For the first time came to a gentle stop, just before completely stopping "clunk!" like someone tapped me from the back. Went to a few more stop signs and heard the distinct sound and felt the little nudge. Here's my dilemma, I'm wondering if it would be better off for me to get rid of , or have the dealer do a fluid change and fix the leak. I'm sure it's gonna run about 900$ but I am really nervous because if that tranny goes...omg I don't know what im gonna do. ANY THOughTS??


ps, got the car checked by the dealer 4 mos. ago they said I had a small tranny leak, or pan leak couldn't remember which, this is probably why this is going on now, TOO LOW FLUID?

 

$900 seems very high but maybe you could find an independent shop and provide the correct parts?

We have a great source for the proper ZF fluids and parts. I paid about $300 for everything shipped to my door.

If you have had a leak for a while then yes I would suspect low fluid level. You should not run the car with low fluid that will cause damage.

Be aware that the sleeve is most likely leaking and your shop is simply not aware of the ZF transmissions common problems. Which really are very few. It's a stout transmission with only a couple of people having them replaced. But I think several of those were replaced because that's the easy way out for the shop.

Just change the fluid, pan and filter, pan bolts and sleeve. Have the TCM re-flashed to the latest software. This last item usually requires a Jaguar dealer so you might get the entire service done at the dealer.
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AFAIK, the lurch and fluid level are not directly connected. The condition is associated with software and perhaps inappropriate adaptation to the driver.

See if the relevant TSB has been done on your car before anything else.

 

I had the lurch and as an experiment I just changed the fluid, not the pan or sleeve. It's essentially gone. I plan to do the pan and sleeve this summer but just the fluid change was a cheap test and for me it worked. I don't think there is one answer to this problem. Some people say software, other say fluid, and the faulty tuque converter can probably take some blame.

 

I'm not speaking from any experience of this particular fault, but generally speaking it usually makes good sense to go down the cheaper route first obviously, then go from there if unsure.

 

Pay at least $3500, more if you need a new TCM like I did last summer. My tranny had several internal faults and needed rebuilt.

Hopefully you won't need to do that.

 

Yeah im gonna see what jag has to say for themselves. If i can get away with pan , sleeve and fill with a reflash if that doesn't work that's good. Maybe theyll say the pan is fine, but they said they could reseal the leak when they first told me about it, so im thinking pan. Im gonna flatbed to the dealer. And if they say it needs pan, sleeve and fill I get the stuff myself for 300bucks and bite the bullet on there labor. I guess 700 bucks to prolong the cars life another 5-10 years is worth it.