Vibration as car gets to highway speed
 

We bought a 2004 X-Type with 70k miles on 17 Dec and are having a small problem. The first thing I did to the car was get the oil changed, tires balanced & rotated and an alignment. Right front Camber is -1.5 deg (out of spec) but no adjustment. The car drives fine and does not pull to one side or the other.
At about 55 mph I notice a vibration in the steering wheel that gets worse as I drive faster. At 70 mph the vibration can be felt in the whole car. I have looked through the FAQ's and can't really find anything except that maybe greasing the prop shaft center bearing might help. I am trying to avoid a huge repair bill if possible. Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Paul

i think could be the balanced tired

Prop shaft center bearing doesn't really cause any vibration. You may want to make sure you got those wheels balanced properly. Factory wheels on your X-Type?

...bent rims?

The shop that did the balance & rotation seemed to do a good job. I was watching while they did the work and didn't notice any wobble while the tires were on the machine. They came out right on the money after balance. They are factory rims. Are they hard to get balanced right? Or do they bend easy and hard to notice? there is some curb rash on 2 of the rims but it really doesn't look bad enough to throw off the balance or bend the rim, but who knows? I'll get the rims checked just in case.

Thanks,
Paul

I had the same problem when I bought my car...when I checked the wheels I noticed the weights on the passenger tire had fallen off. I went and got them balanced and the shaking was greatly reduced.

I too am going through this problem, I get the same vibration at high speeds. I tried numerous of attempts to figure out what is going on... Here is my story...

Purchased the car two years ago with factory wheels that came with four different brand tires. No biggie, I was able to hit 120mph with no vibration at all and smooth ride.

I was in need of new tires a few months ago between wear and tear and a flat.. so I went with all four $650 Sumitomos, mounted balanced and aligned all at tire kingdom. Here is where I started getting vibrations at high speeds. So I take it back and they say it was fine but will redo it to insure the vibration goes. Still get vibrations...

So I got them to switch out the tires for the same priced Yokohamas, but I still had the same damn vibrations. They said one of my rims are bent so I take it to a bent rim repair shop and have them repair it and they inform me that I have 3/4 rims bent, so $280 later, I take it back to tire kingdom to get it balanced but I still have the same damn vibrations. Although my thoughts was if I had 4 different brand tires originally with no vibration and supposedly "bent" rims... how come it only started after putting $650 on these "bent" rims??

So I upgraded my wheel/tire package to 19" Niche Euros wrapped in Kumho tires... Still get the vibration...

So it can't be my wheel/tire setup... has to be something else and no one seems to be able to figure it out! Some guy told me it was my AWD going bad and transmitting vibrations to all four tires... another one told me its my shocks... but I don't get any bounce on bumps for my shocks to be bad.. I did the push on trunk bounce test and it seems good to me...

I'm about to bite the bullet and take it to the dealership to get it diagnosed to at least see whats wrong with it.

Anyone else know whats going on? Wheel bearings? control arms? dead rat in the shocks?

On a side note, the mechanic found the bolts holding the drive shaft loose to the touch, and one was missing... He tightened the bolts in the front and back of the drive shaft and it never changed anything... Don't know if that has to do with anything but no change..

Sounds like you're have something simular to me. I'm going to have the tires rebalanced this weekend and do the TC and rear diff drain & fill and see what happens. Hopefully this solves my problem if not I'll try something else. If by chance I get it figured out I'll post it here. Please do the same if you figure it out first.

Paul

...when I purchased my [used] vehicle, it was vibrating since day one. The dealership balanced my wheels and did an alignment. It was better but I wasn't totally satisfied because it still vibrated at 55 and above. Since I was closer another dealer, I took it there and they rebalanced it and did another alignment, and that's when they told me that the rims were bent.

I then took the vehicle back to the original dealership and they looked at the rims and determined that in fact it was bent. How come they didn't notice it the first time?? I think they were trying to pull a fast one on me. Anyway, they got the rims straightened and it was much better but not perfect. It's not "perfect" because the wheels mismatched and worn and cupped. I'm sure it will be a much smoother ride when I get new tires put on the vehicle. Hopefully.

Good luck dude.

I also had this exact same problem when I purchased my car mid-last year, at the exact same speeds. I lived with it because and got it balance and aligned but nothing changed. So, through research on here it sounded like the prop shaft needed replacement which I did not want to drop another $1K to do after I just purchased it. I finally figured out what it was, and thank god I did not replace the prop shaft (but the advice was still sound:)). I had a broken strut and worn shock that was found during state inspection. I had them replace that and the virbation is now totally 100% gone. The ride is completely different, I am amazed.

Hmmm... A strut and a shock. It'll have to wait till it warms up here since I don't have a heated shop, But Thank You. That wasn't one of the things on my list to check.

On a side note, I did the TC drain and fill this past weekend (didn't have time to do the diff.) and TRIED to lube the drive shaft bearing.

If anyone has NOT done a drain&fill on the TC DO IT ASAP!!!

Our car has 70k miles on it. When I removed the drain plug there was about 1/4" of semi hard grunge on the end of it and the lube was black, REALLY black and smelled a little burnt. The amount of lube I was able to get out of the TC was about 250ml. and I was able to get around 450ml back in. The capacity is supposed to be 550ml so there was probably 100ml still in it before the refill. I feel much better now and will do the drain & fill again this spring. The center bearing was a different story. I found the notches in the backside of the bearing but when I tried to get grease in there all it did was come back out around the needle. Maybe I did something wrong but I didn't have time to try anything else since I was borrowing a shop from the friend of a friend and it was getting late.

Oh well there is always next time.

Paul

70+mph is a good speed to be getting vibrations. You're simply going too fast. At 80+ the whole car will start to vibrate. Even though it's a luxury car, it's not exactly a Lambo, and they even start vibrating at around 100mph. It could also be your environment condition. Strong winds and stuff like that can cause resistance and thus, vibrations. That's the only thing I could think of.

A propshaft CAN!!! cause a vibration, BUT..... it's a different type of vibration then a steering wheel vibration. The propshaft will send a vibration throughout the whole car. You will feel it in the seat.

I get vibration in the whole car most of the times... I noticed that the driveshaft bolts are coming lose from time to time and have to have a shop use a torque wrench or whatever to tighten it up. Also I am missing a bolt from one of the holes in the driveshaft... It is also spitting out grease around the back end of the shaft. I had this damn thing replaced by Jaguar dealership in june 09... That is probably what is causing my vibrations huh? How do I get this properly diagnosed?

Just about every X type owner will have this issue at one point or another. I battled it for the better half of 5 years.

Road Force balancing seemed to really help - if that's not what you are getting, consider trying.

I bent a couple of the OEM wheels. Seem a little soft.

Have toe set to zero or as close to it when doing alignment. Helps even out the front tire wear and you don't eat the inner edges as much.

Vibration could be also be a wheel bearing, but I would look at your rotors first.

Quite frankly I think Jaguar did a crappy job with motor and tranny mount vibration suppression and it feeds its way into the whole car to some degree.

"The center bearing was a different story. I found the notches in the backside of the bearing but when I tried to get grease in there all it did was come back out around the needle."
I had the same thing happen to me when I tried to grease it. I tried moving the needle in or out with the same results.

So I'm taking my car to Jaguar to get a multi-point inspection done for $125 on monday so I will let you guys know what they say is causing my vibration maybe it can point everyone towards the right direction...

I'm not sure what performance cars you've been in! I've been in Lambos at speeds well in excess of 100 MPH (in Germany) and they don't vibrate. Indeed, the only car I've had this problem in (when it isn't a simple wheel balance issue) is the X-type. 80-90 MPH is the average driving speed in the UK (where I'm originally from) and non of my cars have had vibration issues.

Jag did a crappy job with this.

I have just had a similar problem with vibrations on my X-type 2,0 diesel -05. (FWD)
Problem is now fixed. It turned out to be the inner drive joint (is that the right word?) on one side being worn out. You could not buy the drive joint only. You have to buy the entire drive shaft. These are not cheap so I bought two used drive shafts and changed on both sides.

Vibrations are now solved.

Regards,

Tor

Took my car to the dealership to get a multi-point inspection today and they reported everything fine... Which isn't entirely true because I was getting vibration while driving along with some front end suspension noise that I get once in a while....

Good news is that they gave me one of the bolts that was missing from the driveshaft so I didn't have to pay for it. They wouldn't put it in so I took it to my tire guy right down the corner and he put it in for me...

To my surprise... my vibration is completely gone... I was going 75+ and I fell in love with my black cat all over again on how smooth it drove.. Before putting that bolt in I use to get vibrations at 50mph+

Hopefully it stays like this :)

I had that exact same problem. My car would violently shake but this was due to driving through a large pile of snow and having wet snow in between my wheel spokes.

I also get a vibration at highway speeds but I think its a balance issue more so than a driveshaft/propshaft issue. I say this because at highway speeds the driveshaft is spinning at around 2500 - 3000 RPMs. If Im cruising around the city in second gear at the same RPMs but slower speed it doesn't vibrate. If the cause was the driveshaft you would feel the vibration anytime the RPMs get to that level right? Not just at certain speeds? Just a thought...

Best answer to "Wheel Wobble."
 

If you can jack up yout car (even one at a time) take your hands at the 3, and 9'oclock positions, and try to feel for play... This is ab indication of a bad tie-rod (the things that piviot the wheels), then place your hands at the 6, and 12'oclock position to check if there's any play in the spline that the wheel spins on. These are real easy to do, and mechanics have been doing it since, well I'll just say "A very long time." If the 12:30 feels a bit loose, then first get a "jack stand" and remove the wheel, in the very center is a covex cup, pry it off with a "BIG SCREW DRIVER" going around a little at a time to get it off. Now find the correct allen, and a good pair of pliers, loosen the allen, and take the pliers (a vise grip wrench works even better), and tighten it until the wheel is hard to turn, then back off about 1.4 turn, check the wheel spin, tighten the allen, and replace the grease cap! If you got play at the 9:15 position then you either get a "Pickle Fork" (if your the type that works on your car you'll have one), and remove the cotter pin from the tie-rod top, remove the nut, and with a "BIG Hammer, & the Picle Fork" the tie-rod will drop from the stearing rack. at this point put some tape (masking, or electric is fine) where the threads stop, and the nut holding it to the rack stops (you do this so after loosening the lock nut of the tie rod you can now unscrew it from the rack for replacement. I read your camber may be a bit off, so when your done go to any reputable alignment shop, and have "ALL FOUR" wheels checked! That cars alighnment can be changed on all four wheels, and unless your racing, just use "Stock Settings."

Good Luck,
HTC

rhriczko: The driveshaft matches road speed, not engine RPM. If the driveshaft was the issue, you'd feel the vibration regardless of selected gear. If you felt it at 55mph in 5th gear, you'd also feel it at 55mph in 3rd gear.

I, too, have this issue. My vibrations start around 52mph and disappear in the road noise/feel around 75-80. Here is what I've done so far:

Just yesterday, my father and I jacked my car up and put jack stands under all 4 corners, making sure to keep the suspension compressed, as if it were on the road. With the wheels and tires off the ground, I drove it up to speed, all the way to 70mph. Once the suspended car reached 50mph, the vibrations began, just as if the vehicle were on the road. This eliminates the alignment as being the issue.

Next, still on jacks, we yanked all 4 wheels, retightened the lugs on the bare studs (to keep the hubs/rotors tight) and ran it back up to 70mph. The vibrations continued. This eliminates the wheels/tires as being the issue.

Next, still on jacks, still without wheels/tires, we dropped the driveshaft (unbolting at the TC), eliminating all power to the rear. Drove it up to 70mph (best guess, as the speedometer reads the rear wheels). The vibrations continued. This eliminates the driveshaft, carrier bearing, rear diff, and rear axels as being the issue.

Now for the weird part. Still on jacks, still without driveshaft, we put the front wheels back on and ran it up to speed. The vibrations were GONE!

Now, it gets confusing.

Next, still on jacks, with only front wheels installed, we re-aligned and reattached the driveshaft and ran it up to speed. Welcome back, vibrations!!! What's going on here? We are going to wait for a warmer day and repeat our experiment, trying to figure out what we missed.

While below the car, we attempted to grease the carrier bearing using a greasing needle. My bearing didn't appear to have the slots to insert the needle. So, that was a bust. We also made sure the rear motor-mount (roll restrictor) was tight. It was very tight.

We did notice a little wobble/walk in the front passenger CV half-shaft. I'm wondering if this could be the issue? Thoughts? Anyone?

Thanks.

Been following this post and my 07 xk with 55k has the same problem. I've tried everything you all have and still no change. Diidnt pull and check propeller shafts but was told there is a TSB on these cars for driveshaft problems.....I;m still looking for the problem

Sure could. And the right hand side is the hard one to do. If you change it be sure you separate the cv joint from the intermediate shaft and leave the intermediate shaft in place. There are several threads on this repair and I posted some pictures on one of them.

Yup I have exactly the same problems. A vibration at 55 mph plus. I replaced both rear tyres and had them balanced. This did help by 30% at a guess. However the vibration is still there and it does feel like its through the seat of your pants. Problem is the transmission on the X-type Jaguar is from the Land rover Freelander which sucks! I worked in a mechanical breakdown insurance office for the AA and RAC. We replaced transfer boxes and propshafts on Freelanders morning till night. A new propshaft and trabsfer box will eliminate the vibration. However it will return and in as little mileage as 30k! I love this car in every other way so I am sticking with the vibtration as I don't have £2000 to spare!!!! next time I will but a rear wheel drive 3.0 S-Type problem solved.

X Type 2.5 AWD vibration from the rear.
 

I see lots of fellow X-Type owners have had this inherent vibration from the rear at speeds over 55 mph. I'll tell you what I know. The 4x4 transmission on the X-Type is from the Land Rover Freelander. The weak points are the propshaft and transfer box (Most important parts and expensive) the bearings wear out in the transfer box which will eventually fail and leave you stranded. the propshaft joints wear and the whole propshafts go out of balance. Remedy replace both on a regular basis. I am a retired motor-mechanic and sort out a Jaguar specialist in my area to consult with. He drove my car X-Type 9 years old only 50k one owner immaculate car. He said straight away "Your propshaft is out of balance and your transfer box bearings are shot" If you are not rich like me then I guess its used parts and a local mechanic to sweat changing them. what guarantee do you have that the donor parts are any good? answer is none! you take a risk or buy new ones or reconditioned ones. I love the look of the X-Type and the way it drives its superb in my opinion. If I could time travel I would buy an S-Type 3.0 rear wheel drive. No transmission troubles (Manual) Trouble is I don't like the front end on the S-type and nor do a lot of people.However they are cheaper to buy than the X-Type and more reliable. So as I can't time travel I shall save up and buy a new prop and transfer box : (((

I've had a vibration since I got this car back on the road a couple of months ago. It was there even at relatively slow speeds. I could take my hands off the steering wheel and watch it rock quite a bit to the left and right as the car rolled forward. The tires were really bad and I assumed it was the tires that caused it, and had been assuming the vibration would go away when I replaced the tires.

Since I just now got the last of the codes resolved and the car is running well, I bought new tires today, all 4. The slow speed vibration is gone. But I still have some vibration that starts to come on about 65 mph, and is fully there by 70 mph. It gets worse as speed increases. The steering wheel is still rocking left and right when the vibration is present, but now only a tiny bit.

Since I did an engine swap on this car, I've had the whole front end of the car out: engine, transmission, subframe, suspension. I'm going to go back over all that again. I'm also going to check the tie rods, struts, wheel bearings, and anything else I can think of.

I replaced all the propshaft bolts with new ones and torqued them when I reassembled after the engine swap. So I don't suspect that. Also I replaced both the front halfshafts while I had everything out on the ground. So those are new. JTIS has a subframe alignment procedure and a propshaft centering procedure that I don't have the equipment to attempt. I suspect I'm going to end up at the dealership.

Sounds like you guys are experiencing severe vibrations. This is a well informed thread with a good break down of the whole drive train, suspension system(s). Esp.
rclangelan's jack-stand experiment above. ...Pretty ballsy to run it with the tires on in the carport at 70mph, imho. But, those steps are sound troubleshooting, now you just need to have that ah Ha! moment. Good luck.

I had some steady rattling of the steering wheel at 70 mph plus or minus 5mph. I usually keep the tires at 33 psi. Upon gassing to drive from Phoenix to Tucson AZ. 100 mile trip, I decided to pump the tires all up to 39 psi. I noticed a significant drop in steering wheel vibration, it's basically gone.

I didn't have good reason for keeping them at 33 psi, except maybe for a softer ride. Anyway, the ride is actually better with stiffer tires. I wouldn't have guessed this.

I'm experiencing the same problem. The only thing is though, we replaced all the bolts already. My mechanic wants to try replacing or straightening the rear drive shaft.
This is going to be expensive. I would pay it if I knew for sure it would fix the problem. Any advice?

Seems to me that "bent" would be easy enough to prove or disprove by checking runout. Folks I know that have had driveshafts straightened have had limited success with that. You might be better off going straight to replacement with a new driveshaft. Another alternative might be to retube yours. But retube is usually reserved for when new parts are NLA.

same vibratio same fix as you didn't work for me
 

Yeah, we had the same issue, did the obvious, but that didn't work and the mechanic didn't catch the bad tires. We changed to new perrili and fixed it for good!

I ordered the front motor mount (top), and the rear (roll restrictor) motor mount from JAGbits. I hear the top one is pretty easy to replace. Does any one have advice on replacing the roll restrictor?

Here is a pic of my top motor mount. Looks pretty wasted.
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/a...ine=1379291384

Steering wheel shimmy at road speeds
 

Our X-Types are known to develop wheel bearing wear problems. I just replaced one of my rear bearing assemblies (driver's side) that had made "tree frog" sounds for a couple of years. It finally began making the rurr rurr rurr sound bad bearings make which forced me to change it. After taking it off I can feel the hub "give" inside the bearing side-to-side when I hold it down and torque the back of the bearing mount by hand. Now those two problems have been eliminated I can hear the passenger side making a slight whirring sound while under way so I ordered another rear bearing assembly. I can hear this since the one I replaced is totally silent. All things being equal I believe I should replace the front bearings too. Looseness in the bearings from wear could make the wheels wobble and the hubs right along with them.

My steering wheel wobble seems to come and go as I drive, never remaining constant. I've been the only driver of my car and have never hit a pot hole or rubbed against a curb. It is a 2002 2.5 automatic with 96k miles on it. While I had the driver's side rear apart, the original bearing was quite rusty so I primed and painted the replacement to hopefully cut down on corrosion. I also took the opportunity to sand and refinish the dust shield and wire brush wheeled the brake caliper which I primed & painted with red 500 degree ceramic caliper paint. It looks great and I'm happy some rust has been taken care of. I'm working my way around and soon will get to the front bearing replacement. I'll let you know what happens. Hopefully the wheel shimmy will be gone.

1994 VDP 4L 126K miles
I do notice a little "twitch" in the steering wheel. I will attend to that later.

My concern is a vibration (almost pounding) that started a few weeks ago from the rear. It happened when I got just over 70. It is getting worse and now starts to be felt at just over 55. It feels like a BADLY out-of-round tire, or trying to drive on a flat. Changed tires, no change. Put car up and ran without tires. Still there. Left side seems a little worse when tested separately. I know it looks like a town car but really I do want to go on the freeway. Can't. This feels way bigger than a loose bolt. No accidents, potholes, incidents, etc.