I have just joined the Forum and this is my first post. I have been wanting to see if there are any others who might have a similar problem and can offer some helpful information. I have an 2005 XJL with just over 42,500 miles on it. Over the past several months, there has been an increase in the noise and roughness transmitted into the body of the car when I hit a small defect in the street surface or go over an expansion joint. I have new Michelin tires that are significantly quieter than the BFG tires that were on the car when I got it. On smooth surfaces the new tires are extremely quiet and smooth. However, when I hit something that results in sudden vertical travel of the suspension, it sound and feels as if there is no absorption of the impact by the suspension at all. What I am wondering is whether there is some part of the suspension assembly that can deteriorate over time, thus losing its absorbing ability, which would result in the increase of noise and impact felt inside the car. It is hard to tell as the driver, but it seems to me that the problem is worse in the right front than the left front and the front is worse than the back. Any comments will certainly be appreciated.

Thanks,

Tom

 

Welcome to the forum!

It isn't much help but I have a very similar problem on my '04 XJ8 and it has bugged me ever since I have had the car. I had the D shape anti-roll bar bushes changed recently along with one of the bushes on the control arm but the noise is still there.

The suspension is generally very good but over certain type of bumps or imperfections in the road I get a very load knock from the front right somewhere. My mechanic thinks it may be the shock but as it seems to otherwise work I have given up and will change it if and when the air spring fails.

 

I had the same issue when I bought my CPO in 09. Luckily, it was still under the new factory warranty. They changed out the shock assembly and it took care of the issue.

 

I have been tracking down a similar noise in my 04
On the search I have checked all the bushings, which seem tight except for the tie rods, which seem to make a clunking noise when i twist them and the metal touches metal (which I think its not supposed to do that). I have recently change the roll bar links and bushings.
I came up to the brakes and possibly missing the anti rattle springs. Found out all of the springs were installed backwards and got bent up by the caliper, plus a few were missing. Bought some cmax duralast gold or something from autozone which had the hardware kit. Installed and there was way less noise. Now I think the tie rods may be the last reason. Everything else seems tight.

 

@prosthotoothist

what model of Michelins are you running?

 

Tom,

Is your noise specific to one side or the other? If you hit a bump on just one side will the noise be the same?

FWIW - Most suspension issues will start on the right front corner as this is where the road punishes the car the worst at least in N America.

 

Funny you are having noises from the front because I get similar from the rear on some road bumps, but not all. The main dealer in Wilmslow recently checked out the whole suspension and nothing reported amiss, apart from resetting to factory figures, so I assume it is a characteristic of the air suspension, plus my Sport settings of course. The X350 doesn't have the boulevard ride the old XJ6 Series 3 had. On the other hand, it is 100 times better made, and I'll accept a few foibles for the so much better build quality

 

Yes, it is much more pronounced on the right front.

Tom

 

They are the Pilot HX MXM4 All-season.

 

Tom,

I would look to the right lower control arm and the sway bar links first. Look for oil soaked or perished big bushings on the lower control arm followed by loose sway bar links. These aren't the only components that can cause your problem but they are the ones that hit me early. With only 42K miles on your car I vote for a minor issue.

Lets hope the above are the problem because if they aren't you are getting into a bit of money, ie air shock, sway bar bushings (low parts cost but big labor on this one), knuckle carrier, upper cont'l arm, etc.

The mechanical knowledge necessary to do anything to the front suspension on our cars is not great (you do need a bit of study re the air shock) but the parts cost can be "interesting".

 

Tom,

I don't know where you get your service done but in Irving TX there are a number of well regarded indie Jag shops in range. The reason I bring this up is that dealer shops will want to rebuild your entire front suspension and at 42K miles this is probably not necessary. Usually you can get an indie serv tech to replace only what is broken and only on the side of the problem - within reason mind you. I have assumed that you don't live at the end of a 20 mile wash board road?

BTW-Don't blame the dealer tech as dealerships have a horror of call backs and tend to punish service techs who get them. Therefore, dealer service techs tend to replace everything the law allows, left, right and center.

 

Thanks everyone for your replies. They have all been helpful in my trying to decide what, if anything, I will do about the noise problem. As someone said, maybe I will just live with the noise.

Regards,

Tom

 

Tom,
have you checked your upper ball joints and your upper shock bushings, i didnt see anything mention there, i have same noise on my 95 xj6, geting ready to replace ***** joints. I found this info out on jagbits.com, look at menu on left for tech info
. car rides find on a smooth surface but , yes once you hit those pesty bumps on the road theres the rattle. good luck
Geno
95 xj6

 

I just came back to Jag XJR after tooling around with a Maserati Quattroporte for a couple of years. Picked up an 04 with 52k miles, and loving it. But I am also getting a rattling noise coming from both sides of my front suspension. Besides the noise on rough roads, the suspension is fine. My mechanic also thinks its coming from the shocks, because the rest of the suspension seems to be fine. Is there any other solution besides changing out the shock with a new or rebuilt one? is there an aftermarket solution for it? Can they be swapped out with "non airshocks" ?

 

JAGUAR Air Suspension Parts - XJ Series 2004-2010 XJ Series

Jaguar XJ8 Air Suspension Fault Solution

 

It has developed a similar noise on the right side and I can feel it in the steering. Driving off road, over some rail tracks and some right hand turns. Dealer is looking at it now.

 

I have a similar noise on my 99 VDP. I have heard and confirmed that my lower shock bushes are worn out. It can also be the the bushes at the top shock mount. I have not had a chance to change them out yet, yesterday I just had a transmission hiccup so now my focus has turned there.

 

Jaguar service says it is all of the control arm bushings leaking and they are being replaced under warranty.

 

Glad you are getting it sorted out!

 

Me too! And a free alignment to boot!