I posted to the wrong forum same subject . My 94 XJ40 has a squeal under the hood when cold starting,and getting worse. It is not a belt squeal it a much higher pitch than that. It sounds to me like it is a bearing of some sort . It is most noticeable in cold weather on first start up but now it has started to happen on warm starts and will return after the vehicle has been driven 30-45 mins. Usually at low speed/idle. The squeal will appear , the voltage gauge drops down for 15-20 secs and then seems like something clicks on and it goes back to normal. I have replaced the A/C compressor and the alternator with no improvement. I don't see any weeps from the water pump so I don't think that's it. It's to the point now that the belts look as though could jump off the pulleys when I rev the engine . My repair guy , he's not a Jag guy but replaced the A/C and alternator, thinks it possibly a crankshaft bushing. IDK. Any ideas ?

 

Hello,

I had the same symptoms. I thought it would be a simple belt. It was the harmonic balancer. They have a rubber component in them that fails, usually about 100k or so. The dealer wanted about $975.00 US for a new one, plus labor. I found one with 60k miles on it for $75.00 and had a tech of mine put it in for about $60.00 US.

I kept the original and intend to send it out for rebuild to have on hand when this one fails. I'll post when I do.

Anyway, they fail sort of slowly but that awful squeal is not very "Jag-like"....so the sooner the better.

Good luck!

 

Thanks for the reply. I will look into that. That actually makes sense. I've got 130k, of that,my own are about 25k. I think this cat sat up for a few years before I purchased it. Thanks again !

 

Several places rebuild the dampers. I used Damper Doctor but there are others.

bob gauff

 

Best way to find the noise is to use a section of hose. Hold one end to your ear, and walk the other end around unit it gets really loud.