Hello folks,

Driving my car up the coast last weekend, I started noticing a slight growl out of my XJ8. Then I also noticed what was like a faint catback sound when I released the accelerator. None of it bothered me but since there is no known exhaust work done on my car, question is: Do stock XJ8s growl?

Again, it doesn’t bother me, it actually sounds really good (executive/aggressive) but I’m curious. Also want to make sure it’s not transmission related or motor mount related (catback sound).

 

Morning IndyX358

My Wife says that I am "Like a man possessed" in my quest to find the growl / whine when accelerating. See my post 'Another Transmission Noise' for gory details. Most of the noise that my car was making came from the secondary air compressor and after fixing that ( Noise from front right corner post ) the car is much quieter but................I can still hear the growl. Very slight, only when accelerating and as you say it sounds a bit nice / aggressive. I was convinced that the noise comes from the TC or a thrust bearing in the gearbox but the advice of a man who knows about these things is: "Live with it".
I'll watch this post with interest to see if you get to the bottom of it.

Pete ( Still possessed )

 

Thanks Pete! My wife says I’m both possessed and obsessed 😂. Can’t blame us, these machines are a thing of limitless beauty.

I’m due for an oil change in 1000 miles so I’ll have my Jag tech check the under carriage while up in the hoist to see if there’s any sign that something was either deleted or added. I do enjoy that growl in pure honesty though. Feels like an elegant car with power (which it happens to be). The little catback sound is what I’m most interested in, not sure if it’s meant to be and if so, I’ll “live with it”. Thanks for the input again and I’ll check your posts as well. Cheers!!

 

I spoke to my learned gearbox buddy who advised me to "live with it" at the weekend and he told me to look on some of the BMW forums. Some of them use the same gearbox as the Jag and there's loads of stuff about growls and whines.
Maybe your Jag Tech can shine some light on it but I hope he knows that people worldwide are awaiting his diagnosis.

 

No pressure right?
1000 more miles before we get his findings (1000 lonnnnnng miles)

 

Gentlemen,

My 05 VDP growls and has done so since I purchased it 4 years ago. My previous 2 XJ8's did not. It sounds like a combination of exhaust noise and induction noise. Perhaps more audible due to the deterioration of firewall soundproofing, the repair of which I seem to keep putting off. No other drivetrain noises.

 

Hello Miami Jags
You May be ok to something as well. I’ll check up on that when she’s up on the hoist. Thank you!

 

My previous X350 didn't do it either. As you say It sounds like induction or exhaust, ease off the throttle and it goes away. I keep convincing myself that I've found it but I take it for a test drive and...................it's still there .Still leaning towards transmission but I'm thinking of taking up transcendental meditation so that I can stop thinking about it, block it out and just enjoy the car
Maybe because the car is so quiet that any noise is apparent

 

Check you Center drive bearing
Its mostly damaged.

 

Pleas elaborate....

 

I am sorry.

Its the propshaft drive bearing. It get damaged alot and you cant buy the bearing it self. you have to buy the full propshaft drive and its expensive.

But you can buy it aftermarket and install it in a mechanic shop that owns a hydraulic pressing machine.

This how the part looks like, i recommend checking the bearing before doing any fixes: