I have been trying to cure a noise on my 1999 XJ, its a diesel so its quite noisey anyway. But there is a rumbling sound, you can hear in the video below, and i have done almost everything to fix it, but its still there, my local mechanic has now told me - maybe they all sound like that - so i just wondering what others think, do they all sound like this, or does mine sound like it has an issue?

The things i have done to try fix it, in order, are:
1. Rebuilt front diff (carrier & pinion bearings)
2 Changed both rear wheel bearings.
3. New tires all round.
4. Front wheel bearing - Right.

NOTE: The sound volume is a bit low on the video, but if you put it up to max and put headphones on you can hear it clear.


https://youtu.be/xtjWqtNw7ug

 

I didn't hear anything obvious.

Yeah, XJs have quirks, every one of them.


Like driving on the wrong side of the road.....

 

X2, that actually sounds fairly quiet for an XJ at highway speed. Remember when XJs were designed/built SUVs were far more utilitarian than they are these days. Insulation/noise dampening in XJs is minimal to non-existent, combine this with the aerodynamics of a brick, a fairly noisy drivetrain, and often noisy tires (A/T, M/T), and you end up with something that isn't exactly quiet at speed.

 

there's definitely a rattling noise that I wouldn't consider normal. it might be a jeep but mine doesn't do those sounds so I wouldn't brush it off as "oh it's a jeep, dw about it"

honestly I have no idea what it could be though. if you could have better audio it would help

 

Yeah, I don't like that rattling noise. That high pitch harmonic thing in the background may be something with the exhaust. The low tones I guess are the tires.

 

thanks for input guys ... i think the metallic rattling sound is just the Antenna in the wind .

that is the noise that is concerning me

 

Have you checked your flexpate bolts through the inspection plate? Any play in the lifters? Everything lower end torqued to spec?

 

Everything is torqued right, but yeah, hadn't thought about the flexplate bolts (well flywheel, its a stick-shift) ... will check those out .. thanks

 

You might check the exhaust manifold. It has a metal cover/heat shield that can
come loose and rattle.

The VM 2.5 I used to have always had a "hammer" sound to it. Yours doesn't from
what i can hear. 17 years old, only 104k, you keep it in nice shape.

As for the low level rumble, you might take off the front driveshaft and see if the
noise quiets down.

What's the yellow light on the dash?

 

The arrow? That tells the driver when to shift for best mpgs with the manual trans

 

Looks like the abs light to me

 

..it is the ABS light ... not related to the noise at all, ABS light has only been on since i replaced the brake shoes a few weeks ago ... the noise has been there for over a year!

 

turns out one of the front wheel bearing hadn't been replaced, the front left ... so i did that and it sounds sooooooo much better ... thanks for the help

 

Would you mind doing an after video?