Guys this is a tough one. I wouldn't post something like this except that I've run into Murphy's law (if something can go wrong it will) one or two times too many with Jaguars. I don't want to ignore this despite how much I like it, without properly checking to see that all is OK.

Let me explain: I just replaced my water pump yesterday because it had a noisy bearing. This was intermittent but it sounded like a thousand crickets when it was noisy.

After water pump replaced all is well. Took her for a drive, nice no unexpected noises, in fact she is quiet like an XK8 is supposed to be.

Then I opened the throttle. Wow, nice deep powerful exhaust sound. As I think about it, it is just like the "roar" they pipe into the cabin intentionally but much much louder almost as if I gave the engine 50 more horsepower. Performance is unchanged, all is working real well.

Frankly it is kind of thrilling and I only hear it with wide open throttle. On the other hand I can't explain why this started. That makes me a little nervous. I've seen nasty surprises tied to changed sounds, this probably makes me over cautious.

I've lived with this noisy bearing for quite a while, probably over a year now. Of course I've questioned: "could it be that the noisy bearing was covering this normal exhaust noise?" but the bearing just wasn't that loud. If I had a hole in the exhaust I'd hear that at all speeds right?

I can't think of anything I could have done while changing the water pump to cause this. Have you ever heard of anything like this?

If I caused some kind of leak in the air intake path, it would do more than just make noise right?

Thanks for looking. I don't want to be paranoid but I figure it is best to ask and be sure all is OK before something comes up 100 miles from home or something. Truth is I love how she sounds, but I have no idea where this came from.

John

 

Probably unrelated to the work you have done and more likely to be a hole opened up somewhere in your exhaust system, check the bottom of both cats for rust holes. They make the car sound awesome!

 

If the water pump noise frightened you off the higher rev range for a year or more, you may just be re-discovering what an XK8 sounds like at the upper end!

 

I had an issue with a ticking/knocking noise on cold start that would turn into a nice sounding raughty exhaust note for about the first 5mins of driving. Sounded great (at least the driving bit, not the ticking). Turned out that my EGR pipe had split and was leaking when the car was cold.

Guessing this isn't your noise but though I'd post it for others.

 

If you were at the front of the engine, inspect around the air cleaner area, and then maybe somewhere on the exhaust, where a clamp may have slid, and two pipes have separated. I even had cat bolts to the exhaust manifold loosen.....My 2 cents......Mike

 

Hi Mike,

You were right!! I found the snorkel had come out of the air cleaner. Then I put 2 + 2 togther - the engine must be moving. I just finished having the motor mounts replaced. Thanks for the follow up.

John

 

John,

I've added RESOLVED to your thread title.

Enjoy it - 'Jaguar' and 'cheap fix' don't often go together!

Graham

 

Thanks Graham, You made me LOL.

Hey is there a way for me (us) to update a subject to say Resolved? If so let us know.

 

NO - thread titles (subject) are locked immediately the thread is posted. Only the Moderator Team can edit them.

Graham