Ricky7774

X type 2.5 v6 auto estate. Had an intermittent whine from the drive train somewhere for a couple of years (5000 miles). For the past 2 MOTs I've asked the MOT tester to specifically check the front wheel bearings and drive shafts as it seemed to be coming from the front (passenger's footwell) but there was no wear to be causing the intermittent whine. Decided to get the back axle and transfer box checked for an oil problem about a month ago. Got a call back an hour later saying when they drained the transfer box (as much as they could) there were little bits of metal in the oil. Anyway, they changed the oil and then ran the car in drive with the wheels off the ground and it is definitely the transfer box making the whining noise. Car still drives fine with no clunks or rattles from the drive but now I know the noise is from the TB I don't want to try it on long journeys. It's only done 67,000 miles, is a great driver in great condition with all the electrics working including the sat nav, air con and cruise control and has rust free sills and v good paint work, so I don't want to scrap it. Has anyone had their TB replaced and can they recommend a garage or specialist? And how much did it cost??

I have a very nice condition well maintained low mileage (59K) black estate which has started to grow on me. I was going to upgrade to an XF but have become increasingly impressed with the grip of the AWD system in the wet weather and would like to see if I can get a bit more power and better economy from the 2.5 litre petrol engine. I've seen replacement rear silencers from Adamesh and bespoke stainless systems from Proflow Exhausts in Brierly Hill in W Midlands but don't know what the results are. Are they just noisier or do they actually provide better performance and economy, as I'd like both! Not sure I want to go into the realms of chip upgrades as they seem expensive for not a lot of extra power. Has anyone done some exhaust changes and got more power and better economy?

Had my low mileage 2006 x type for 6 months then, as it was parked in the sun, decided to get a front windscreen sun shield, one of those fold up ones that you put against the inside of the windscreen. First morning after I used it, the alarm went off for no obvious reason. Four days later, same time again. Both times when the sun was blazing down. First one at 09:30. Second time at just after 10 am. Checked in the handbook and as I assumed a possible faulty sensor, decided to lock it on the key once, which is the way to lock it if you've left kids/dogs in the car as the movement sensors won't set the alarm off, according to the handbook. All was okay for a few weeks until the alarm went off again twice in about a week. On these two occasions I'd parked the car in my secure back garden facing the other way, so just left the sun screen folded across the rear seat. The 4th time it went off was 03:50 in the morning so decided to get it checked out. Whilst waiting for the diagnostic appointment I purchased an on line Jaguar manual so I could check out the alarm system. Boy, does it have a lot of alarm sensors! The critical one was the intrusion sensor which is in the interior courtesy light housing by the front screen and the internal rear view mirror. The sun screen protector I bought was laminated on one side but the other side, that faces the inside of the car, was backed with metallic foil. That made me start to think that the foil could be setting off the alarm in certain sun light or lighting conditions so I removed it from the car. Two weeks so far and it hasn't gone off again..... yet. The diagnostic test showed no faults with the alarm and the garage guy said the foil could have been reflecting the microwaves that the sensor bounces around the inside of the car. Not sure if anyone with alarm knowledge can verify this theory, but worth giving some thought if your alarm has started going off to see if you have put anything in the car which you didn't previously, and if its metallic, it could cause the alarm to sound. It might have just been a coincidence that the alarm became faulty the day after I used the sun screen for the first time. I'll only find out if it goes off again. I'll keep you informed if that happens but if I say nothing further here, you can assume the fault has not returned.

Got my wheel back from the repair shop and decided to check the codes on the back of the spokes. The relevant one on my wheel is 4X43 1007 KB I have seen one on ebay saying its a Belize with the code 4X43 1007 KA And I've seen another, Andros wheel, with the codes 4X43 1007 AA. My actual wheel is closer to the code on the Belize but has a B on the end instead of an A. Anyone know if this makes a difference?

After having holed the sidewall of a new P7 tyre and damaged the alloy, I'm not happy driving around on the skinny spare whilst the alloy is being repaired, so I decided to buy a second hand alloy to use as a full spare which I can keep at home. Looking on that auction site there are two single alloys, both 12 spokes, both 17 inches diameter and both with 225/45 R17 tyres on them. They look identical but in the listings one is called an Andros wheel and the other Belize. How can you tell the difference? The spokes on my wheels have a surface which seems to curve from the front to the back of the spoke whereas both the wheels on the auction site have very obvious straight sharp edges from the front face of the spoke to the rear of the spoke. Not certain if one of them has been misnamed in the advert but as they seem identical I'm sure one has. But which one? PS. I've just seen a link on a post from Aonsaithya dated 6 Nov 2013 which had links to pics of a number of Jag alloys including belize and Andros and I still cannot tell the difference. Am I missing something obvious to distinguish the two? Decided to add a picture of mine. Which is it please?

Sorry but its just occurred to me that the backs of the old pads showed no sign of having had any copperslip/copper grease on them when removed and the new ones were installed with a smear of copper grease on the backs of the pads (obviously NOT the friction surface), so it is always possible that it was the absence of copperslip on the old pads that caused the noise and I didn't need to buy pads and discs! However, I lose patience having to do a job over and again so as the rear pads/discs were c£80, I went for the replacement option.

To be honest, I'm still a bit surprised that changing the discs/pads seems to have sorted the problem as the cracks were so fine I still do not see how they caused the honking. It may be that I did something else when refitting the new discs that cured the noise, although I did not find anything obviously wrong and everything was put back the same as it was originally. Of course, given that the problem only manifested itself once the car had been driven 15 minutes or more, it may be that once heated up the fractures became more pronounced and that's what caused the noise. Bear in mind that your car is a different model entirely and even though you believe it is making the same sound as I have described, it could be down to a different cause. In any event I'd like to hear if new discs/pads cure your fault too.

When I removed the rear left road wheel, which is where I suspected the noise was coming from, I checked the slider pins for sticking and the caliper piston to make sure it wasn't seized. They were okay. However, once I cleaned off the disc with meths it became clear that there were a number of very fine cracks running from the centre to the outside of the disc. You could not feel them even when running a finger nail across them. You can see some of the cracks in the photo but what you cannot see is that between the two cracks that run parallel, the surface of the disc is a slightly different colour to the rest of the disc - a faint yellowy gold - which may suggest the metal put in the cast was contaminated. There were probably about 10 cracks in all but only a couple were obvious on the other side of the disc. Anyway I replaced both rear discs and pads. There were a couple of cracks on the right rear disc as well, but not as many as on the left. The howling has now stopped, so job done. Not sure if this sort of disc cracking is something other owners have had?

Thanks for the tip. I've ordered a new set of slider pins/grease for the rear calipers so when we get a few days of dry weather again, I'll have some new ones to install if that is the problem. I'll update you after I've had a proper look.

My low mileage (57K) 2006 X Type estate (2.5 petrol) makes a very loud noise at low speed and light brake pressure. Seems to be on the left and probably the rear. It is not the squeeling you get when the pads are down to the metal and there's plenty still on the pads. The discs look fine too with no scoring. The sound it makes is a really loud honking or howling and almost sounds musical. Brake operation seems unaffected. Car pulls up straight. No vibration either with or without braking. Given the sound is a bit like a trumpet I've theorised that given the rear discs are ventilated, if there is a crack it might be causing the honking sound thru vibration magnified by the vents and coming out as a loud honking! Under light braking this might allow vibration of the disc enough to generate the sound whereas harder braking does not allow the vibration. I haven't taken off the alloy wheel yet to put a dial gauge on the disc to see if there is any run out or warping as I thought I'd see if there is anyone out there who's experience a similar problem (and resolved it). A mechanic in a jaguar specialist said I needed a new servo, (which frankly seemed complete BS particularly at the £600 jaguar price for a new one and the fact that the brakes were operating normally apart from the noise). It also does not appear on start up when cold but only comes on once the brakes have warmed up. Any ideas??