Hello everyone. I need some help please. My ’14 XK Touring (NA engine) has 55K miles. It recently developed an unpleasant, fairly loud droning noise that comes on at about 50 MPH and gets worse up to about 75+ MPH. It is bad enough that Mrs. WVChris, who doesn’t pay much attention to such things, remarked on it unprompted, ruling out my basal paranoia.

This noise came on abruptly last month during a 1300 mile road trip following a stop after driving about 300 miles, and has been doing it since. There was no other precipitating event such as hitting a pothole.

The noise is not correlated with engine speed inasmuch as I don’t get the noise at similar RPMs (like 2000-2300 rpm) in lower gears and lower speeds.

All handling and performance seems unaffected.

All tires look fine with no unusual wear and good tread depth. I replaced the rear tires in July. Fronts still have 6+mm.

Engine temp is fine using Cabrio Bob's ashtray unit. Early on during my ownership (~ 3yrs) I was concerned about losing collant, but that seemed to be more paranoia than reality.

No codes using TorquePro.

Initially I thought is was exhaust noise and was trying to figure out if the butterfly valves in the muffler were at fault, but yesterday the idea of wheel bearing bubbled up into my brain. There is no clicking, ticking, or grinding, and it isn’t really whining. Like I indicated, more a drone than a whine. Or a loud unpleasant exhaust note.

I’ve searched the forum for wheel bearing and not seen a lot, so maybe that suggests I’m off base.

I’m having it looked at by my indie but can’t get it in ‘til the end of the month. I believe I’ve got his only Jag – he specializes in VW/Audi - so I want to bring along some input from the group when I take it in.

Thanks in advance.

 

Wheel bearing noise is completely dependent on vehicle speed. The noise will become louder and higher pitched the faster you travel. Then eventually, the entire wheel and hub will depart the vehicle at a rapid pace.

 

If you have a jack, lift the suspected wheel up off the ground Grab the wheel @ 12 and 6 o'clock (no need to remove the tire) and wiggle back and forth. There should be no movement. No as in none. If you get a little, it's probable the bearing could be starting to wear. Bearing wear is also more pronounced when cornering.

Since you have the wheel up, grab the wheel at 3 and 9 O'clock. Wiggle back and forth - if you have movement, suspect the tie rods or ball joint. Though these don't typically cause droning, just worth checking since it's on a jack.

I'd be surprised @ 55k miles but you never know

 

I'd go with "likely/probably."
I'd also approach it, and ask advice, from the other angle: given what you've described....what else could it be?
- it's a sound that occurs when the car is in motion. It's happening all the time, under the same circumstances, so much so that you're specific about the symptoms.
- you've eliminated engine/transmission.
- possibly, though unlikely, it's a differential issue.
But if it isn't the diff... then what is it?

Be careful. Sometimes wheel bearings go slowly,sometimes not. (And slow speeds only until you get it looked at, the less driving the better.) If you don't have access to a lift, another test, though not as conclusive: go to a deserted parking garage, or late night (no other car noises). Windows open, drive slowly up a few levels, then back down. Typically when you go up, you're turning left all the time, and of course the opposite when you go back down. Bad bearings tend to be noisier in a curve. Empty garages are the best because they're so echoey. Yes it's below the "moaning" speed you mention, but you might hear a light metallic sliding/scraping that you wouldn't notice on the street with the windows up. That's a wheel bearing.

 

Check the plastic undershield and the centre heatshield beneath the transmission tunnel are secure. If either are loose they can set up a droning noise.

Graham

 

Thnx to all. Yeah I am not in love with the wheel bearing hypothesis, so I appreciate other suggestions/ideas. I did jack the wheels and gave them a tug. Not feeling any play in the 12 and 6 direction. So that, with the low mileage kind of argues against. Some very slight movement in the tug at the 3 and 9 positions. Will check the shields.

I know that failing wheel bearings result in dangerous driving conditions, so the car is parked until either I get it to the mechanic or I come up with a better diagnosis.

 

Did you SPIN the wheel? That's when you discover bad bearings. You would hear the slightest grinding. Sometimes horrible grinding, so bad you could feel it through the tire.

 

To diagnose a bad wheel bearing...

When you're at the speed you hear it, gently swerve left and right. It doesn't need to be an "oh ****" swerve... just enough to where you feel it in your ribs against the seat. If you swerve left and the noise goes away, the bad bearing is on the left (you just took load off it). If it gets louder when you swerve left, it's on the right (you just increased the load on it). Same thing, but opposite when swerving to the right.

To determine if it's front or rear, you'll need to jack that side up to check for noise and/or looseness of the wheel. For the noise part, do spin it, but do so with a coil of the spring pinched between two fingers; you'll feel a vibration if the bearing is bad. Alternately, you can use an automotive stethoscope but if you haven't used one before, you may not know what to listen for as you'll be able to hear EVERYTHING. For the looseness part, I generally put my hands at 10 and 2 on the wheel and gently pull and push on the wheel. Same thing at 9 and 3. If it's loose, you'll feel it. You can also check for movement if you have someone else gently wiggle it while you spread your fingers out so you can touch the tire and something inboard of the wheel bearing (suspension arm, fender liner, fender lip, ect). If there's any movement, you'll feel it.

OEM bearings aren't expensive. jaguarparts.com is where I get all my stuff. The front wheel bearing could be replaced in about 30-45 minutes in your garage. The rear will require the removal of the rear spindle and a press to R&R the bearing. The shops around here charge about $30 to do the pressing part. However- put the bushing bolts back in, but don't tighten them with the car up in the air. Reason: The suspension is at full droop with the car in the air and if you tighten the bushing bolts here, the bushings will be under torsional load when the car's on the wheels. Bushings wear out REALLY quickly if you tighten the bolts while it's in the air.

 

At 55K, I doubt its a bearing, I have had tires that really droned at 55K. Pirellis were the worst, but many makes will be noisy at this age. I had an 04 XJ8 with Pirelli P7s that sounded like every wheel had a bad bearing!

 

Mandrake the rear wheel bearings are a bolt in no press required however plenty of penetration spray to loosen up the half shaft

 

I had a rear go out at 57k.

No sir, you are wrong. When I did mine, I most certainly had to have them pressed. It's the front that's bolt in.

 

Right rear, if I remember correctly. Made an awful sound.

 

4.2 version bolt up

5.0 press in

 

That was the one. I did both out of precaution. I got the car at 56k and the fronts had already been done, too.

 

Starting to think the 5.0 is a press in job if both ceejay and mandrake both have 5.0 .

​​​​​​Guess we're lucky with the early generation then

 

Look guy, I'm not going to bullshit around with screen shots. I know what I saw, and I'm not a retard. But since you want to argue,

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2009-Jaguar...edirect=mobile

 

Before you jump the gun and bite my head off refer to post #13 and #15

I'm agreeing with you mandrake 5.0 press in/ 4.2 bolt up
​​​​​​

 

No one was having an arguement. It read like a discussion to me, exchanging ideas and experience to reach an understanding before you decided to take it as an attack on your eyesight and IQ.

Relax - this isn't the F-Type forum.

Graham

 

Yeeaah, its these knee jerk responses that make this less fun. Thanks @GGG for pulling this back into line.
And for yet another ding against getting an F-Type.

 

remove the front rotors and spin the hub, if it’s anything other than perfectly smooth you need to change them.

my fronts with 210k needed a 10 ton press to come out. i got a hub from a corrosion free brembo knuckle i was stripping and it fell straight out