07 XK dreaded drone at 1250 rpms GONE- pics
 

Hey Guys,

I just purchased my first Jag Nov 23rd, and thanks to this forum I found out about the dreaded drone at 1250 rpm's. The dealer installed the Catalytic converter brackets and the noise is GONE. Others have stated that the fix merely moves the sound to a different range of rpm's, but thats not the case with my Jag. A few have wondered if they could fabricate the brackets but I think that would be fairly difficult, Anyway I also thought I would post a few pics for those that asked.

I put her up on my lift to get a better look.

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/a...ine=1357078329

The brackets are at the front of the Cats both are black.

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/a...ine=1357078329

Drivers side

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/a...ine=1357078329

Passengers side

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/a...ine=1357078329

Notice that both side use two bolts on the transmission to secure them.

How many hours to do the job? What was the parts cost?

I'm jealous of your awesome garage!!!

I assume the dealer installed an official Jaguar part; and, if so, the dealer may have referenced the part number(s) on your invoice. Please check your invoice and post the part numbers for us. Thanks!

:icon_ditto:

Thanks as well, I'm glad to finally see some shots of the bracket...
Not an easy thing to replicate, thats for sure!

Vince

Sorry, I was going to post the costs, etc but forgot. Total cost was $729.31, labor was $168.75. Brackets part numbers C2P13477 and C2P13478 $280.28 each.

Dang... That ain't cheap for those brackets!

Tried to order the brackets from Sacramento Jaguar over the internet. Here is their reply:

In checking availability on these, the status show ‘contact customer service’. In speaking with them, these brackets can only be ordered through a tech hotline case, which means that the vehicle has to be in the shop and the technician has to must work directly with Jaguar for approval before they will send out the part. So unfortunately, we cannot order these brackets. I’m sorry that we could not help but thanks for inquiring.

Yeah, when I called our dealer I was informed they needed to confirm the problem and contact Jaguar. Bottom line is they had my Jag for 2 weeks. They were waiting for the confirmation, then the parts, then they sent the wrong parts, blah,blah,blah! If Jag is so fussy about approval you would think they would pay for this!

Wow.... That's simply wrong of Jag on so many levels.....

(Makes me want to get under there and fabricate something! grrr)https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/a...ine=1357184470

Vince

2007 JAGUAR XK Parts - Direct JPLV Porsche Parts.com

Those bkts show up on the online Gaudin site for $189 ea.

Very clever solution; thus the Engine, transmission and exhaust are all still rubber mounted.
But brackets at $280 apiece must have been made by a Swiss Dental Firm!
I think I'll just change gear......................or buy some gold!
Thanks for pics
Adrian

PS
Gaudin has always been a great place to do buisness IMHO

I don't have a droning sound at 1250 rpm. Or at least my brain doesn't recognize it... yet!

Any opinion why jaguar wouldnt do this under some extended warranty? Maybe we should be making some noise? Its a high price to pay for what is an original defect....

lol Agreed!

I'm lucky, because although my 07 does have the drone, it is far too soft to be annoying. If it were, I'd be down at the muffler shop with these pics, and they would have a bracket made and installed in under an hour.

I wonder if there is any problem of heat conduction from the cats to the transmission? Or is there some sort of insulator on the band part of the bracket? No need to be heating the tranny fluid any more than necessary.

As much as we love the brand, Jag is no different from certain other auto companies. They cover up huge and minor design blunders and pass the cost on to unwary owners, usually 2nd or 3rd generation. Think of the great air suspension screw up on the 04 and up XJs, the chain tensioner & nikasil liners on early XKs, etc,etc,etc. Then to compound it all, they adapt a policy of restricted service info, predatory parts/service pricing at the dealer level and non communication with the out of warranty mkt.

All of the above results in thousands of otherwise perfectly well running beautiful cars going off to an early grave, a shrinking dealer network and an undeserved reputation for bad "general" reliability.

Come to think of it, the above describes GM and certain other European auto manufacturers. I had an 2000 Buick that had 6 power window failures just for starters. :icon_no: The rub is Jag does not have the US government/tax payer to bail it out and they operate in a "niche" mkt. I"m a Jag owner for 40+ years and the Ford experience was my last hope. Can nobody save us?:icon_hyper:

Is a droning sound really going to put any XKs into an early grave? Sheesh!

Cars just aren't designed perfectly, and I don't think we can expect them to be. What car have you ever driven that was perfectly engineered? Even my old Lexus LS400, which is the pinnacle of precision in terms of engineering and manufacturing, had many flaws. Every car company produces vehicles with seemingly obvious flaws that owners feel entitled to be free from.

If I were a car company, I certainly wouldn't spend thousands of dollars on each car I sold installing new exhaust systems on six year old specimens, or even go through the trouble of re-engineering parts for said specimens when I should be focusing on R&D for new models.

IMO, when a car is put into production, the design of that car is already complete and isn't going to get any better. Any design flaws will manifest themselves over time. As these problems occur, the best they can really do is to make sure these problems don't happen on future models.

I guess my point is, I agree with you--Jaguar is no different than other car companies, but why would we expect it to be? I don't find this disappointing or upsetting.

FWIW, the drone at 1250 -1400 on the XK isn't limited to early models. I have it too, especially when I'm in a higher gear. Driving in sport mode helps to avoid it because the gears run at higher rpm, and of course, downshifting stops it too. The fact that I have the Mina exhaust might also be part of the cause. I never drove the car without the Mina, so I don't know if the drone is there without it.

I placed an on-line order for the brackets from Gaudin Jaguar; and included in my comments the specific quote from Sacramento Jaguar refusing my earlier order. The order was accepted on-line yesterday. No news yet as to whether or not Gaudin can fulfill the order. I will keep the forum posted

I'll wait until the spring, I hope Akebono ceramic pads on the market by then.

Yesterday I said" very clever design" today I'm not so sure. I came to the same conclusion, last night, as 'Heima'. It's not smart to transfer the Catalytic Converter heat into a transmission; can't see any insulation band on the brackets!
So now I have at least 2 reasons to pass on this idea; cost , heat and a third Galvanic Corrosion between the Steel and Al .
Some Catalytic Converters can run at 2000 deg F; haven't measured my XK's.................
Transmission on my wife's XK8 was $6000!
The rumble on my car is not too bad,

Interesting subject, Adrian

Gaupin also cancelled my order:
I AM SORRY REYMOND BUT WE ARE A JAGUAR DEALER AS WELL THIS ITEMS IS A "CONTACT CUSTOMER SERVICE" TIME. I HAVE CANCELLED THE ORDER WE ARE NOT ABLE TO ORDER THESE ITEMS FOR YOU. PLEASE ALLOW 3-7 WORKING DAYS TO SHOW CREDIT BACK TO YOUR ACCOUNT.

To me, it is not worth the effort, time and cost to travel 50 miles to my friendly Jaguar dealer, then wait for the part, etc. My "drone" is tolerable.

I hope some enterprising vendor will duplicate these parts and offer them at a reasonable price. They look easy to install; and I see no problem with heat transfer. If the brackets are powder coated, then that should prevent any major/structural electrolysis.

Alan'

The issue isn't the "drone" man. It's the "pattern" of non responsiveness to accumulated design blunders over the years. My point is not that Jag is a singular offender.

The point is: Jag, unlike some others, can't afford the continued offense to the secondary mkt and survive. In that respect Jag is singular.

Jag has done a marvelous job on the design and initial reliability front in recent years. They have failed to turn their reputation in the minds of the general public because their secondary mkt gets creamed by service policy expenses. ie; closely held info, little to no 3rd party providers, no relief on design blunders.

You and I, like many of the folks on this forum, are members of the Jag secondary mkt. We can afford to indulge our passion. The trouble is, we are not many and certainly in no position to change the mind of John Q. Puplic.

My last car was a 2012 Ford Mustang, which is fitted with a well documented crappy cheap Chinese manual transmission provided by Getrag. Literally hundreds of people on the Mustang boards I was a part of had sudden transmission failures, 1st gear lockouts, popping out of gear, etc., and this was brought to Ford's attention constantly, and no responses were ever given and it was always blamed on driver error.

Then look at the issues with Toyota/Lexus's sudden acceleration problem. Countless incidents of sudden acceleration, and they were all blamed on driver error.

In these two cases, both of them involved new or nearly new cars (still under warranty) and were potentially indicative of a design/manufacturing blunder. Maybe I'm not paying close enough attention, but I have yet to hear of Jaguar refusing to address a problem with a car still under the original factory warranty, whereas other car companies sometimes refuse to do so, even with a practically brand new car. This was especially true with the case of the 2011+ Ford Mustangs.

Not to mention how easy it is to call up the Jaguar Concierge or Jaguar Customer Relations to talk to a real live person about your car issues. It always took ten calls to different places whenever I needed something for my Ford!

I think Jaguar is learning from past mistakes. Gone are the Nikasil liner problems, plastic belt tensioners, etc. Heck, the new XJ doesn't even have air suspension in the front anymore! It's progress--is that really going to kill Jaguar in the secondary market?

Who knows--I'm sure I'll change my tune when I have the transmission blow up out of warranty!!! :D

While I found this thread interesting, I also found it perplexing. My 2007 XK had the same irritating droning noise at about 1250 rpm. I simply went to my local Jaguar dealer, asked them to order the brackets and to make a service appointment for me for installation. The parts came in two days later and were installed. No fuss, no muss, no argument...and the noise was completely eliminated - there is no transfer of the noise to any other speed range. It is just gone. Now, can it be that Canadian Jaguar dealers operate differently than those elsewhere? I don't know - but there was no problem at all with a simple request which was fulfilled asap.

To be fair, the Getrag is well liked on the Chrysler boards and of course it was the transmission on the Supra Turbo. It is also the transmission of choice for all kinds of swaps in Australia.

Unreal. It would have to be a deafening noise for me to want those mid evil looking things bolted to anything I own. No way..

Trust me: the noise was so unpleasant that it masked the enjoyment of the car. The brackets completely remove this noise and as a result the XK has reverted to it proper character. The brackets are invisible except to one actually UNDER the car, and they do the job. Expensive, yes. necessary, yes.

Gregory

Wow, very glad my XKR does not do that.

I think some have it more than others. It is there on my XKR but I have had to point it out to passengers as it is not too intrusive. YMMV