I bought the car a few months ago.

It comes with air suspension but I soon noticed vibration through the bodywork and felt "sea-sick" when I started driving it. The car appears to wallow and sway.

I went back to the dealer, who said they cannot find anything, but I can still feel there is a problem and would like to fix it.

Can anyone shed light on the possible cause of this, please?

 

Can you provide more detail on the car, like mileage, and whether service history is complete or not. Clearly previous owners have been OK as the car has managed to get through 8 years of use. Sometimes suspensions on cars one is not used to can give sickness symptoms, my wife suffered with our XJ6 Sport shortly after I bought it but no longer.

If the car is swaying around as you say, a shock absorber could have failed. Any signs of oil leakage around the bottom of the air-spring units ?
Worn joints in the suspension could, I suppose, be contributing.

Any fault codes and messages ?

 

Hi and thanks for your reply, and advice.

Mileage is 55,000 - full service history at same garage - one owner.

To inspect for oil leakage I would need to take it to a garage and have it put up on a ramp, as I believe that area is covered over.

I take your point about possible worn joints.

I don't have any fault messages or codes unfortunately.

 

No faults displayed, and dealer says car is OK - it's a good start, because suspension issues can be costly to sort out !

Your car is the same engine, year and mileage as mine. Last October I had to have some rear suspension work done - new lower wishbone joints, lower spring/shock unit joints, and a tie rod (this provides rear tracking adjustment for each rear wheel). I also had an air compressor in 2010, but nothing else has needed doing suspension-wise. The suspension joints are not long lived unfortunately, and until recently, replacement was very expensive, but the aftermarket suppliers are now up-to-speed on this one. The joints are common to all modern Jaguars, (S-Type, X350 XJ, plus new XJ, and XF)

My car is pretty stable, (at least to me), and doesn't wallow and sway in my opinion, but is a Sport with harder suspension. Note that the air suspension seems to pass through much more of the small road imperfections than a car with steel springs. This could be your vibration, or you have a balance or wheel distortion problem.

What I suggest is you get a separate opinion on the car's handling, (not the dealer), like a friend or two. Take them out for a spin, and ask if they get sick or queezy. Normally Jaguars are renowned for their ride quality. A lot of this is subjective, and if the new car is very different from the previous one, it can seem faulty.

What was your previous car ? What is your wheel size, and what tyres are on them ?

 

Congratulations on the new ride ;o)
Your description is rather vague and lacking in detail.
Let's get back to basics....have you made sure the wheels are all balanced correctly?
Are you running the correct tyre pressures?
At 55K, it's not a very high mileage to display 'problems' but hey I've seen worse ;o))
The rear suspension lower arm bushes are a know X350 problem but should not be showing signs of wear at that low mileage.

Cheers,
Maximus

 

Thanks again for the replies.

I have had a separate opinion from an independent Jaguar garage and he suggested I change the tyres - so i changed both at the front. They are Pirellis - I think 17 inch oblique. It was a but better but still not right.

It's also had a new prop shaft from the jaguar dealer - at their expense - £1,000! It had the feeling of a prop shaft issue. That did not help though.

I have taken friends - including friends with Jaguars - out, and they agree that there is vibration.

My previous car was a Rover Stirling 2.5 V6 quadcam. It did over 100K miles and the ride was perfect.

The wheels have been checked and are balanced corrctly. Pressures are correct, 34 psi rear, 32 psi front.

 

Where exactly do you perceive this 'vibration'?
Is it high frequency or low frequency....harsh or soft??
At what speeds does this manifest itself?
Does it change with different road surfaces?

Cheers,
Maximus

 

You may need to check the rear tyres and wheels. If a car has been stood a long time, you can get flats on the tyres, although these normally disappear after some miles of driving. I had this syndrome on a Mazda Xedos, and ended up having to change the tyres. Wheels can also get distorted.

 

I notice the vibration when freewheeling down a hill and then under load gong uphill. It's the same pitch of noise on all road surfaces. As regard the pitch - it's more like a throb - more soft than harsh. You cannot hear it, you can just feel it. If anything it is more low pitched, I suppose.

It feels as if it comes up through the seat. There is certainly a definite tremor/reverberation transmittinfg through the bodywork.

It is noticeable at about 30-50 mph and also about 70mph, on a motorway - very irritating and uncomfortable!

I have the tyres reversed - rear to front - but there is no change. I am pretty certain that all the tyres and wheels are OK.

This car is under warranty for one year. Having purchased it last October from a main Jaguar agent. However, they will not warranty the issue at hand.

To begin with it felt like a prop shaft tremor. It is embarrassing when passengers ride with me - especially on long distance motorway journeys. The ride is spoilt by this tremor and is uncomfortable- especially coming from a Jaguar marque like this. Never judge a book by it's cover!

It went into the garage the first time and they replaced the prop shaft. But when I took delivery of the car the tremor was still there.

If I had to bet on I'd say it was the air suspension - might I have to replace two front suspension legs?

I mat in the meantime go to my local Jaguar Drivers' Club and see what they have to say.

 

What size wheels ? I changed down to 18s from 20s and had no problems. Ride was harsh with vibration at speed on the 20s. Balancing failed to cure it.

 

They are actually 18s...

 

OK, worth a try. These vibrations whilst underway can be very difficult to sort out. Maybe an inspection with the car up on a lift ? Check all joints etc. As it does it whilst freewheeling it does not sound like tranmission or engine.
Are the tyres reputable makes, or Joe Noname ?

 

Thanks for the tip - I have actually put the car up on a lift.

They are Pirelli tyres.

The car is now back at the dealer, for further inspection. I am myself 90% certain that the issue is caused by the suspension.

 

Couldn't hurt to check the rims for bends or warping and do a road-force balancing on all 4 wheels. Not the regular balancing. This has solved vibrations for me in the past. I changed my propshaft as well to no avail.

 

Thankyou - all useful information. The car is still at the garage!