My steering wheel tilts but doesn't telescope I can hear it grinding though. Any ideas?

 

Get a new motor for the telescoping feature. Mine does the same thing but it's not a big deal to me since I am 6'1.
Motors are not cheap though, so I would say try and find a junk yard or something.

 

I don't really need it, but it will be nice if it worked..

 

I'm in the same boat as you. Not needed but would be nice to have. I would suggest switching your setting to OFF instead of AUTO so you can save the tilt wheel motor (as well as your seat motor).

If I come across the money to fix it, after I have fixed a few other things, I will try and replace the motor. Until then, not a priority.

 

The motor will be fine because thats what you hear turning. It's the drive cable that snaps. I bought a drive cable from holland but its way too short. However, it's a half hour job to adjust the wheel to your desired position and just leave it at that. To adjust you need to remove the panel under the steering column - 4 screws. Unplug the wiring to the little fan and sensor that has something to do with the climate control and now would be a good time to clean the fluff that colects around the sensor.
Next unplug the 4(?) connections to indicators etc and make a note of where they all fit together. After that undo the two 13mm(?) nuts that hold the steering column to the dash and then use a long screw driver to lever the two bolts on the column away from their dash supports and the column will fall enough for you to cut the cable tie that keeps the wiring of the reach motor out of harms way when the wheel is brought fore and aft. Then gently prize the motor off the column as it is held in place by a u shaped clip. When the motor is swung free you can turn the spindle that adjusts the reach with your fingers. Some wd40 or other oil will make this easier. Once you have the desired position, refit everything by working your way backwards through the above.
Job done. Coventry West in USA sell the drive cable.

 

The cable is shorter but stronger. You can move the motor in the clip, it's not so important how long this cable is. In my X300 is the short cable and in 37 other X300 in Holland too.

 

Translation anyone?

 

Ok, there are two positions the motor (or clip) can be set in. With the shorter drive cable the motor and clip have to be brought towards the steering wheel into the second setting (for the clip). I didn't expect to have to do this but worked it our myself.
Yes the motor and shorter cable made the steering move in and out but there was a clicking or 'tick tick tick' sound as if the cable wasn't always engaging (because it was shorter? I also saw that the wires that the drive cable consists of unwound but perhaps - like the above photo - this is supposed to happen.
As a rough guess, the shorter cable is around 20mm shorter than the 90mm original. Perhaps Keesh can tell us how long the shorter cable is and how much the motor can be moved from the old position to the new position?
The longest section of my broken cable was longer than the new shorter cable.
To sum up, yes the short drive cable did its job in moving the steering wheel in and then out. I moved it in a touch then out to max and left it at that. The ticking noise made me leave the thing be, switch off the auto exit function and forget it. As Keesh says 37 other Jaguar drivers in Holland appear to be satisfied.

 

My cable is 76.2 mm.
When you replace the new cable, you must switch off the auto exit function, because the old memory(position) breaks the new cable. If you move the motor and the clip forward the cable is long enough. After replace the cable you must fixed the motor to the clip with a tie-wrap.

 

1997 Vanden Plas

I attempted to repair my telescoping wheel today. Put in a new Coventry West cable (was the same length and size as the old broken one).

New cable fit perfect, and I made sure it was fully engaged in both ends but not rammed together.

Put it all back together; in my case I can hear the motor (forward & reverse OK) but no wheel movement.

I'm pretty sure the only thing it can be is a broken gear reduction transfer case.

Disappointing. Anyone else ever run into a broken gear case?

One good thing- I did not have to enter a code for my radio after having the battery disconnected and it's the original Jag radio.

 

What a great informative thread - Helping to keep these great Jaguars as they should be.

Do we have a thread for Service and Maintenances fixes the link could be put in ?

 

Update:

Disappointed as I was, I studied why my telescoping column did not work after I put in the new cable.

I took it all apart again (after disconnecting the battery ground and waiting a few minutes so as to safeguard against accidental airbag deployment). First thing I did was to manually adjusted out the steering wheel... with my fingers & a rag and or a small crescent wrench) so I could drive the car more comfortably. (The wheel was all the way IN before, which was extremely uncomfortable for me...I'm 6'4"!!).

Next, I popped out the motor; like I said in my last thread, it worked but did not engage. I was first going to remove the motor gear housing for inspection, but did not have the right hex wrench. So instead, I inserted the new cable (from Coventry West...it's an exact duplicate of the original including length and high quality), and proceeded to carefully turn it to see if I could get the motor to turn. It did! great... no broken gearbox on the motor. Phew....

Next, I transferred the cable to the column top and engaged it into its spot in the in & out actuating nut. OK, it would turn the nut if I turned it manually with my hand. Great!! And the nylon insert appeared fine and did not allow any in-out movement if I pulled or pushed on the wheel as a test.

So at this point, I was convinced I had just not reassembled it correctly. I popped off the clip, which was (from Jaguar) in the rear of the two possible clip on positions. I snapped the motor back IN the clip in my hands, to see how it all should fit together. What I discovered is the motor must be pushed fully forward into the clip; the motor actually pushed onto the round cable shaft of the clip- for proper orientation.

I tried my clip in the forward of the two positions... which would have worked, but the only problem with that position is the front of the motor had insufficient clearance from the steering column support bracket (noted when I pushed the column back UP.

So, I moved my clip to the factory rear position (only about 1/4" difference) which allowed more than sufficient cable connection front and rear. I then used a cable tie (as the factory did) to hold the motor in position (....forward into the clip). When you strap it, make sure the strap does not interfere with the drive cable below the motor).

OK.... test time! Before I pushed the column back up and reassembled everything, I plugged all the column plugs back in, and also plugged in the climate control sensor fan on the loose kick plate below so I could test my work. I then reconnected the battery ground (and I do this after closing the car doors to minimize initial amperage draw).

OK.... test time...IT WORKED PERFECTLY!!!!

Next, I applied some fresh grease to the worm drive on the column top, and some on the column itself, just below and forward of that area, to insure continuous smooth operation. It works great, and is super smooth and quiet.

NOTE: I elected NOT to try the AUTO MEMORY function. I left mine off as this function (from what I've read) has lead to many a broken cable or other motor failures. Although it may indeed work fine, I'll settle for it working just fine without the auto function. My tilt function already worked fine.

The FORUM was very helpful here. Previously posted pictures, comments, and diss-assembly steps guided me well.

I also cannot say enough good things about Coventry West. Every part I've bought from them has been top-notch (new or used).

Next project: Drivers door check arm replacement (and aftermarket reinforcement plate from Coventry) as mine pulled through the door mount.

-Wayne

 

wow, my Tilt Function stopped working years ago. The telescoping feature works fine. Although I have noticed, it is starting to click once it has pulled itself back in. I just leave mine telescoped out, because when it is in the wipers don't work.