I'm not sure, but if a lot of our S-Types have recently developed this problem (probably due to age more than millage) then I'd expect there probably is a shortage right now. I didn't even ask when I called around because I decided I can live with the noise once I was told the price of the repair.

Mike,

You are correct. For me, it essentially comes down to a value judgment. For my wife, it comes down to which vehicle she prefers to drive. Over the summer she's been spending more time in her Lexus RX330 SUV and less time in her S-Type. Since her vehicle often doubles as her mobile office, the Lexus gives her more storage and hauling capacity and a better overall working environment. She also prefers its all-wheel-drive capability during periods of inclement weather, be it rain or snow. She's still willing to take the S-Type back and forth on her solo Tampa trips to visit her elderly parents since it is more comfortable as a highway cruiser and gets much better gas mileage, but keeping our S-Type exclusively for those 6 or 7 trips per year will be very difficult for me to justify from a cost-of-ownership perspective. So I have some economic analysis to do and then a decision to make in the next month or so....

Always present in the back of my mind is that my 11.5-year-old Dodge Ram and her 6-year-old Lexus RX330 rarely require any maintenance beyond their routine oil & filter changes and tire rotations. Our S-Type is a different story - look at the repairs it has required in the 20 months we have owned it. Granted, most of the major expenses occured while the car was still under factory warranty, but I just don't see the issues settling down and becoming non-factors for the bulk of the life of this car in our household....

NOW you guys pipe up .... I guess I missed all of this 2 months ago when I was trying to make up my mind about these cars.

I intentionally sought out an older one of these with 50K+ miles on it but with fresh tires & brakes & service to see what the car was like to drive. I didn't notice any issues like these and the car sounded & felt very tight. It spent most of it's life in Maryland so it wasn't a cream puff environment.

It's not very likely that I'm going to hear a diff whine in the next 11 months after which my warranty will have expired.

Instead of going the Jag route for a new diff has anyone invesigated an aftermarket substitution that would give you some limited slip capability?

Maybe a Torsen unit or something that might also solve the issues with the factory one?

Should I put in a top grade lubricant now in an effort to prevent this?

Does this diff need a cooler added?

Bob S.

Bob,

I'm not piping up out of the blue. I'm just changing my mind about the overall build quality of these cars. I don't believe it is as good as I believed up until a couple of months ago. Sorry....

Bob, I know a lot of people have been trying to find solutions for our lack of an LSD. So far, I don't think anyone has made any progress.

From what I was told by Jaguar, the new axle and diff are completly different from the old ones. It's a whole new design. It still isn't a LSD. Now with having both old and re-designed axles, there may never be a solution for the lack of a LSD.

Also, my axle has had numerous problems since I bought the car. It has developed several leaks and the seal and cover had to be replaced twice. Then it developed a leak around the output shaft (a $400 fix because my warranty had just ran out). All these problems are probably why Jag re-designed them totally and aren't even wanting to find ways to fix the "whine" problem.

You guys are making me feel like I bought the last ticket on the Titanic and now the iceberg is looming large in the wheelhouse.
Either my timing really sucks or there just a few of you guys with really bad luck.

Of course I knew mine had one broken headlamp when I bought it and now at least Brutal has made me feel like if it happens again outside of warranty I can fix it easily.

But I also had the MAF replaced within a week. At 15K miles? Very wierd.
I don't know if it was really bad or the it's the way Jag has designed their fuel systems so that there's very little tolerance for component variations?

I also have to go back for the power steering shudder thing. No noises as yet.

In a month I'll be taking a weeks vacation Montreal to Quebec City tour with the car so I'd like to have the n i g gling things resolved.

I haven't read here about a decent explanation for why these diff failures are occuring. It's in all engine sizes too.

Some kind of a manufacturing alignment issue?

Heat?

Bob S.

They could be backordered since the problem also affects the current model XKs. The delay on my car was attributed to a redesign of the differential. Based on what I've read you can drive the car for an extended time as long as you monitor the situation.

There have been very very few issues with the diff on all the S-Type forums (I monitor 4). I get the impression it affects 2005+ but there have been so few I'm unsure. I understand jag have changed supplier since the problem surfaced but whether because of the problem I don't know.

I see mention of this diff as being used in the latest XK series but I thought those have the electrically locking diff? Is that a very recent change to the XK?

Bob S.

Bob,

As far as I know the electronic locking diff was new for 2010 for the XKs. The 2007-2009s most likely had the same design as the S-Type. You may want to check with your Jaguar dealer to confirm though.

Mike

So it sounds like this might be an issue for the later S-Types? It sure would be nice to get an insiders story about what the issue is. A bad production run oe heat or what?

If I cant prevent it I'd sure like to as I expect my warranty will expire before the diff possibly does. I think a replacement of the oil with the apropriate Redline product might be good insurance.

Bob S.

Hello, I realize this topic is somewhat beat to death but...After SIX WEEKS of sitting at the dealer waiting for parts I finally got my car back with the new differential unit. They had to replace the differential assembly, driveshaft and both half shafts. The car is significantly quieter on the highway now, it made a huge difference.

My car is under select edition and they covered everything with the differential. Since I had some other maintenance work done while the car was there I got to see the receipt for the differential work. That part came to $2200, just an FYI for the person that said their dealer shot them a price of $4000.

Thanks for the followup post!

That price is just for the diff or all the parts involved?
Did the dealer ever expalin what's been happeneing with these?

I have an 05 STR with 15.5K miles and my select edition will expire in 10 months so I may not be covered if this problem ever shows up.

How many miles are on your car?

Bob S.

Bob,

My impression is that it is a design issue. I had my differential replaced about a year ago under warranty and the reason for the delay in my case was that the differential was redesigned. I'm kind of curious why wally had to wait six weeks unless the differential was redesigned again. More likely it was a case of JIT. The part is ordered when Jaguar needs it, not you.

Mike

I've heard that but that's a very general description. Technically, every problem is a potential design issue. I'm hoping to learn more details to assess whether this may become an issue for my car and/or if there's something I can do to prevent this.

Bob S.

Bob,

I'm assuming that for all parts and labor. I only saw the "bill" for a couple seconds, my copy just says n/c for all line items. I was talking to the service advisor about extended warranties and he said "look, this repair would have cost you $2200 if you didn't have one" and flashed the bill in front of me. This brings up another point that it may have been their cost on the items since it was some sort of internal bill.

My car has 45K miles on it.

Later,
Walt

I have this noise! Thank GOD I have the Total Care Easy Care....
2006 Stype 3.0 sport 89000km