The bad roads of southern Tuscany are not doing the Jag well. Or they simply bring out some issues that have been there for some time, me unknowing.

Yesterday the car started getting this suspension clunk, which I now found that I can trigger with sharp right turns at speed. It should be clearly audible on this video:


Any ideas about the cause of this? With my limited car knowledge, I would suspect the anti-roll bar links. I took a picture of the front left anti-roll bar link, but I don't really know what it is supposed to look like. Perhaps the lower bushing of the link looks a bit worn, could this be the cause?

 

Do also hear it when going over speed bumps at slow speed?

Sound like the upper shock mount or maybe the away bar bushes, although sway bar usually sounds more like a constant rattling over uneven pavement.

Check the top side of the shock tower under the bonnet. Remove the plastic cap and if you see the bolt being very far off center or if there is a lot of rubber dust, that is probably it. You may even be able to bounce the car by hand and make the noise.

 

I hear it when going over bumps at any speed really. The only time I do not hear it, would be when going on a perfectly smooth surface. Also, turning sharp left does NOT cause the sound, only turning sharp right.

I snapped some pictures of the upper shock mounts just now, and from what I can tell, they look ok.

The search goes on...

 

Sounds somewhat similar to a clunk I have been trying to track down. I have not tried inducing it like you did by moving the wheel at speed but it is pretty much always there driving down city streets at low-to-moderate speeds. I can guarantee to get the sound when the right tire first meets a speed bump/hump even at a crawl. When inside the car the sound seems to come from under the dash behind the glove box area. I checked the strut brace under the hood (the one that goes from the shock tower to the cowl) but that seems pretty tight. I also brought it to a local Jaguar guy a number of times and he thought it was stabilizer bushing and lower wishbone bushings but after replacing those the noise was still there.

I keep meaning to bring the car back to him suggesting that he look at upper wishbone bushings and upper shock mount.


Doug

 

Azetag,
you may try looking at the transmission mount. The mount is a metal plate with a lot of hard rubber, creating almost a cradle to hold the transmission, the rubber had completely cracked and was broken. The problem was that you could not see the crack until the mount was removed because the weight of the transmission kept the rubber pieces looking as if they were still one piece, but it was not, so presumably when the cover goes over a bump it easily separates and then comes back together creating a clunk or thud that could be heard. Just a thought because this is exactly what happened to me. A new Transmission mount solved that problem!

 

I would however think that the transmission mount would make noises when accelerating, or perhaps when taking the foot off the accelerator. This noise seem to only be related to tiny bumps or right turns. It sounds like it comes from under the dash, driver side. I tried to shake both strut braces, but they won't move a millimeter. I should perhaps check them more in detail, but I cannot really do much right now from the Tuscan countryside. Hopefully the car will last the remaining 800 or so miles...

 

Another possibility might be the lower shock bushing, where the shock mounts to the lower control arm. If the rubber part disintegrates then the wheel can move a little relative to the shock.

This is hard to check for without having the car off the ground but it will manifest as some vertical play in the wheel. With the weight off the front wheels you can use a pry bar or lever on the wheel and see if it moves. The bushing will allow some play in ONLY the vertical direction, not side to side. If there is wiggle side to side then it's a ball joint or tie rod end. You should also be able to see the bolt that runs through the center move relative to the shock.

This isn't so much a safety problem since the bolt itself is captive on both sides of the shock and there is a steel outer and steel inner on the bushing so nothing can come flying apart. See Attachment.

I currently have this problem and need to fix it, just haven't gotten around to making a bushing extractor tool.


PS This is a guess, I haven't tried to recreate the noise in the way you did with quick turning.

 

Actually, I keep thinking the car is coming from somewhere inside the vehicle rather than outside. With that thought I kept scanning through parts diagrams to see what it could possibly be. One possibility is something called a cowl brace (I think) that is shown in the attached pdf. I am not sure exactly where to look for this but I suppose it might be visible if I remove the center console (apparently a 5 minute job).


Doug

 

Also. the rear brake-light (the one in the window) may have come loose. My petrol filler cover flap is loose and that makes a rattle.

Best wishes, Colin

 

My wife was driving back to our hotel yesterday, after visiting a jazz festival in Perugia. I had a bit too much wine to risk driving, one of the upsides with a pregnant wife is that she can always drive

Anyway, I kept moving around in the car to find out where the clunk is coming from, and it sounds centered around the middle-left, somewhere behind the left side of the stereo. I think the cowl brace suggestion is a good idea, I definitely have to check that when I get back home.

The trip here has also made me realize that the suspension is in dire need of upgrades, so I'm considering a complete renewal of shocks and bushings all around. What could I expect to pay for such a surgery?

 

This is how my suspension behaves right now. Front does the same, but not as crazy as the rear.

Would love to hear any opinions on what you guys would start replacing to fix this rocking chair of a car...

 

Cheap suggestions to check out.
1. On the drivers side stablizer bar, check inward from link about 8" where it curves inward and out of sight from the wheel well next to the inner body steel just above it. If the bar has shifted slightly off center it will contact this when the spring is compressed on turns or bumps and make an irritating "dubba dubba" bumping sound.
2. If you remove the speaker next to the windshield on the drivers side, you will find a structural bolt joining cowl framework in behind, which can make an odd and hard to locate noise. (rare, but found it loose on mine.)
Best of luck.
Cheers
TheCounty

 

Not sure but follow your instincts before you spend $. I am not sure if the set up is the same on an '03 but I had one of the bars that go across corners of engine compartment (diagonally) come loose on my '97. Could definitely hear it on the slow bumps. Do not recall it happening when turning. This is a weird description but it almost sounded like the noise was coming out of the windshield. On that car I needed a small puller to get the windshield wipers off to remove the cowl and the side of the brace that sat under it. I took them off and retorqued. No more noise! Free fix so worth a go.

 

I've had this noise on many cars, always been the drop links.

 

Check the strut brace first, after my complete bush/bearing/balljoint front end rebuild, I had a similar clunk from behind the dash.

I hadn't fully torqued up the brace beneath the windscreen, once torqued up the clunk was gone.

 

I just came back from a 45-minute checkup at the local Jaguar specialist. His verdict:

- Driver side motor mount is toast.
- Passenger side stabilizer link bushings are toast. Driver side link also in a pretty bad condition.
- Stabilizer bar bushings are toast.
- All 4 lower wishbone bushings need to be replaced.
- Front lower shock bushings are toast.
- Driver side wheel bearing should be replaced. (Some 6-12 play)

René the mechanic thought that the engine mount is the most likely source of the clunk.

Sounds like a lot, but it is actually less than I expected. He said my shocks and springs are in a good condition, so are the upper wishbone bushings and ball joints, as well as the steering balljoints.

His time estimates for taking care of it all:

1h driver side motor mount
4h lower wishbone bushings
1h stabilizer bushings and links
2h Shock bushings
2h wheel bearing
Total: 10h

Does this sound reasonable?

 

Thanks for the great picture! I actually had the cowl off yesterday to investigate this, but couldn't find any play in the brace. I tried to re-torque it, but turns out I didn't have the right size Torx. What kind of gigantic Torx is one supposed to use?

Picked up a Tx45 and Tx50 1/4" sockets today, might give it another go (but it is painful removing the same damn thing again...) Do you know which torque they should have?

 

Passenger side sway bar link is toast for sure, but noise sounds like it comes from around the accelerator pedal area, which would make me suspect the broken engine mount.

 

1. I'm going ahead with sway bar bushings and links replacement, so we'll see what that does.

2. I checked the bolt and tried to retorque it. It was already firm as a teenage bottom.

 

The workshop manual did not specify the torque, I just nipped it up a further quarter turn with my ALDI torx kit.