Have you considered the steering rack bushings?
Just a guess.
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I'll add that to the list when I jack it up and look at everything soon

 

You might check your upper front shock mounts. An easy check when the hood is up.

top of worn mount. See shaft is not centered

Bottom side of worn mount

Top of new mount installed. See how shaft is centered

 

Good thread!
I have the same noise with my just purchased XJ 5.0 Sc 2012 58.000 km.
It didn't have it yet when I bought it half june this year with 55.000 km.
Looks like it's not very harmful, but annoying it sure is, so this Dutchy will tell these locals overhere in Mexico they only have to change these bushings and the end links.
I'll show them some pictures of this thread to be sure because I don't know these words in Spanish yet, but which bushings exactly are we talking about, the ones that are connected directly with the end links, or (also) the ones in the middle of the sway bar?
And do I need complete new end links, that is the complete small arms?
Thanks for replying!

 

Change the two in the center and may as well do the end links. They are inexpensive. Make sure the jags weight is on the wheels (not suspended on the lift) when they torque the center sway bar bushings.

 

Ok, thanks Polypig, I will do so, but I think first I'm gonna change only the two center bushings, at least to know for sure where the noise came from, also for a possible next time, because they seem to wear out pretty fast and the roads here in Mexico are not very Jaguar dedicated.
Looks like specially those two normally are the little devils, no?

 

On every car I've had, sway bar end links went first, then sway bar mounts. They both take a hammering on rough roads.

 

Yes the sway bar bushings can be a bear to change compared to the end links.
You can change the end links first and test drive it to see if the noise is gone.

Or you can disconnect one end of the sway bar end link and do a test drive. That is the least amount of work to tell you if just changing the end links will fix the noise.
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Ok, thanks!

 

Well, with all the different experience here I think I better change both end links and both bushings right away, and than with the powerflex ones (polyurethane).
Now let's see who is gonna ship them to Mexico...
To be continued.

 

I've just been reading the topic "What did you do with your X351 today", and it appears that these powerflex bushings can give a nasty squeezing sound all the time.
Makes sense since they are harder. Could maybe be avoided with regularly putting grease inside of them, but that doesn't attract me.
Changing from one issue to another nasty one.
So I guess I'll stick to the normal rubber ones anyway, since I'm not even gonna drive 10.000 km's a year.
Next change in some 5 or 6 more years than I guess, with a little bit of luck, I can live with that.
Getting somewhere now.

 

I had posted a few months back about sway bar center bushings and the clunk noise. Hell of a time finding the noise till I disconnected the links and suspended the bar on the coils with a zip tie. The noise went away. Replaced the bushings only and all was well for about 3 months and 3k, now that the cold weather is here the clunk is back. More severe when I first drive the car and then alleviates and almost goes away as the engine warms up and the bushings have time to soften. This is a terrible design. I don’t buy the oval disfigurement. The issue is side to side where the bars lips or stops are hitting the bushings. The harder the bushing is the more noise they make. Old dry ones will do it and my fairly new ones also now make the noise when hard and cold. You could use a poly one but that defeats when it’s side to side impacting. The reason these might help alleviate is that they are smaller ID than the bar and hold it tight so no side to side impact. But if too tight grease will squeeze out of the bushings and then they will groan when cold and going over bumps. The original ones have felt like fabric to prevent the groan and squeaks but allow it to move side to side allowing the stop lips to crash with the bushings. What’s the cure? IDK like I said I have new bushings and still have the problem when it’s cold. Addco sway bars on other applications don’t have the crush lip, they have a collar clamp that you bolt on the bar and this can be adjusted to rest in the bushing with a tight tolerance. Maybe this should be explored. Removing the tolerance between the bushing and stop lip should eliminate the bar slamming side to side.

 

One thing I have done in the past when fighting sway bar noise is to wrap the bar where the bushing go with a couple of rounds of Teflon thread tape.
This was on a different car but the tape and a good bit of silicon grease stopped the noise for good on that car. I have also heard of people adding a grease zerk fitting to the sway bar bushing brackets so you can lubricate them.
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Ok, thanks for all the information guys!
I just ordered the 2 endlinks and the 2 bushings by my Dutch provider, € 141,62 for the 4 parts including sending to Mexico, about 1/3 of the costs by the local Jaguar dealer here...
To be continued.

 

The first time I installed those Powerflex bushings, I only used the supplied grease and it wasn't enough. So I wrapped the bar with teflon tape, like Clubairth suggests, and liberally applied this stuff:

Its the thickest, stickiest goop you'll find and it works wonders. I used it again when installing the rear Powerflex sway bar bushings.

 

Last week I received the normal black bushings and the endlinks from Holland here in Mexico.
All original Jaguar stuff.
Today I had them put here in Mexico in about 2 hours.
No grease put, and all the sounds and inconvenience from down there are gone, I'm happy now so far.
It appeared that the right endlink has been changed ones before, it looked much more clean and newer than the left one.
And the clunks actually came from the left side, so that makes sense.
Also the old bushings were much more softy and more easy to squeeze than the new ones, so the oval story I read somewhere here above also makes sense.

The only thing left now is a little plastic-like sound somewhere in/behind the lower dash area when I hit some inconvenient part of the road.
Like something is a bit loose there. Anybody any idea what that could be?
Appreciate all kind of comments. ;-)

 

Hi, check that cabin pollen filter are correctly fitted. On mine the inner lug was not quite in place when i bought the car few years ago. Made plastic snap when i drove over curb.
Cabin pollen filter are located under dash on passenger side.
This video show how/where:

 

Thanks for the reply Vasara, but I forgot to tell that the sound comes very clearly from the pilots side...left side in my case...

 

You might read XJsss comments up thread as that description could be upper strut mounts.
Be sure and check out his great pictures documenting how the upper strut mount fails.

Maybe you can see if yours has shifted?
Post a picture back if your unsure as this seems to be a very common problem with time/age and it's a very easy repair.
You don't even need to reset the wheel alignment but you will need a lift.
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Ok CA, thanks, I'll check that out!