I have always loved Superchargers....the MINI has one too...heck I would put one on my bicycle but it would just mean I am wheezing twice as much.

Enjoy....hope you get 'the buzz' figured out soon.

cheers,

jj

 

Skid;

Silver is a grand and classy color on the XK's, the first one I looked at was silver and I nearly bought it before I realized it was too early in the production models, 2001, for someone as ham fisted with a wrench as I am.

Besides I already have a silver Volvo, 60% of all cars in Sweden are Silver, and had always wanted something in this Silver Blue color I have if I couldn't find an XKR in Titanium.

I just wanted the power of the XKR to remind me of how my college red XK150 felt without the expense of one and the technical limitations of a 50 year old car....albeit beautiful.

Just to double check that I rented an XK150 last summer in the south of England for three days with my brother....and as pretty and nostalgic as that was....I was surprised and disappointed to see that any econo box or white van on the road could keep up with it either on the motorway or the country lanes....sometimes the memories are better.

cheers,

jj

 

Spent 10 days in Las Vegas over the Holidays. Drove my XK8 up from Tucson. While there I went to Gaudin Jaguar with the buzzing complaint. They spent some time and identified the sound as coming from the driveshaft but also noted the motor and transmission mounts were shot. Transmission mount was so bad that there was noticeable sag. I decided to authorize replacing all the mounts thinking that maybe a sagging transmission could cause enough misalignment in the driveshaft to cause the buzz. After the repairs this was not the case. It is still buzzing between 40 and 50 MPH (in top gear). We didn't have time to verify it by swapping the driveshaft out before I had to head back to Tucson. Now that I'm home, I see my extended warranty would cover the driveshaft, u-joints and such, but these warranty companies can be such PITAs (not covering diagnosis time, dragging their feet, etc) I'd like to see if anyone has verified the source of the buzz.

Anyone?

 

Have you found the cause?

 

I tried replacing my drive shaft with one that had 26k miles on it and it buzzed too. In fact it buzzes more than my origional one. This week I'm having my origional one put back in, along with a new flex plate and some sound insulation in the aft part of the shaft. If that reduces the noise to a tolerable level, I'm going to run with that for a while.

If it's still noisy, then we're going to open the inspection plate for the torque converter mounting bolts, and check the torque on those. If they've been loose, that could be causing some of the problem.

 

I found that putting the transmission in sport mode will eliminated the buzzing noise if the problem is the torque converter. You can also see if the noise goes away if and when you letup on the accelerator. Had you replaced the “A” drum in your trans yet? I found that prior to that drum failing I would hear a slight buzzing noise.

 

I drive in sport mode all the time, still buzzes. Yes, the noise goes away if I letup on the throttle. Not replaced the A drum or anything else in the tranny. I'm getting more than a slight buzz, it's quite loud at times, has caused the shifter to vibrate a few times.

 

Ironic you mention motor mounts. This just in from an inquiry I made to a US based ZF tranny service center:

WE HAVE HAD SOME INSTANCES OF "RATTLES" WHEN TORQUE CONVERTER LOCKUP OCCURS IN ABOUT THE SPEED RANGE YOU MENTION. SOME HAVE BEEN CURED BY CHANGING A MOTOR MOUNT THAT IS SAGGING AND LETTING THE EXHAUST SYSTEM HIT THE BODY WHEN LOCKUP OCCURS.

So I guess check all your heat shields and exhaust manifolds to make sure there's adequate clearance between them and things that might buzz. I plan to.

 

My dime is on the torque converter lockup.

 

When does it lock up? When the car's at a steady speed or some other condition?

 

Skid & Gus: Thanks very much for the follow-ups. I'm heading to the Tucson Jaguar dealer (Royal Jaguar) tomorrow and this information should be very useful.

During the initial test drive, Gaudin Jaguar's head service technician noted the buzzing did not occur in 4th, only in Drive. Unfortunately all the new mounts did not correct my problem. I will however, make sure all the clearances for head shields, manifolds, etc. will be double checked. No buzzing in 4th does seem to implicate the torque converter lockup.

Scott

 

Have you tried coasting in Neutral? Try it next time, mine buzzes almost every time coasting in neutral. It also buzzes in 4th, so we may have different problems.

 

Skid: No buzzing in neutral and only during light acceleration around 40 to 50 MPH. I think you're right, we likely have different problems. I'm with Gus on the lock-up of the torque converter. At this speed, the system may be trying to make up its mind as to which mode to be in, locked or unlocked. I think the question of whether in Sport or Granny mode is relevant as the system would change its decision points based on mode.

 

"During the initial test drive, Gaudin Jaguar's"

Gaudin's has an 05 Black XKR Coupe that they have had for about 3 months,,, Keep dropping the price,,, did you happen to see it? If so what did you notice on it? Curious why it is there for Sooo long...

 

Sorry Count, I did "see" it but didn't really look. Our visit was to family and friends. From them we've learned the local economy is really in the dumper right now. This is also a slow season for car purchases as well. From what I could see, Gaudin is a class operation. If you're interested I wouldn't hesitate to do business with them.

 

I took the car in on Monday afternoon as planned. Gave their technician a ride to demonstrate my particular version of the buzz. Had to accelerate with the brake on to get just the right load on the drivetrain for the sound to occur, but it did.

This afternoon I got a call from the service rep to provide an update. He told me they eliminated the WHEEL BEARINGS as a source of the noise today. I was incredulous and asked him if he was talking about my car. He said he was and they were having trouble duplicating the sound except on a certain hill in their area and that traffic was making it difficult.

I then suggested they give their counterparts up at Gaudin Jaguar in Las Vegas a call as they had figured out a way to duplicate the problem on the lift. They guy was clearly reluctant to call, claiming they don't typically get much cooperation from others in the industry.

Maybe I'm spoiled by all the good will on this forum, but right now I'm very disappointed in what should be premium service from a Jaguar dealer!

 

Call Gaudin Jaguar and ask them to make the call.

 

Good idea - first thing in the AM!

 

"Call Gaudin Jaguar and ask them to make the call."

"They guy was clearly reluctant to call, claiming they don't typically get much cooperation from others in the industry."

A bitchslap in Super slow motion - YouTube

I quess that says it all,,, Tell the service guy after,,, you know where you're taking your car next time...

Call Gaudin in the AM absolutely...

 

Thanks for the 'Slap' video. It started my morning with a laugh.

Called the service manager at Royal and have escalated this issue. Will keep y'all posted.

Scott