I have a whole car vibration at highway speeds that I am going to try and diagnose this weekend (while the car is lifted for TC and diffy fluid change). I found a TSB from Jaguar regarding driveshaft vibration, but it only applies to model years 2002-2004. Did Jaguar address the driveshaft vibration issues for 2005+ vehicles? What should I be looking at in regards to the driveshaft while under the vehicle? I know some people mentioned they found loose/missing bolts, perhaps I should check tightness of these while I'm under there. Does anyone by chance have a schematic that shows which bolts I should check for tightness?

 

rjs, where is the vibration happening speed wise? Are you feeling it in the body of the car or in the steering wheel? These 2 questions will most likely narrow the problem down to a specific item. IN short, if you are getting it only in the 60-70 mph range and you are feeling it in the steering wheel, then your problem is either an alignment issue with the front tires, bad wheel bearing, and/or bent rim. IF you are feeling something in the body of the car that feels like it is coming from under the driver's seat/rear seat, then odds are you are looking at the carrier bearing (the driveshaft bearing as you called it). If you are suspecting the carrier bearing, then I would say to get your hands on a grease gun (loaded with termiline grease) and a needle attachment. This will allow you to get behind the seals of the bearing and get some grease in there. IF that makes your vibration go away, you have a new bearing in your future, but not anything that needs to be done right now (mine was doing this and I greased it 4 years ago, still no issues). If you are getting a vibration/hum that seems to go away when you may a corner that causes the body to lean, but only in 1 direction of turning (remains constant when turning the other way), then odds are, you are looking at a bad wheel bearing.

Let me know. We can get things figured out for you.

 

All great information, Thermo. Let me provide some more detail.

The car just had a balancing and alignment done before I took delivery (though they may have botched it). The vibration seems to come on somewhere around 60-70mph. I feel the vibration through the entire vehicle (not just the steering wheel) which is why I was probing into drive shaft issues.

I had a wheel bearing go on my Subaru, and this is not the same noise/feeling, and it is constant even with cornering.

My vehicle is with my independent mechanic today. He is trying to locate some suspension noises for me. While it's there, I asked if he could grease the carrier bearing for me (I left the forum instructions on the seat for him). I'm curious to see if this helps with the vibration and the odd drivetrain noise I hear while driving with the windows down (almost like a jet plane preparing for take off in the distance).

One strange thing I've noticed is sometimes the vibration seems to be worse and other times better. It might just be in my head, though.

 

rjs, well, I don't know if this will make you feel better or not, but I have a very similar issue. I got mine diagnosed and it turns out it is a bent rim. Mine is bent about 1/8" (when you put it on the wheel balancer, you can see the tread wobble in a certain spot). If you have a very light touch on the steering wheel, you should see the steering wheel wobble just slightly back and forth. But, what you are describing is my issue almost to a tee.

 

Hmm, the subject of a bent rim always seems to surface when it comes to whole car vibration. Perhaps I should dig into this a little deeper.

When I picked the car up from my mechanic, he said he suspects some sort of driveshaft problem. He wants me to bring the vehicle back next week so he can look a little deeper and check the universal joints and drive axles as well. This rather annoys me, as I asked the selling dealership to confirm no driveshaft problems. Now it's time for me to read deeper into New York's Used Car Lemon Law, which provides a buyer protection for the first 30 days or 1,000 miles (which I'm still in). Edit: because I bought my car in CT, I have to meet the CT used car warranty qualification, which I do not. Well, that's a bummer.

He didn't have the right needle adapter to grease the carrier bearing, so that will get done next time as well.

 

I had the whine...and like the masters on here said with good advice...have them squirt some grease in there at the next oil change....worked for me. Took about 100 miles of driving to work in but now problem is fixed...and just a normal $40 oil change at the time. Thanks to this message board for that info. Will see how long it lasts though. Heck, I will have them spooge grease in there every oil change if that works. It is a 10 year old car. I am getting every mile and dollar out of this thing. Great winter car in the snow.