Coming out of a turn, is the steering wheel supposed to "spring" back to neutral position? In all my other cars if I let the steering wheel go it returns back. In my XK8 it kinda stays where I leave it and I have to physically turn it back to come out of a turn. Is it normal for sports cars? Also, I always find a bit of oil under the car, pls take a look at the pic. I assume it has something to do with power steering. How do I fix it?

Thank you.

 

Anyone? Thanks

 

Caster setting on the upper control arms sets the amount of steering force which makes the front wheels want to center themselves. Too little caster will let the wheels wander. Too much, will push the wheel too far forward making it difficult to turn. Wide tires, corroded suspension links, etc will also stiffen the steering, making it feel less on-center.

When the car is up on stands, do the wheels turn easily side to side? What air pressure are you running. Raising the tire pressure will make the tires more responsive.

Your oil spot on the steering gear is probably sourced from one of the power steering hoses higher up into the recesses of your engine bay.

 

hmmm, that's new. Bump for someone else to see.

 

The steering is way too soft compared to all other cars, how do i adjust caster setting? I'll try to figure out where the upper control arm is. Thank you.

 

Caster is set by the fore to aft arrangement of the quarter-sized shims as they are located on the upper control arm pins relative to the A-arm hard points.

I would not simply go to an alignment shop and tell them to arbitrarily increase caster. What is your caster set at now??

After a normal turn around a traffic corner at say 25-30 mph, my car does not 'snap' back to an on-center steering position. However, the wheels and steering wheel gradually return to a near straight ahead position within a couple of yards, after which I realign to the dead ahead center if the road is straight.

Are you saying your steering wheel stays at the position of the turn?? If so, there is something else happening with your front suspension besides caster adjustment.

Also as I asked before, what is your current tire pressure? And have you tried to turn the wheels back and forth through their steering range while the car is unloaded (up on stands or a lift)?

 

I am not sure what my casters are set at, don't know how to check. Need to look into it. Tires are at 35psi. When off the ground no issues. Really my only comlaint is that steering is too soft even compared to my wife's x type. Steering wheel does come back to neutral position after a turn but very softly and slow which goes in line with soft steering feeling. I am also not sure if I need new shocks, ride is a lot bumpier compared to x type.

 

Convertibles have more chassis flex, which sometimes seems like the car is 'bouncier'. Shocks are usually good for at least 100K.

 

I am at 70k so should be ok for now, wish there was an easy way to test. Thanks.

 

Sounds like you have 2 issues: Steering wheel not returning back to center and Bumpy ride.

My steering wheel does return back to nearly center after turning. But, sometimes the tires will tend to follow the crown of the road.

The ride of my xk8 is only bumpy on a washboard damaged road or highway. Since it has 18 in. wheels, the ride is harsher than some other xk8's.

After driving over a bump on the road, the car bounces once, then the ride smooths out.