oh crap whats that noise

so two weeks ago while in the "polar vortex" I started hearing this awful noise coming out of the front end but I told my self it just must be the traction control. since it warmed up a bit and the roads dryed out I have not herd anything. well tonight its 10 f the roads are dry and its back. here is what happening
under moderat to heavy acceleration it sounds like an ice crusher in the front end. if I let off on the gas it goes away also once im up to speed and mash the pedal it dose not do it. there are no other drivability issues and it only dose it when its extreamly cold out, below 11 or 12.
this has only done this a few times so far.

I have the EXACT same noise but it only happens in the way you described under 10 degree weather give or take. Maybe others can whey in on this? When I first herd it I stopped, got out, and crawled under the xk but seen nothing out of the normal. Therefore, I stopped worrying about it and havnt since. I honestly cannot see it being anything too serious since its obvious it only happens in very cold weather.

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well at least im not alone. will be interesting to here ideas

Does it go away after driving for a while?

It goes away once the truck heats up normally yes

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Originally Posted by Core XK

It goes away once the truck heats up normally yes

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what he said

my XK is an 06 limited with the same t case as CORE XK i belive

Can you feel it in the floor boards, steering wheel or pedals? And does the crunching sound like it's in sync with something in the drivetrain that's rotating or is it like random crunching sound?

there is no vibration felt in anything, as far as it being in sync no not really. just a random crunching sound. if i let off or just eaze up on the acceleration it will stop. also if im up to say 35 mph and stomp on it its only slighty there
keep in mind its very hard to stay on the gas when its making such a horrendous noise so i have never played it out until it stopped so im not sure how long it would do it

I wonder if it has something to do with the cabin condensation drain being above the transmission... lol maybe you're literally hearing ice crushing; a block of ice builds up after your last drive and is between the trans and the body, when you hit the gas hard from the stopped position there's a lot of mounts that flex and probably crush the ice that built up.

I've never heard this sound but im normally parked in my garage over night. My XK was outside for this storm so i'll have to listen for it when I go for a spin later..

i get the same thing but its when its snowing or wet out and i cut the wheel trying to turn- it makes the ice crusher sound and i can kind of feel it in my steering wheel. i figured it was traction control kicking on BUT i got tired of that kicking on last night so i turned it off and it was still making it just NOT as bad.

i was wondering if its fluid related, or the tires rubbing the hell out of the fender liner, idk. it sounds horrible.

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Originally Posted by paroxysym

i get the same thing but its when its snowing or wet out and i cut the wheel trying to turn- it makes the ice crusher sound and i can kind of feel it in my steering wheel. i figured it was traction control kicking on BUT i got tired of that kicking on last night so i turned it off and it was still making it just NOT as bad.

i was wondering if its fluid related, or the tires rubbing the hell out of the fender liner, idk. it sounds horrible.

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Unless you have a switch wired up to the ABS pump fuse the traction control is not totally disabled and will still make the same noise as if you have the traction control on. I know this because it does it in my jeep, so when it snows I just flip the "happy switch" and totally disable traction control/ABS/ESP

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Originally Posted by 07JeepXK

Unless you have a switch wired up to the ABS pump fuse the traction control is not totally disabled and will still make the same noise as if you have the traction control on. I know this because it does it in my jeep so when I snows I just flip the happy switch and totally disable traction control.

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so even when i hold the ESP button for 6+ seconds and it says "ESP OFF" its not off? i did that last night and it was fine.

The brake traction control activation is never turned off. When you turn ESP off its different levels of throttle control that are eliminated; such as wheel spin when accelerating and throttle cutoff when sliding sideways.

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Originally Posted by Matt

The brake traction control activation is never turned off. When you turn ESP off its different levels of throttle control that are eliminated; such as wheel spin when accelerating and throttle cutoff when sliding sideways.

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Unless you have a switch to the ABS pump fuse like I have :0)

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Originally Posted by 07JeepXK

Unless you have a switch to the ABS pump fuse like I have :0)

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Which doesn't do anyone any good unless they have lockers like you do or want 1 wheel peel offroad :p

Just went for a spin and heard the noise too! Interesting i've never heard that before... but I can't remember the last time my Jeep sat outside in that cold, and I normally don't hit the gas that hard to accelerate.

Will have to see if it does it tomorrow morning after sitting in the garage all night.

Has to be something a long the lines of ice melting off bottom engine while driving and when you stop it drips on some of the suspension/drivetrain and freezes. I never really heard anything like that, except making turns which is the ESP, mainly cause of my exhaust being loud. I always cleaned underneath it though like every 2-3 days, max! Id say everyone take it to the wash and spray the underside thoroughly and see what happens. Salt is some nasty **** especially mixed with snow, ice, dirt, oil etc..

Yeah it's gotta be ice built up somewhere. Any deposits will melt off tonight in the garage and I'll see if it does tomorrow night after it sits outside for 13+ hours without any source for ice.

It sounds nothing like ESP kicking in btw.

I drove all day. Left my apartment in NJ at 0800 drove to JFK and back and had NO noise . Ran beautiful. Temp at 0800 was 6 degrees.

Hmmm from what I've read, it sounds like traction control/ESP but maybe I'm just understanding wrong. As far as turning it off...traction control and ESP are ALWAYS on to some degree at low speeds. Holding it turns it mostly off but there are times when it will still kick in. And of course it goes back to partially off above 45 MPH I think. So like Adam said, only way to completely get rid of it is to rig up a switch like his. You should see what it's like turning off TC/ESP on my mom's ML320 CDI...the button does basically nothing at all to turn it off.

It's definitely not traction control... i know what that sounds like and it's not even close.

*talking about the noise Corey and John are hearing... assuming that's what i heard today.

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Originally Posted by Matt

Which doesn't do anyone any good unless they have lockers like you do or want 1 wheel peel offroad :p

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Yeah one wheel peel isn't cool. And that my friend is why I have front/rear lockers!

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Originally Posted by Matt

Just went for a spin and heard the noise too! Interesting i've never heard that before... but I can't remember the last time my Jeep sat outside in that cold, and I normally don't hit the gas that hard to accelerate.

Will have to see if it does it tomorrow morning after sitting in the garage all night.

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It's -5 out where I live and my jeep isn't making the noise you guys are talking about. I feel left out lol

please don't feel left out is is not a nice sound.
So as far as the ice build up theory goes im not sold. my drive to and from work is only about 4 miles each way. but giving the theory a chance I though id try to break it loose before I left work today. before I pulled out of the parking lot I held the brake and put it in gear and torqued up the mounts forward and back and let it roll a bit then hit the brakes hard to flex off any ice. I left the parking lot and once I was straight on the road, accelerated and there it was again. sounds just like im feeding an ice crusher to make a slushy. by the time I get to my street it usually will not do it anymore but there is a nice icy patch in front of the house. so just to hear the sound of the track control is stopped and jumped on it a bit, that is defenatly a different sound.

^^That's kind of what I was planning on testing out tomorrow.

Yesterday i was driving through snow and some deep plow piles for fun, so I know i had a lot of snow packed under my engine that could have melted and turned to ice chunks. Being in my garage tonight that'll ALL be gone and i was going to see if the noise comes back after not having any snow/ice in the drivetrain.

Yeah keep us updated. Im not really concerned its a problem considering all 3 of us are hearing it besides Adam but he doesnt count because he has 34s and I dont like him.

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I don't think I have ever heard something like that then...It'll be -20 with windchill here tomorrow so I'll see if I can hear anything. Maybe one of the guys with this problem could post up a video of the sound to help us understand better.

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Originally Posted by jjt250

I don't think I have ever heard something like that then...It'll be -20 with windchill here tomorrow so I'll see if I can hear anything. Maybe one of the guys with this problem could post up a video of the sound to help us understand better.

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Mine does it on really cold days before it warms up. I have noticed it 2 or 3 times this season. Don't have to be on the gas too hard but not real light either. Goes away as soon as i let up on the gas and wait for it to wrm up. I don't think it has ever done it before this year, but this is a colder winter than we have had in a while.

I will see if I can do a video tomorrow morning on my way to work.

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So I doesn't happen when you're breaking traction, only when you give it a bit of gas? Maybe the reason I never hear it is because I plug my Jeep in over night (diesel) and I also let it warm up for about ~10 minutes before I actually leave and start driving.

Yup, only when accelerating.

My jeep was running for at least 15 minutes yesterday before I drove it.

i posted this question on another non XK forum. one of the guys there runs a repair shop, he said he had just replaced a half shaft on the drivers side on a 07WK for a simular noise. the guy brought it in during the last cold spell becuase the CV was poping and cracking on acceleration. overall he said the shaft was in good shape and felt fine. after he replaced it about 60% of the noise when away " enought to here the passanger side". my turck has 90k on it do you think this could be an early warning sign of wareing CV's?

Funny you mentioned that... I was just coming to post a similar conclusion.

My garage was about 48 degrees this morning. Pulled out onto my street and hit the gas pretty good.... the noise was no where near as bad as yesterday, but I did hear it faintly on the drivers side only. By the time I got to the end of my street I couldn't reproduce it.

The only thing I could think of is the CV joint. The sockets wear, add in extreme cold temps that open the tolerances a bit more and thickened grease that needs to warm up....

I wouldn't go so far as to replace them. Wait until they're clicking/popping during normal driving and tight turns. ... and take some lead out of your boots until the jeep warms up lol

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Originally Posted by Matt

Funny you mentioned that... I was just coming to post a similar conclusion.

My garage was about 48 degrees this morning. Pulled out onto my street and hit the gas pretty good.... the noise was no where near as bad as yesterday, but I did hear it faintly on the drivers side only. By the time I got to the end of my street I couldn't reproduce it.

The only thing I could think of is the CV joint. The sockets wear, add in extreme cold temps that open the tolerances a bit more and thickened grease that needs to warm up....

I wouldn't go so far as to replace them. Wait until they're clicking/popping during normal driving and tight turns. ... and take some lead out of your boots until the jeep warms up lol

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I always wait til there isn't anymore grease flying from a ripped CV boot before I replace it, lol. Just kidding.

Im not replacing anything until it starts to get much worse during normal weather conditions.

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I guessed I set myself up after my above post. Yesterday morning it was 7 degrees outside and mine started clicking in the front under hard accel. Oh well.....

its that time of year again. I thought id bump this for any new members. even with new half shafts it sounds like rice crispys (snap crackle pop) up front