I bought my car 4 years ago with 14K on it and in wonderful condition.

I did run the speed up a bit on the way home from Atlanta so maybe 110 for a burst once in a while.

As I settled into the normal dreary driving here in the greater NYC area I began to notice that anytime I hit a short burst of 90 (so easy to do) then as I backed off I would get a humming drone sound out of the car until it went back down to 80.

I thought maybe a tire balance or tread issue was the reason but it happens so infrequently because basically you cannot drive over 80 here or risk being slapped severely.

Last fall I got 4 mew Continental DW tires and as they were new they were so much better in response, noise and grip.

But I still have that GD drone. I actually feel absolutely nothing.

There's very little reason for me to have driveshaft issues or even differential issues on a car with only 40K miles unless ... this is a known defect.

So all you swamis of the cat what typical problem does this remind you of?

 

In May 2009, a former S-Type owner here reported a similar rear-end whine in his 2005 S-Type 3.0. It only showed up at certain highway speeds, perhaps 60 to 70 mph. The fix turned out to be a new axle assembly and axle housing bushing. His car was still under warranty at the time so Jaguar paid 100% for the repairs. If this is indeed your issue, it could be pricey....

The Jaguar documentation covering this issue is TSB 205003....

Years ago I had a dealer S-Type loaner car that suffered from this whine issue. It was indeed very annoying....

 

That may be what was ST205-0032 now JTB00053v2.pdf:

 

Whine is not how I would describe it , at least until I have to pay for it!

Groan is more apt.

 

Maybe a U/J?

 

This noise happens only when you let off after going above 80mph.

I haven't and probably won't try it much above 90 but as soon as you put the gas back on it's gone.

Thinking a bit about this it just might be in the diff.
I guess I better have a test above 100. That's not going to be that easy.
The roads are crowded here and folks DO use their cell phones.
We live in a police state here.

 

If it's the diff I've seen posts saying it will last a long time. I guess it would gradually get worse, though.

Doesn't sound worth getting a ticket!

 

I don't think I'd repair it. I'd probably go the LSD route. I'm not sure it would even be all that much more money than a dealer repair? I have a somewhat local shop who's done custom diff work for me in the past on my race car and another car so I know he could handle the LSD conversion that's been successfully implemented on here.