Dear Jaguar Forums,

I have an issue with my 1999 x308 XJR.

It has 125k miles on it and I replaced the upper and lower ball joints, wishbone bushes and subframe mounts around 15k miles ago.

When I reverse and break I get a clunk from the near side front suspension, and then when I immediately drive forward and break again I get the same clunk. But if I drive forward again and break there is no clunk.

It seems as if when I reverse and break something pops out and stays popped out until I drive forward and break, and then it pops back in again. And under subsequent forward breaking there is no clunk (until I reverse and stop again, when it clunks again)

I think this might be either the spring moving in its spring pan or a loose ball joint, or maybe one of the ball joints has come out of the wishbone?

Any help or advice would be great..

Many thanks and belated new years wishes!

Adrian O'Neill

 

Adrian,
Unless something has gone amiss with your recent replacements. I would look at the upper shock mount bushings. This about all that is left to replace. Does it make noise as your driving, rough road, speed bumps, railroad crossings etc.?
Wildcard: Is your brake caliper securley bolted in place? Both pads in place? This would have been removed for the noted work.
Perhaps a Tech will chime in with an idea. Good luck.

 

Hi Ralph,

Thanks for your reply, much appreciated.

When it first started to happen around six months ago, it was very rare, and only happened once every time I braked going forward for every time I braked going backward. But now it sometimes clunks when I go over a speedbump or under breaking.

I did all the bush and balljoint replacement myself 15k ago and since then I've replaced the discs and pads, so the callipers have been off twice and every time, when I torqued them back on again, I added a bit of loctite to the thread and used the recommended torque settings in JTIS.

I'll check the upper shock mount bushings and I'll get someone to drive the car backward and forward slowly and break while I watch what's going and listen to what's going on.

I might try to look for someone with a pit so I can drive over and back while looking underneath at the same time for some form of visible indicator of the problem.

Best wishes!
Adrian