I'm still getting my new-to-me 2004 S-Type 3.0, so please forgive and enlighten me if this is a nothing burger. I've been driving an '84 XJ6 as my daily for the past 4 years, intermittently switching out for either my '89 XJ-S or my wife's '95 XJ6. They all have a host of sounds that are more or less normal for the car ("cowbells" on the '84 XJ6, for example) and I'm guessing the S-Type is no different but I'm hearing/feeling a *lot* more feedback from the road than I'm used to (the XJ's have that magic carpet ride) and there's a low level whining sound when my foot is on the throttle (and sometimes when the car is coasting in gear) that seems to subside when I take my foot off the pedal. At faster speeds, it either goes away or is drowned out by the rather enjoyable exhaust note.

I guess my question is: Is this a normal sound or an early warning that there's something wrong with the ZF transmission or the differential?

The car has 80k miles on it and seems generally well cared for but it's likely the previous owner didn't have every single technical service bulletin addressed.

Thanks in advance,
Rhett

 

To be honest I haven't seen much in the way of transmissions on these making a whining noise, unless it was driven on low fluid by some chance.


However I have seen quite a few diffs over the years go, since it sounds like yours is when its under slight load and goes away when letting off pedal, sounds like a classic diff whine.


Are you able to determine that its from rear of vehicle or central?


Best way is to either take it in to a dealer/repair shop, they can place on hoist, and run it up to speed you're hearing the noise and use a stethoscope to listen to diff and other components to locate the source. Have also seen some center carriers go out as well.

 

My 2002 xtype had a growl sound out of the centre carrier, differernt then this one but I fid fix it with grease injected through a needle through the rubber shields on the side of the bearing.. i am going to try that this weekend, will let you know..
David R.

 

We seem to have several threads that are similar going here

- Accelerator pedal harshness and groan/resonance at 1200rpm NZxkr
- Vibration in Accelerator Pedal daro31

 

Took the car by my mechanic who is, thankfully, incredibly patient with me. We took the car for a drive and he confirmed that the sound I'm hearing is... tire noise. I'm so used to my old XJ6's superior damping *and* it's relative lack of reliability (being 34 years old and all) that I'm hearing things I'm not used to hearing and jumping at every little nothing.

Sorry and thanks.

 

Don't feel bad. Also, you can probably get it quieter, if you want, by changing some things (size of rims, make of tyres, etc).

 

I have a set of snows, Michelins for winter and Continentals for summer, vibration at 1200 RpPM is the same with either set. Hopefully you have found your problem.

 

OP appears not to have your problem.

 

Sound is definitely annoying at between 28 to 32 MPH, particularly when the car (and tires) are cold. RPM doesn't seem to be a factor. The tires are Michelin Pilot Exacto A/S's, which review as a good, quiet all-weather performance tire. As I mentioned, I'm used to bouncing between an '84 XJ6 with Toyo Versados, which are more of a touring tire on a car with a much softer ride, or an XJ-S with Tigers Paw tires that are similarly soft.

I'm in the S.F. bay area in California, so rain, flooding and poor road surfaces are a far bigger concern than snow. I do like the somewhat sporty character of my S-Type but as a daily commuter, it's not important to have the most cutting edge performance tires. These Michelins are in good condition, so I'll keep them for awhile and direct my few monies toward more pressing issues but I am keen to know what other S-Type owners are using on your cars.

 

I have seen in the past when customers are informed the tires need to be replaced, try to go elsewhere to get cheaper tires. Then they bring it back to us complaining of a noise while driving, turns out they get tires with a more aggressive tread ( where as we had the same tire stocked that it came with from new ) , creating a whine or even rumble noise.


You get what you pay for... sometimes