Great explanation, great resource, many thanks, BB. Superb effort, and so brave and so accomplished. I stand in awe!

Greg

 

Nice work! My hat's off to you. Transmission overhaul has always scared me off....so many pieces to keep track of ...gah!


Cheers
DD

 

Outstanding pics and write up, many thanks.

This thread needs to go into the resources index, who's the forum admin in charge?

 

thanks for the comments boys

the trick will be fitting it onto my car, lol

20ltr of Dexron III turned up today , 6 lt. for the install ( including refilling the torque converter )
and the rest for the rebuild of the removed unit

BB

 

Great write up and pictures of the rebuild, very informative. Thanks for putting it up.

 

small update

I have been quite ill over the new year, and didn't touch the car for 8 days ,
now I'm feeling a bit better and a raft load of tests booked with the doctor I tackled the task in hand

firstly I primed the torque converter with some fresh Dexron III , and with the rebuilt transmission on the transmission jack and strapped down and under the cars trans tunnel I placed the torque converter over the gear stubs , I had a quick look as to the orientation of the peg drive and pushed it home, a quarter turn and the pegs located and the torque converter pushed all the way home

then with some jiggling around I got the transmission offered up to the back of the engine, getting the dowel pins lined up , and pushed it home, the first time was about half a hole out, so a little more jiggling and on she went with a nice thud

I then got a few transmission bell housing bolts turned in just to hold it in place, and I also turned over the torque converter and started the first bolt to the flex plate

I will button it all up tomorrow and get the new prop shaft ( stall available from jag for the V12 ) bolted up ready to install the rear mounting plate

getting there....

BB

 

Good work; you're on the home stretch!

Why the new prop shaft?


Cheers
DD

 

why new prop shaft ?

well,

its the only set of u/j's i haven't replaced, and it is a critical part of the drive train that needs to be perfect , and at 105k miles, it was unknown condition ,

as it turns out the prop shaft its self is ok , but as described in an earlier post, the flange to the transmission was loose and the bolt holes had gone oval , so that is no good.

but as it was only £99 new ( plus VAT @ 20% ) from Jaguar, why not ?

BB

off to watch Gloucester play Rugby union tonight, so lots of cider and no work on the car , lol

 

Not bored at all, just a little dizzy from reading all that. An amazing job that I wouldn't attempt. Congrats to you, Brake Buster.
RagJag

 

also for anyone interested in this type of project, there are many video available on line ,with an abundance of usefull information.

visit the many performance transmission companies in the USA,at least.

was just reading, that the GM 400 trans. is one of the oldest transmission still in use at 50yrs, now developed into the GM 4L80E, an overdrive,electronic trans, basicly a 400 with a 4th gear, that can be just a full automatic or used as a manual shift,like 1-2-3-4 plus reverse.

 

i can confirm that the online content is a gold mine of information , some great , some not so great , but they all add up to give confidence in doing it yourself

i viewed many hours before i dived in ....

BB

 

BB
How did you get it to 99 UKP before VAT? It looks like 138 on the JCP site?

Greg

 

go into your local friendly dealership , and strike a deal , how many XJS prop shafts do you they sell each year....

but even at the ' full ' price is would be worth it in my opinion



as for another quick update

the box is now fully bolted to the engine , the torque converter is fully bolted to the flex plate , and the starter motor has been refitted , the new prop shaft has been fitted both ends with new bolts due to damage to the old ones , the front cover plate holding the cranking sensor is fitted along with the sensor , the gear selector has been refitted as has the kick down switch , the rear gearbox tunnel plate has been fitted along with some heat shields and a new chrome finned gearbox sump with ' TURBO 400 ' pressed into it

the prop can be rotated from the gearbox with it in neutral , the diff flange can't be rotated as the back wheels are sitting on the ramps ,so you have to line up the bolts that way , they are not square, there is a long and short side of bolt pattern



so , i now have to fit the gearbox rear spring setup , exhausts and a few bits n bobs

BB

 

so,

the gearbox is now fully installed and everything has been replaced that was around it along with a new stainless exhaust middle box bypass

a few pictures to add to this thread , but taking them was a pain as its dirty heavy work lying on the floor , that's why there arnt a huge amount of step by step pics :?

this is how I supported the engine while doing the work

878 by MyPix on Talk Photography

the foam is to protect the car should it want to drop when setting everything up , and I left it there to protect the wing channels and the windscreen , belts n braces....

exhaust and propeller shaft removed from the rear cage

882 by MyPix on Talk Photography

gearbox finally removed and strapped to the gearbox jack and pulled away from the flywheel

883 by MyPix on Talk Photography

a bit more detail

885 by MyPix on Talk Photography

replacement gearbox that I rebuilt earlier....

4033 by MyPix on Talk Photography

and hey presto , its all back in place, easy as that..........

900 by MyPix on Talk Photography

nice chrome gearbox sump and all new ancillaries fitted,

a shot of the new pipes

903 by MyPix on Talk Photography

just got to add some transmission fluid tonight , clear some space and lower the car back to the ground before I turn her over and prime the gearbox before use

BB 8)

 

BB
Well done and thanks for the pics. I would be very interested to hear your opinion on the exhaust noise situation now you have replaced the centre boxes by pipes.

FWIW, I have had leakage problems with my identical chromed B&M deep pan. May I respectfully suggest you might want to:

• from the inside solder round the drain plug fixing itself (not the thread, but the edges of the threaded part which is rather shoddily fixed to the pan inside); and then
• change the white washer for a dowty washer. The white one leaks very annoyingly after a very short while.

Greg

 

cool,

thanks for the heads up with regard to the leaks , this should be easy as the pan is dry at the moment

BB

 

Nice thread might end up being a sticky !

 

well , as of tonight i have a working XJS again

was a little concerned there for a little while, as i thought i had put enough fluid in , but it turned out that wasn't the case

so with a fully charged battery and the car sat on its own four wheels and everything moved out of the way incase she lurched forward or backwards i sat in the drivers seat and turned the ignition key to position two

the fuel pump primed and nothing went bang, turned the key to start the car and she sprang into life , and.......
.................................................. ........she ran , and purred like a fully grown Jaguar sleeping..............

i did hear a whoosh, gurgle whoosh , i think that was the gearbox pump sending new fluid round the oil cooler and system ,

next , with my foot hard on the brake and the handbrake applied i cycled the shifter through its positions, from park to reverse.....nothning , reverse to neutral....nothing , no sounds no surge no bump , nothing, went into drive , first and second, and waited a few seconds between , nothing , i then tried it in drive and lifting my foot off the brake, nothing.....hmm i thought , i wonder if there is enough transmission fluid in there :?:

so , i turned off the engine, and pulled the transmission dip stick , sure enough , it wasn't even on the bottom of the marker

two litres later it was on the minimum for cold,

back in the car i turned her over agin and she sprang to life ( by the way the new induction boxes and exhaust sound good :wink: )

and i again cycled the shifter , this time i got a positive feel and feedback with a gentle thump , each position intern provided the same reassuring sound and the engine revs went up and down accordingly , the gearbox was being seen by the engine, good news

then , i thought i would try moving the car

put it in drive and cautiously took my foot off the brake , the car started to gently creep forward, applied the brake and put it in reverse, again the car gently moved backwards without sounding like a bag of spanners, in fact i was very surprised at the lack of noise after living with my noisy gearbox for two years

got the car to temp , and then turned her off , checked the dipstick and she was just short of the hot mark ,

tomorrow i will get her up to temp again and check the level when running as is advised


i am gobsmacked that it works , lol

BB


ps, thanks for all the positive vibes from everyone, it definitely helped me


pps , Greg , yup , it leaked, even after using a soft washer, i eventually used a bit of thin water gasket off-cut shaped to fit round the bolt and a backing washer ,and now it doesn't leak , after some thought i think its the shiney chrome finish thats not sealing , its too smooth , if it goes agin , i will try using a scouring pad to slightly rough the contact point to allow the gasket to seal ??

 

Great work BB. Now get out and enjoy the fruits of your labours.

 

Yay !!!


Cheers
DD