Broken steering rack - breaking my 2.5 XM estate

[endorfin]

I've had a reply back from them which seems like a fob off, copied below:

"Dear Mr D

Customer Relations Reference: ***

Thank you for your telephone call regarding ATS Rhyl and alignment work carried out to your vehicle.

I contacted the Area Operations Manager responsible for ATS Rhyl who has discussed the issue with the Technician who carried out the Alignment work to your vehicle.

When you attended the centre for the Alignment work to be carried out the Technician made you aware that when carrying out the Alignment work, this might not resolve the issues you were experiencing with your vehicle.

In these circumstances we can can only suggest that you take your vehicle for an independent report and if it is found that the problem is related to the work carried out by ATS Rhyl we will then investigate the issue further.

If you need any further information, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Yours sincerely

Judy
Customer Relations"

I took the car in because of uneven tyre wear and when he said tracking was out by 3mm I asked would this solve the problem with tyre wear and he said "it might, it might not" Absolutely nothing to do with the steering!

What should I do next?

[Dieselman]

You need to find out what the actual problem is now. It is possible that the steering being out of true and being vague is all down to worn bushes.

[endorfin]

Got an email from ATS today saying that they have consulted the area manager for Brighton who says that he cannot see how route alignment work could have caused the problems described. They say to get an independent report and if its found its related to work they've done they'll look at it again.

Not a lot else I can do. I rang the RAC who say that they don't do independent reports, and don't get involved in legal cases. They only do a visual check on cars you may be interested in buying.

Any idea where I can go for an independent inspection in the Brighton area, I've tried google and nothing has come up.

I could take it to a garage for them to check to see what the problem is but would their findings be acceptable as an independent inspection?

[Dieselman]

I could take it to a garage for them to check to see what the problem is but would their findings be acceptable as an independent inspection?

I would think it's a good starting point if something related to the work done is found, but like ATS I doubt the faults are related.

What happens if you turn the steering wheel side to side with the engine switched off, does it turn a bit then clunk, if so suspect the flexi coupling.

[Kit]

................................ I could take it to a garage for them to check to see what the problem is but would their findings be acceptable as an independent inspection?

If it is driveable, take it to the local Cit dealers, Tates in Brighton? and ask for a quote to fix the steering. That way you may know what is wrong and the more knowledgeable members of this forum will be able to advise. FWIW there is a firm, Alternative Vehicle Inspections who will act as expert witnesses in the south east, their prices are on their web site, but I would get a mechanic to look at it first so that you do not waste money.

[endorfin]

Update.

I finally got around to taking the car to a garage on Tuesday, in this case a Citroen specialist that Noz off the other forum bought one of his 2.5's.

He's had a look and says nearside inner tie bar joint is very worn allowing for quite a bit of movement in the wheel when you check for side play. Also nearside anti roll bar drop link is very worn. He's having some trouble sourcing the replacement parts quickly but they are on order.

I expected it to be something more serious than this, with the loss of steering I felt I expected it to be something much worse. Now obviously ATS couldn't have caused all the wear when making adjustments but I would have thought they would have noticed this and advised on the wear? Or exacerbated it?

He did comment on not having seen one with cream leather in this country before.

I have since bought myself a new car as I couldn't be without a car, but sitting in the XM again since has reminded me how comfortable it is. I would love to keep it but I fear I'm not mechanically qualified enough to keep up repairs that I think these cars need. I intend to get the steering sorted, put a new cam belt on it and put another 12 months MOT on it before the current one expires in September then offer it up for sale.

[XMX]

...................................
He's had a look and says nearside inner tie bar joint is very worn allowing for quite a bit of movement in the wheel when you check for side play. Also nearside anti roll bar drop link is very worn. He's having some trouble sourcing the replacement parts quickly but they are on order.

Hi Nigel,
These parts are not hard to source from a good local motor factor or even a GSF outlet, but if your stuck there's even a TIE-ROD which is the larger size which I would expect you'd be needing as its a 2.5 TD and some very reasonably priced pair of DROP-LINKS on E-bay !

BTW its seems rather strange that your brother with the garage didn't spot these simple problems BEFORE you put in into the hands of ATS, as IIRC it was the simple fact that he didn't have the the tracking equipment that you ended up going to them ?

I had to remind myself where I read THIS where you quoted (In post #3 of that thread) :-

I've had the car very well maintained, my brother runs a garage in North Wales and he did a service on it the same day

Erm ! need I say anymore other than if you cannot do your own maintenance on a Citroen XM, you really do need to find/use a good indy you can trust, IMHO by even entrusting/using you brothers services has cost you dearly as the monies you splashed out on another motor could have easily fixed the XM which you'd still been enjoying today !

So if it was me I'd get the XM sorted and flog the other motor unless its another XM, BTW what is the other motor ?

Good luck with your repair and Mot and all the best in whatever you decide to do !



XMX