Ever since I've had my XK8, there's this faint high-pitched chirping coming from (what I think is) down by the kick panel, driver's side, every time there's any sort of vibration, at city up to highway speeds.

It's hard to film since it's only while driving, I've banged on everything I can reach and can't reproduce it. Thought I could just ignore it but at this point it's driving m e#$%&^*$$^&*$%!#@%$^@$(*&*%$&^$*%&#%^@$*&^%(^*&$#@ ^&%$#&(**%#-ing insane.

I've fluid-filmed the **** out of any thing that hinges or moves, like pedal attach points, door hinge... arrrrrgh.

Mayyyyyybe possibly be coming from door, seat, .. but again it's really hard to pinpoint it.

Anyone else had this? Any ideas?? Unless this cat swallowed an invincible bird that chirps endlessly... I'm at a loss....

 

If it's that bad, you will have to remove all the plastic panels/covers/trim from the are where you think the sound is from. The underside of the steering wheel comes off easily, I assume the kick panel has to be easy to remove. Do this one at a time so you can identify what changes. Generally speaking, Jaguar seem to put a lot of effort into keeping things quiet. Wiring harnesses are secured, there is foam and electrical tape everywhere. Unless it's been messed with. Do you have an after market radio? After market input (satellite radio, MP3 input, etc)? Try and look for evidence of recent work. The brake switch is a common issue, and it requires foam pads to be moved around. Nitty gritty, I know, but sometimes this is what it takes.

Best of luck, keep us posted.

 

How are your upper shock mounts? I had a similar sound when the rubber bushings were broken down to the point where metal was rubbing.

I know it seems weird but others have reported the same thing.

 

Defroster vents on my car. had to take them out, wrap them in butyl tape and put them back in.

 

I'll have to check the mounts when I can get it up on a lift.. It really does sound like it comes from the inside. It's not loud, but it's just continual. Very faint actually (but... squeaks and rattles are a pet peeve of mine).

I don't think there was every any work done on it.. There was 1 previous owner and everything looks completely stock. I'm hesitant to take all that apart lest some brittle plastic busts and just adds a new noise or makes it worse..

rothwell, what was the mileage when you had the noise? Were you able to reproduce it while stationary?

Ungn, were you able to reproduce that noise when parked? How massive of a job is that? I'm considering swapping in some LED dash gauge bulbs so might disassemble to that point.. will it be more efficient to do it then, or is it a totally different route of dismantling everything?

I forgot to mention, there is a subtle clunking feel on the steering, no noise that I can notice, just a bit of a clunk at some point through full turning of the steering wheel.... is there a chance this squeak could be related? It really sounds like it's coming from below, not up near the windshield, but again it is pretty hard to pinpoint it. ugh.

 

You can roll up a small towel and stuff it between the windshield and defroster vents. if the noise quiets down its the vents.

Removing the vents without breaking them is almost impossible, but you can use something sticky to put them back together, and back in place and the noise goes away.

Mine sounded like it was coming from the passenger kick panel, but it was the defroster vents.

For a steering clunk I would check the inner tierods for play or a loose rack.

 

Yes I could put weight on a front corner of the car and get the chirping sound to happen. The mounts were the crap ones from PartsGeek that I had to replace with the Welsh mounts. They only made it about 20K miles.