a minimum. How is the tire wear? Are the tops of the tires canted in toward the car? The car is 13 model years old with a lot of miles. Probably need the sway bar bushing and link ends replaced. I just had that done to my car this past week as I was starting to get an occasional clunk back there. They were definitely toast. Mine is a 2005 and has almost 150,000 miles like yours. Stuff is just starting to wear out.

 

No, they are not tilted in. On my last X-Type they were tilted in badly but they're perfectly fine on my current one. I'm driving it to Chicago from South Carolina next week so I definitely have to figure out the swaying issue soon.
I was having a problem with my driver side vents blowing warm air while passenger vents were cold... My first thought was something wrong with the compressor but I added a can of freon and all is well now which is a relief considering we've been having 105 degree weather here! I look forward to talking with all of you!

 

02xjagextype, I want you to try something for me. Find a long sweeping turn (say a highway onramp), in the middle of the turn, step on the gas like you were going to pass a car (controlled please). Does the rear end feel like it is stepping out on you? If so, then your rear lower control arms are toast and they need to be replaced. the rear end feels solid during this, then I would be looking at either the rear sway bar bushings or the upper control arms.

 

What's strange is I only feel it at highway speeds... When I'm driving down the interstate (60mph+) even going straight foward, when I go over dips or bumps it sways back and forth. It's getting bad enough to where it makes me nervous being on the interstate. No unusual noises from the rear end. I will try what you said. Also, I'm not sure what arm it is that connects to the bottom ball joint possibly? The bushings on it are shot from what I can. It looks like salted roads have taken a toll on my rear suspension.

 

Does the car have the original shocks? Worn out shocks don't dampen but actually feed the bounce and keep it going longer than it should. New Bilstein shocks are about $250 for a pair and rather easy to install if you're good with a floor jack and wrenches.

 

Actually cheaper than $250. I just put Bilstein B6s on mine and they were only $184 delivered from TireRack. The regular comfort shocks were even cheaper.

 

02jagxtype, there is no "ball joint" on the rear suspension. You have a standard joint up top for the upper link and then you have 2 more joints that are very similar on the bottom. No ball joint is needed as the rear tires do not turn.

If you are seeing bad joints on the rear end, then it is most likely time to do some link replacements back there. That will almost garantee a solution to your problem. As a general rule, if you replace the upper link and the lower/forward link, this will fix most problems. Very few people have had to replace the main sway arm in the rear.

 

Hey guys!

My computer crapped out and I just now got it up and going again and wanted to log in and update everyone on the car.
I decided to go ahead and make my trip to Chicago without repairing any of the suspension and the car did great! Never had any warning lights pop up or anything on the 3,000 mile trip! I did however notice that my back wheels are pointing inward at the top of the wheel. It's not severe yet but I'd like to take care of it before it starts wearing my tires unevenly. I also have an awful steering wheel shake at almost all speeds that I have not been able to diagnose yet. The tires are in good shape, I lifted the front end off the ground and there is no play in the wheels side to side or top to bottom. Also, I still have the wonderful loud CLUNK when I hit small bumps on the road on the right front. Thanks for all your help fellas, this car has been great!

 

02jagxtype, the tires leaning in on the top may be partly due to the age of the car and the rear springs getting weak, but part of it may also be worn out bushings in the upper control arm for the rear suspension. If you look up "upper control arms" here, you will find a post where I go into a lot of detail about some options that you have. Granted, if you have some play there, that might be your noise problem too.

As for the steering wheel shake, first start with rotating the tires front to back and back to front to see if the shaking changes. If it does, then this would confirm that one of the wheels that is now on the back has a bent rim and that will need to be looked at. If that doesn't make things better, then you may still be looking at a bent rim (but 2 now) or the steering alignment is just a little off and that is causing the steering to wobble. Get an alignment and see what things look like then. I know I used to have to get an alignment about once a year or I would start to get decent wobbling in the steering.