2012 Jaguar xfr 55k miles ..I've had the car about a year and a half..So about a month ago I was in a drive thru and my front end was sitting on a speed bump for a second while they handed me my food .So when I started to go I heard kind of a thump .Not real loud ,so didn't really think much of it .But a couple weeks later I started getting a bad rattling noise on rough roads,actually any road that isn't perfecty smooth ..The roads aren't great in my area .I just replaced sway bar links but it actually sounds worse now .Any ideas ? I know it's probably impossible to diagnose over the Internet because it could probably be any part of the suspension,but just figured maybe someone else experienced something similar ..Any help would be greatly appreciated..

 

First thing to check is the upper strut mount bushing. You can get a quick peak at the left one under the coolant reservoir and the right one is under a plastic cover. But yes, at 13 years and 55K miles it'll probably look like a crumbling eraser on an old #2 pencil. I wouldn't doubt that you'll also need by this point new front lower control arms as those bushes are due about now too.

 

Thanks for the reply ..Would those things make a rattling noise when they are due for replacement?

 

That's the problem with these virtual doctor/mechanic visits. What you call a rattle, somebody else might describe as banging, clattering, clunking, knocking, etc. and its highly unlikely that both of us will be hearing the same thing in our minds base on mere verbal descriptions. The good thing is that the upper strut mounts are easy to verify condition visually, like I said just look at them and they will be pretty obviously crumbling or even torn rubber if they've failed. The large lower control arm bushes as I recall also contain a viscous glycol solution similar to antifreeze to help with noise and vibration isolation. You may see streaks where its leaked out if they are really bad. If you are not a DIY'er, then you still need to take it to a competent repair technician for an inspection. The information above is just enough to help you check conditions yourself, anticipate what they are likely to put on the repair quote and if you ask educated questions, they'll think twice before taking you to the cleaners. Good luck.

 

Thank you so much ,I'm gonna take a look at the things you suggested..I'm going to attempt to fix whatever it is myself ..Normally I would just take it somewhere but still recovering from the 2 hurricanes that hit us .

 

Finally got a chance to check it out you were exactly right .I found a piece of it under the coolant reservoir..Is that a tough job to fix .

 

Not bad but the strut assembly and spring needs to be removed. Then you will need to compress the spring on the bench so you can swap out the mounts.
As you know be careful with compressing and holding the coil spring. There are expensive tools to do this. So make sure you have some method to compress and hold the spring BEFORE you start removing anything.

If no tool I would remove both assemblies and take them to most any mechanic shop and have them swap the upper mounts. This is a common repair on many cars.
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