Morning gents,
Purchased a beautiful 95 VDP this week. The Car is in excellent order in almost every way. A few issues to sort out, though. Living in St. Augustine, Florida we have many brick and cobblestone like streets. This morning i was driving down a brick road near my office and at slow speeds i noticed a heavy metallic rattling noise. It's not a violent or loud noise but it is noticeable. Sounds like its coming from the front . Also, I put her on a lift yesterday, noticed the rear diff has a good bit of oil on it and it gives a small shunt when i am cruising and add gas or let off the gas. Could this be a sign that i need to fix a seal and add fluid? or is it more than that?

Thanks in advance,
-Eli

 

Sounds like the A/C condenser lost it's mount bushes.
Or the engine coolant radiator mounts are disintegrated.

aholbro1 has written about the parts and procedures in many of his posts.

do a search for this.

bob gauff

 

Or shock bushes; the uppers are usually the first to go and visible with the hood raised, but it is a more violent sounding noise.


I think there are others, but this should get you started:
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...shings-102601/


https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...-maybe-125216/

 

Will have a good lok at this tomorrow. Thanks for the help.
E.

 

I have had a rattle in the front of my car for a long time. It sounded like it came from an area in the body that would be just left of my left foot and right behind the left front wheel. It was a very metalic sound. Thought it might be the shock bushings. Finally got smart, well almost, and pounded low on the left front fender aft of the wheel. I could then hear the rattle right against the inside of the finder. Pulled the wheel shield and found two drain lines, for what I don't know, that were laying against the inside of the fender. They were of very hard rubber and could make a metalic sound with the fender. Glued a little foam rubber between the drains and finder. Problem solved. Shocks are fine.

 

A little update. I checked the radiator bushings. Both are in great shape. Do describe the noise better; it is a heavy sounding metallic rattle. It is not necessarily a violent noise but it sounds heavy like it could be an axle component.

 

Check your seats! My XJ40 had a persistent clunk over rough roads - I changed the front shock bushings, sway bar links, sway bar bushes, rear sub-frame mounts, rear shocks AND fitted new springs - still had a slight bump on rough terrain ..eventually found the culprit - the torx bolts that secure the driver and passenger seat mounts to the seat frame had worked loose!

good luck

Larry

 

This is most definitely an exterior issue. I could also say with almost certainty that it is a suspension problem as well.

 

Diagnosing suspension noises (or any other noise) is notoriously difficult but as with any other fault it is best to identify the fault before throwing parts at the problem.

I have 2 main tools in my armoury for this. The first is a home made suspension rocking tool. I posted how to make one some time ago. See this link
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...g-tool-110659/

The second is an electronic microphone/stethoscope. This allow microphone to be attached to parts of the car while you drive and listen to each one on headphones. As a minimum it allows you to pinpoint the area where the noise is coming from.

Not really cheap at around 120 GBP but mine has easily paid for itself over the years (There are wireless versions available now also). Here's a link to the Sealey kit I have.

Sealey VS007 Electronic Stethoscope Kit | eBay

 

Thank you for the help.
Quite an innovative tool you have developed.

 

The from lower shock bushing was shot on mine. Easy to spot and a $5 part.