With the risk of sounding too finicky; yesterday was the first day our 2006 XJ8 was driven in the rain. We purchased the car in April and it is Certified with a Jag warranty. The noise sounds like a bushing or rubber type creaking. I know this seem a bit petty but my wife drives the car every day (when it's not raining) and it does seem a bit coincidental that this noise developed after wet conditions. There are no trouble lights and the noise is way more dramatic on rough roads. Could this be a case of wet rubber bushings somewhere in the suspension.

Thanks in advance,

Paul

 

Can you at least nail down whether its front, rear...left or right? Squeaky noise 'in general' is going to either get you zero responses due to lack of any specifics, or the opposite, an uber-amount of goose chases...like 'door weather seal', see my point?

I personally like videos w/ sound to aid in diagnosing. Get back with some more details if you can.

 

It
It seems to be coming from the front of the car when driven on rough roads... not large bumps, this type of driving doesn't seem to make any noise. It sounds like rubber that translates through the body itself. This is the first time it has done this after 2+ months and only after driven in the rain yesterday. There are no codes or stored codes present. I can also replicate the noise from pushing on the hood against the rubber bushings but I drove the car up the road with the initial hood latch released and the noise was still there. There is no apparent compromise in ride quality just an annoying sound like creaking rubber or what sounds like a creaky spring (referenced from an older car with weakening springs). Sorry about the generalized post but she came running in the house after leaving for work thinking there was a major problem... she is used to the silent, excellent quality ride with the emphasis on silent.

Thanks for the posting advise... hope this explanation helps,

Paul

 

much better on the details, and how u can recreate I'd does help. pushing on one corner of the front loads the shock, coil/spring, and the upper n lower shock points of connection (lower bushing n upper mount, also two pancake-style bushings for the top mount). the car being relatively newish, i'm finding it hard to believe it could be anything failing. any chance of the video w sound as u do the push-down test in the garage?

 

I'll see if I can access the car tonight as the wife has it and is working late tonight and I have appointments late this afternoon (the candle burning at opposite ends). What I meant with the hood is the hood itself rests on rubber grommets/bushings and I can make/replicate the type of noise there (dampish rubber on metal?). I was unable to load the shocks by pushing on the front or enough to make any noises appear. It just makes it while driving on rough roads not bumpy ones.

Thanks for the reply and I'll see if I can post a video sometime in the near future...thanks again,

Paul

 

I wanted to give an update/resolution to the noise issue I wrote about earlier in the week (didn't want to simply write to complain). The car is silent/quiet and the noise stopped after driving 40+/- miles to and from work. Probably the threat of being videoed intimidated poor jaggy into keeping quiet. Seriously though, it seems like the rubber bushings were damp and the noise reverberated through the body into a dramatic "new" noise... all quiet and thanks to those who responded.

 

insult jaggy by call her 'squeaky' and see if she behaves. keep in touch!

 

This is an X350 with air suspension and air springs. No shocks like on the X308 or XK8 and the mounting scheme is different than an XK8 or 308. Very different suspension.

Past that, I can only go by what you are describing with the hood bumpers. There are 4 bumpers, two each side. These are notoriously adjusted improperly and, if the hood was flapping in the lock because of bumpers adjusted too low, that could make a heck of a metalic crunching sound.

It sounds like your problem went away when the dampness stopped?? Magically?? Hoepfulle it won't come back when it rains again, but if so, come back to the table here and we'll get the hood bumpers adjusted correctly, then go from there.

 

This sounds encouraging... the hood bumpers made the noise to the T. I'm quite curious to see if the noise comes back after the rain because I can not stand a problem that resolves without discovering a cause... the bigger problem now might be to get her to drive the car in the rain... as I rationalize this with her by pointing out the wipers and the car was intended to be driven in the rain

 

Try wetting the bumpers and see if the noise comes back.

 

Is there a place here to upload a video or does it have to be a youtube type link? The sound is back and I have two short clips to upload...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Odo7pQdLac

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shT-ybPVNMY

This noise doesn't come from the suspension when going over a bump but seems to be coming through the body. The car drives straight and smooth but this noise is anoying. Smoth roads are fine bumpy roads are fine it's just rough roads where the surface isn't smooth.

 

you can also upload your videos to photobucket.com, with a free registration process, I think 2min max per vid is the upload limit. and, its more 'private' you tube is just so very public!

Anyway, let me and a few others take a listen to the vids.

 

I can't discern any obvious squeaks, i'm trying to listen for a wet rubber sound. Is the noise you're referencing the small, but frequent 'bops'? Or, is it that high pitch noise towards the end of video 002.avi?

 

It's the sound that's persent throughout the clip(s) (bop's) it sounds a bit different in the video than it does in person (wet rubber)... like a creaking rocking chair...lol As I mentioned, it seems to be coming from the body on rough roads as the car/suspension doesn't seem to have a problem with bumps... it sound like a creaky rocker that grandma might sit in that drives a person nuts...

 

Can you ascertain is it 100% coming from the engine bay, outside of the cabin itself and beyond the dash?

 

Definitely beyond the cabin and dash… it seems like it’s coming from the front wheel area possibly in the wheel bay or there about…

 

Well, steve is more of an expert on that suspension, though that bumpity bump noise sounds very much like mine when the lower shock bushing deteriorated and it was bouncing on the mounting bolt...but again, totally different suspension, so i'll wait for steve to take a listen.

If you want, I can at least send over a diagram of the front suspension from my JTIS...

 

It would be much appreciated... I'll PM you with my email...

Thanks for your time and help,

Paul

 

1. Bought used from dealer? Select edition? Have dealer check. Was a wheel replaced. Pothole damage that is showing up a year or 2 later? Something stuck in bushing, pebble, etc??

 

Paul, my documents are HUGE (like 20MB), could not email them to you. I'll try an upload to another site and send you the links. Sorry for the delay.