I have an 05 XJR with a rattle somewhere in the front end. This occurs around 30mph. My mechanic (who is great but not Jaguar focused) spent some time diagnosing by looking at all the usual suspects, driving and using a listening device. My suspension is in great shape. He ultimately thought it was either the TSB regarding the loose bumper fitting or the steering rack. He was leaning more towards the steering rack since he could hear the rattle equally on both sides up front.

He didn't want to dig much further since at that point he'd be replacing parts unsure of the outcome. Trying to avoid the dealer on this one but may have to suck it up.

Anyone ever had a rattle in the steering rack? Help!

 

The rack has been found to cause issues if not bolted up securely. Checked mine a year ago and retorqued the bolts.
It is a quick job to drop bellypan and tighten. There are four bolts from memory.

 

Interesting panelhead, do you recall what the torque spec is on the rack?

 

Someone here said that, seems like 50 - 60 ft-lbs. I did not check with a torque wrench. Used a 12 inch 1/2" drive rachet to check if loose. All were snug.

 

Do check for a leaky shock as well. A bad shock can knock/rattle.

 

While you're at it inspect the engine mounts.

 

All great feedback, what part of the shock rattles when it starts going bad? I've go no issues with the air suspension right now.

 

Mike,

I'll answer your question re shock rattle as best I can. I had an 07 XK. At odd moments on uneven pavement there was a muted knock/rattle sound from the rt front. Inspection showed a leaky shock. The dust around the bottom part of the shock was ever so slightly darker/wet. The car had less than 35k miles as I recall and no other components inspected questionable. The ride and handling were optimal.

Dealer told me the shock was bad, would only get worse but could not guarantee that replacing it would cure the problem. I finally got around to replacing the shock myself and sure enough that cured the problem.

Hope this helps.

 

The torque specs are in the Chassis section of the Workshop Manual, which you can download free from this forum in six sections:

Table Of Contents

General Information

Chassis

Powertrain

Electrical

Body

The manual uses the terms "steering rack" and "steering gear" interchangeably, and the torque spec for the fasteners that secure the rack to the subframe is 74 ft. lbs. / 100 Nm.

Cheers,

Don

 

The struts consist of two parts, a hydaulic shock absorber and an air bag.

The hydaulic shock absorber can fail and rattle (quote "like broken glass")

but there is no way of proving this except by replacing the stut therefore

you need to exhaust all other possibilities before doing that.