Timing is everything. I am out of town at the hospital because my dad is barely surviving a heart attack. The wife calls to tell me that the Jag is making a "scratching noise" when she accelerates from 43-50mph. She can also feel it in the pedals. She had the rear brakes changed, the exhaust check for anything loose and checked the spare and jack to make sure nothing can move around. Please tell me it is something stupid like a fuel filter or egr or something simple.... i can't deal with this!

 

anyone ever have a bad ujoint? could it be that?

 

Were there any problems before the brake pad change? Did they turn or replace the rotors, check the front pads, rotors and wheel bearings?

I had this happen after installing new front pads and rotors. It turned out that I had bent the sheet metal backing cover slightly where it would flex and barely rub the rotor at times. Believe it or not the noise did not happen all of the time which is similar to what you've described.

In general, if she is feeling it in the pedal, the bearings could be worn, possible rotor runout or the pads and hardware not installed properly. Hope this helps.

 

she heard the noise... then had it looked at, then the rear brakes were done to try to see if that was it..... the noise continues. I thought of bearings but there are many threads were bearings are changed and it turned out not to be needed. Plus the noise is in a straight line. Nothing noticeable while turning.

 

Off topic, but I have to throw this message , I hope your dad recovers soon and gets none the worse for it after the hospital

 

I appreciate that.... the last couple of days we have actually seen some improvement which has surprised many people at the hospital.

 

Ken, sorry to hear about your Dad - you have our thoughts and prayers for a full recovery.

As for the Jag, a lot of us have low mileage cars that have good tire tread but the tires are 5 - 10 years old. Tread separation can make a noise as you described at speed. Definitely worth checking out especially if the tires are older. Best of luck to you and your family.

Ken Lier

 

i finally was able to come home. My dad, after almost loosing him twice, is finally making enough progress that i could come back home to work. He has surprised many by pulling through. Anyway, i drove the car and it does sound like scratching or swooshing at 43 -50mph. But i also noticed that at very low speeds, like 10mph, as you get on the gas you hear a small clack noise, like two things coming together, and immediately let off the gas you hear it again. Not sure if it is a new sound or not..... do the half shafts or cv joints wear out by 45,000miles? I check the boots not long ago and they were fine.

 

Is your e-brake slightly engaged...I know, simple stuff that probably was crossed off the list on day one, but that's the first thing I thought of. If not, check the front brake calipers to make sure they guide pins are not causing the caliper to drag on releasing. Buildup of brake dust, especially OEM pads (they are the worst) can contribute to this. More than one member have found that to be the case. Caliper can stay on the rotor for this quick check and cleaning/lubrication. Get some synthetic caliper grease from down the street.

I am not sure the 'clack' noise is related to the scratching. scratching is rotational, the clack is not. For clacking, check the sway bar bushings. Easiest way, jack up the car on one corner, place a jack stand under the frame jack point. place your floor jack under the tire and take off the pressure of it just hanging there by jacking it up a bit. Now, under the car, inside rear wheel, try to shake the sway bar end as close to the frame as possible (I did this just last night as a matter of fact). The bar should not move at all, and there should be no noise. Mine had a rattle on driver side, one of the two bolts on the bracket had backed out. But when the bushing went bad the first time, you could hear the bar hitting the bracket/frame by pushing/pulling on it. Just a check you can do yourself. The bushings go quick in that spot.

 

"as you get on the gas you hear a small clack noise, like two things coming together, and immediately let off the gas you hear it again."

That sounds like some type of timing chain noise. Does it make a clack noise when it is started?

 

I will check the sway bar...not sure if that would consistently make noise just in this speed range... i plan to be under the car today so i will check it though. I also don't have the ebrake on. I have done that before and the car seems to chime at you once you start driving. I have heard that more than once LOL. I will report back when i get this figured out because it seems maybe i have come across a new/unique problem here.

 

The super slow clack noise did not seems to come up today under normal conditions so it's possible that it was always there and i never noticed. As far as the real problem ie. scratching noise, it had a fluid sound to it so i changed the fuel filter since that can cause all kinds of issues, but it was no help here. Going into the shop next Thursday or Friday.

 

I am having this same "scratching noise" issue at the same speed range. It has been driving me crazy. I have checked bearings, rotors, brake dust shield... seems like everything, but can't find it. Did you ever find a solution? I would love to find out that it is something simple and not a big transmission issue or something.

 

I sense a similar problem in my own car. I have a grinding type noise coming from the rear. It goes away when I take my foot off the gas. And sometimes comes back when I press it again. In sport mode, it happens at a highers speed, and in fuel thrift mode, it happens around the speed you're telling me. I brought it into a local independent Jag guy for another issue and when I told him about it he said it's the rear differential, but nothing to worry about at all. I don't know much about cars, or what a rear differential is, but I hope it's not a big issue.

 

it turned out to be a very small piece of something in the exhaust system. Seemed to be made of metal and would just rattle at that certain speed and vibration. I suspect it came off of a baffle or something inside one of the mufflers or crossover pipe etc.