I have recently picked up a 2015 F Type R coupe. It is specced with everything for that model year, including the orange peel paint finish.

When taken to speeds above 95mph it squeals. Loudly. It sounds almost electrical like a high pitched buzzer but it is not regular. Imagine what a Boy Scout whistle would sound like if it was being blown hard so it wobbles and changes pitch slightly. There is no drop in performance or any noticeable effects on the car except for the very loud squealing noise. It comes from the front of the car, and sounds like it is inside the cabin where the windscreen meets the bulkhead.

It doesn't do it on a rolling road test so I don't think it is a belt squealing. I can't rule out the ceramic brakes because only the rear wheels were moving during that test (I don't have a 4WD rolling road nearby). The slight variation/wobbling in the pitch and the need for it to actually be moving fits with it possibly being wind noise.

The various plastic trim bits around the front of the car have been checked to make sure they are all fitted correctly. The windscreen wipers have been operated with no change in the noise. What can be seen of the belts and pulleys have been inspected and appear to be fine.

The selected gear, engine speed, and whether the brakes are being applied or not does not make any difference to the squealing noise. The only common factor so far is the actual speed of the vehicle. The noise will start at exactly 95mph on the digital speedo and continues unchanged if accelerated above that, and ceases immediately when it drops below 95mph.

The car has been hooked up to the Jaguar SDD system and no relevant diagnostic codes are logged. I can see nothing related on TOPIx either for this vehicle.

I am going to get it looked at under warranty but would like to be able to provide something to the dealer to go on otherwise I fear I will just get the car handed back to me as is. Has anyone on this forum had a similar issue with their car?

With regards,
Dave

 

Probably stating the obvious, but it seems like its a wind noise, perhaps a loose license plate, or even hose or wires under the hood vibrating due to the wind at over 95 mph..
How about around the mirrors or has the body been 'wrapped' and wind is catching it.. or, something around the windscreen?
Lawrence.

 

I've mentioned before that I hear a whistling noise when the top is down at speeds above 60mph. It's not too bad on mine, and seems to be from the right side view mirror. I couldn't find the source.

 

Thanks for the replies.

I agree it does sound like wind noise, however to me that doesn't seem possible given it makes the noise on a rolling road where the vehicle is not actually moving? There were large fans in front of the car directed at the radiator grill, but they were constantly on at all speeds and the noise only occurs the moment the digital speedo ticks over to 95mph, and it remains present until the moment it drops below 95mph, regardless of the speed reached (we took it up to 120mph).

I did some more testing yesterday by removing most of the instrument panel/dashboard assemblies like the screen, speakers and vents, and reproducing the conditions again. The noise sounds like it is coming from directly beneath the solar sensor area on the dash which, I think, puts it inside the evaporator/heater housing. I have not yet removed the instrument panel/dashboard itself.

I have thought about the sound itself as my whilstling description above is not the best. Instead think of the sound that a simple piezoelectric buzzer makes. It is almost a constant pitch but with a very small wobbling to it. (Think of the noise it makes when you make a mistake on the Operation board game, although the noise in my car is much louder.) It does sound exactly like a piezo buzzer. In fact the first time I heard it on the road I thought maybe it was a tracker or insurance device left over from the previous owner that emitted an over-speed warning tone.

Referring to the electrical schematics for the X152 on TOPIx the position sounds like somewhere approximate 10cm under connector C2H415, which would place it towards the rear of the evaporator housing but just on the inside of the chassis bulkhead. I have attached an image to show the area on a LHD car.

 

That might be the vibrating AC lines that others have reported. Does the noise only occur over 95 mph, or does it also occur in other gears over 2600 rpm?

 

It only occurs over 95mph, the selected gear and engine rpm doesn't seem to make any difference that I can hear. I'm going to get it back on the rolling road tomorrow lunch time and see if I can pinpoint it now most of the interior trim has been removed. Last time the car was complete which made it difficult to pinpoint so hopefully that will make it a bit easier to locate the cause.

 

Today I took her out for her first propper road trip since I got the car and the squeal has gone. I drove on public roads so I had very few chances to safely reach 95mph except the motorway but despite it being reproducable 100% of the time last week today it did not make a single squeal.

I'm not sure what to make of that. I did find a tracker left in the car yesterday which I removed but it was still squealing afterwards. All I can think is that it was something else attached to the device I removed that had its own battery that has now drained? There was another wire coming out of it that I couldn't trace because it went up above the passenger airbag and I didn't want to go poking around up there so I just unplugged it from the tracker and left it in place. I'm hoping that was it. I don't like it when noises resolve themselves like this because I'm never sure that they won't return again.

One thing the trip did teach me though is... my god... the acceleration on this thing is bordering on criminally insane. I'm going to have to use the speed limiter a lot. I have the last generation XJR which hardly slow but the F Type R feels so much quicker. It feels quicker at slower speed too which makes it more fun to drive on 40-60mph roads, whereas the XJR feels like 60mph no matter what speed as it is so smooth. You don't need to drive it fast to enjoy driving it. I feel I am going to be putting a lot of miles on this car just for the hell of it.

Now the squeal has gone my only remaining gripe with the car is that is is so loud to start from cold. I'm too embarassed to take it anywhere where I'll be leaving late at night because I'll wake people up. I do wish they had a 'quiet button' for times when you don't want the whole neighbourhood to know you drive a rocket ship.

Of course I am looking forward to using the active exhaust when driving through my first tunnel though. It's ok to be a big kid sometimes...

 

Tracker?

 

I didn't want to ask.

 

Trackers are a GPS/GSM/UHF device that reports the vehicle's location if it gets stolen so the police can hopefully recover it before it is either broken up for parts for exported from the country. Some insurance companies require them to be fitted to vehicles, so I guess the previous owner had one fitted for that reason. It wasn't one fitted from the factory as the wiring harnesses had been poorly spliced to fit it (which I repaired).

I assumed the extra wire I couldn't trace was an antenna cable as it looked to be coax, but it might have been for something else. The tracker was a Cobra AT 2216 and Cobra appear to make over speed warning devices too so I'm betting there is one of those in the vehicle too that is now not working because its backup battery has been removed.

 

Lojack?

 

Yes, the same sort of thing.