My 2004 Xtype 3.0 AWD has always had a road noise. I cannot tell whether the noise is from the tires or from the drive. The car has 17 in tires which the dealer told me are not correct for it.
Any thoughts? Thanks

 

Bell, first off, welcome to the Forums. I think you will find a lot of good information here. But, we do ask a simple thing from you. Please stop by the New Member Section and introduce yourself. We pride ourselves in being a different car club and getting to know one another. This will also give you a chance to meet the people that make this place what it is. So, grab a cup of joe, do some more reading, and enjoy.

As for your problem. Do you notice the noise when the engine is running but the car is stopped? This would tell me you have something coming in contact with the body and is transferring the noise that way. Is the noise only occurring at specific speeds (ie, over 30 mph whirring sound, vibration when going above 55 mph, etc). If you could explain the conditions under which the noise occurs and maybe something a bit more specific about what the noise sounds like, we can possibly give you something a bit more specific as to where you would need to look. Worst case, use your cell phone/video camera and make a video to post on a place like Youtube and post a link to here. What you are describing can be way too many things to even start giving you a general direction to go start looking.

As for your tire size. The car came from the factory with 17" tires. But, also keep in mind that you have 2 other dimensions that we need to look at. If you look on the side of the tire, you should see a set of numbers something like "225/45R17". What are those numbers for your car? From there we can tell you if what you have is correct or not.

The other things that I would tell you to look at is whether you are running say a run flat tire or not. The run flats tend to have a stiffer sidewall which can result in more vibrations being transferred into the suspension and therefore into the body of the car. The other thing that I would tell you to look at is the pressure in the tires. I have done a lot of playing with this and I have found that for most people running the front tires at 38-40 psi and the rears at about 35 psi result in the longest tread life while keeping the tires soft enough for a nice ride. You can run the tires higher (up to the max rating on the side of the rubber) and this will stiffen up things for better cornering and decrease your rolling resistance (which can help with mileage), but you are going to get more road noise.

The other thing that I would tell you to look at is the rear suspension. This can be something that needs some looking at based on what you are describing. Most of the noises that you will experience with your car will be more clunks and whatnot when hitting rough spots. The check I would tell you to do is to stand behind your car and look at the rear tires. Do the tops of the tires seem to be leaning in towards the center of the car in relation to the bottom of the tires? If so, then you most likely have worn out upper control arms for the rear suspension. The other thing to look at is whether it appears that the rear tires are pointing more towards the center of the front bumper than in line with the front tires. A slight angle of the rear tires towards the center of the car is a classic sign that your lower/forward arms are worn out and they need to be replaced (if the rubber is damaged, this can result in sound being transferred into the body of the car). The last check that you can do is to get yourself into a cloverleaf offramp/onramp (or other similar long sweeping turn where you are going about 20ish MPH) and then give the car a decent amount of gas (like you were going to pass someone on the turn, but in a controlled manner). Does the rear end feel like it is going to step out on you? If yes, then you have worn out lower/front control arms on the rear suspension.

As you can see, there are lots of possibilities. Please give us a little bit more information and we will help you get the correct diagnosis. If you are in the Houston area, there is a member (Brutal) here that works on Jags and he will be more than willing to help you get this taken care of in his shop.

 

I bought my X type cheap , so I shouldnt really have complained , however , the bad noise was getting on my nerves . I didntknow if it was , tyres, road , wind, transmission or what??? However I put 4 new Goodyear Excellence tyres on it & WOW!!! no noise , quiet as a Jag should be . I think the old tyres were quite worn , with 3 different makes running at strange pressures ...??????

 

I have had the Jag since 2007 and have never replaced the tires. We go to Maine each year for four months and leave the car in the garage in Texas. The noise only occurs when the car is moving at any speed and sounds like it is coming from the front.
Does this help?
Thanks

 

I forgot, the tire size is 225-145ZR17.
Also how do I get to where I can add to my profile?
Thanks again
Robert Bell

 

bell, what you are describing sounds a lot like the carrier bearing on the rear drive shaft. If you crawl under the car, about in line with the front seats, you will see where there is a bearing holding the rear drive shaft in place. Get yourself a grease gun and a needle attachment and get some grease inside the bearing. The more you can put in there, the better. See what you have then. Odds are, you will find that the noise will be diminished significantly. This is a common problem with the car and a lot of people have problems with diagnosing where the sound is coming from because some times the noise is in the front of the car and other times it is in the rear.