Oh joy.

sitting in the Pocomoke City, MD Walmart parking lot On my way back to PA.

When I headed out about two hours ago I heard kind of a bang from the rear twice in a row. Got out of car and figured I had thrown up some rocks from the gravel road. Pulled into main road and there was a grinding scrape, pulled over again and nothing. As I drove along for 2.5 hours i heard a sound a couple of times and start thinking it may be something with rear suspension. More recently there is a definite grind / scrape. I pull into Walmart, roll down the window, definitely at left rear. Nothing visible but the rotor on that wheel definitely warmer than the others. Not red hot but warmer.

I am thinking wheel bearing but am turning to the forum for other ideas? Is there a quick way to check / confirm.

If it is the wheel bearing, something tells me this is not a parking lot repair even if the nearby Advance Auto miraculously has the part.

Guess I need to confirm how far AAA platinum will tow. As noted, I am in Pocomoke City, MD which is 185 miles from home. Any shop recommendations in this area?

Another theory as I just tried moving a few feet is something with brake or parking brake?? The noise seems more "grabby" than the consistent sound I would expect from a bearing. May need to grab a jack from Walmart.

This stinks.

Thanks.

Mike

 

Almost sounds like a stuck caliper, which would explain the sound, and the temperature difference from one to the other. Not familiar with the parking brake setup, but I suppose it's possible it could be doing the same effective job. I would think that it would affect both sides, but anything's possible.

 

Wheel bearing would be my guess as well, since you didn't observe any back end handling issues (dog tracking,fishtailing etc.) or stopping power change, I'd bet against most suspension & brake related issues.


Also here in NC, AAA will do 200 miles towing for premiere members.

Godspeed

 

Thanks.

Yes, drove to hotel .2 miles away (fortunately). Sounded like demons unleashed. Found out AAA does cover 200 miles so this year's Platinum membership will pay off. While I have been lucky with reliability, this is 2nd stranded tow for the Jag. 1st was a few years back when fuel pump went. Hate to say it but only my British cars have ever left me stranded, the worst was my '86 XJ6 way back in the day.

 

If you still have the jacking kit in the car you can jack up the wheel and spin it, see how it feels. check for obvious play, grinding feeling, etc. and resistance against turning (which you could get if it was a stuck caliper)

 

Jacked up the wheel this AM. Just grabbing the wheel, lots of play side to side and top to bottom. Time to call the tow truck.

 

Just for kicks, you should take that tire off and see if you can tighten that hub nut. I'm sure it's more than that but then again it is just a try.

 

Thought about tightening it but I still have almost 200 miles to go and only have basic tool set with me. Maybe next time I should travel with axle sockets. :-).

Tow truck is on the way. Always travel with a cell phone and AAA card!

 

Hi Mike,
I'm very sorry to hear about your breakdown. Cheer up! I'm sure this issue will work out just fine.
I experienced the same issue two years ago. Let me tell you being towed home is the best option. I ignored the grinding noise for a few days and ended up with a super wobbly rear end when accelerating. I had quite a lot of play when tilting the wheel horizontally and vertically. And when I changed the wheel bearing, it was almost fully disintegrated and came off nearly without using the shop press.
And by the way, the rear hub nut is torqued down with 270 Nm (200 lb ft). Not the easiest repair if you're on the road. That's quite the highest torque used for any component on the car.
Fingers crossed that you'll get home safely!
Cheers, Alexander

 

Made it home, via tow truck!

The annoying thing about this is that it gave out with almost no warning. I have had other vehicles give up the rear bearing but the symptoms develop gradually and give you lots of early warning.

Have ordered the new bearings seals, etc. Incredible that the axle nut costs as much as all the other parts combined.

200 ft/lb is a lot. On my Porsche 914 it is 217 to 253 lb-ft!

 

I was going to say, those axle nuts have an integrated (aluminum? brass? something softer) thread insert that makes them non-reusable for safety reasons, but it sounds like you're already on top of that. Even if it could be tightened up out on the road it could come loose again easily..

I'm kind of surprised the torque is less than the torque required for the crank pulley bolt. 375 Nm if I remember right. I guess you don't really want to crush the bearing races with those axle nuts.

 

Mike,

I've been watching your adventure and I'm glad you made it home safely!

Replacing the rear wheel bearings is not difficult, and can even be done without disconnecting the hub carrier from the control arm. But I think it's a lot easier if you remove the hub carrier and do the job on the bench. In case they may be helpful, below are links to photos of the rear wheel bearing replacement on our '93 XJ40, which is very similar to the X308 (the bearings and seal are even the same Jaguar part numbers):

Rear Wheel Bearings Part 1 of 4
Rear Wheel Bearings Part 2 of 4
Rear Wheel Bearings Part 3 of 4
Rear Wheel Bearings Part 4 of 4

The actual axle nut torque spec for the X308 is 304 Nm / 224 ft. lbs. to 336 Nm / 248 ft. lbs., so you need a torque wrench capable of measuring up to 250 ft. lbs.



The only other special tools that make the job easier are bearing/seal drivers. I bought an inexpensive kit at Harbor Freight that has come in handy for lots of seal and bearing work.

Cheers,

Don

 

Don,

Thanks for the links and info.

I have removed the hub assembly, it slid right off of the axle shaft. My x308 does not have the pin at the wishbone but instead uses a nut on a threaded rod. It was too rusted to turn so I wound up pulling the brake pads and removing the cable from the wheel side.

I am now a bit stumped as to how to get the hub out of the carrier. In the pic you provided, it looks like you have some custom or fabricated bracing set up on your press that is not standard on the Harbor Freight 20 ton press!!! Likewise, it looks like you have bent the one piece of angle iron to better conform to the hub itself? Shade tree mechanics like myself did not even thing you can bend angle iron!!

Anyhow, looking for best way to separate hub from carrier??? I first tried removing the brake shield but that is also pretty well stuck. Not a lot of room to brace the carrier, I may need to pick up some angle iron and maybe support those so I can hammer out with a socket.

Photo of your hub in press for reference.

 

OK, I cheated. Brought the hub assembly to the local machine shop. They disassembled it quickly. Bearing basically came out in pieces as shown.

 

Mike,

Sorry for the delay in responding. Glad you got it sorted. I recognize those loose roller bearings! One of the front bearings on our '93 did the same thing - the cage cracked and as I removed the hub the rollers started falling out.

Inspect the hub and carrier carefully for any damage that may prevent them from being reused - hopefully only the bearing was damaged.

Cheers,

Don