I have a 2003 Jaguar S-Type R with 118,000 miles and while on a trip, it locked into 2nd gear and would not shift. I limped back to my sisters and then fired it up the next day and everything seems fine. I was worried and went down and had the code pulled.

DTC P0782: 2-3/3-2 Gear Load Fault

I am not a transmission guy and don't want to get caught up in a $5k bill when it isn't needed. I still have to drive home... about 375 miles, but worry I won't make it.

Does anyone here have experience with this issue and would you have some advice? Anything you have would be much appreciated.

Thanks

 

Dying batteries can certainly cause these ZF transmissions to do some strange things. How's your battery? And have you ever done an ATF drain-and-fill? Low fluid also causes issues....

 

I don't have my records with me, but I think the battery is 4-5 years old and I don't recall if and when we would have done a transmission drain. I am thinking it's been years.

I should go down and check the battery and will definitely do that. For the service, should I just have the drain and flush done and not tell the mechanic that I got the code?

Thanks a bunch

 

I just went down to test the battery and it still checks out strong. I haven't had any problems with starting the car or anything, so I guess we can rule that out.

I will find a place on Monday and either have them check the fluid level or perform a drain and fill. If it turns out to be a transmission replacement, I may lose my baby over this one. So here's hoping.

Thanks again for your help. Nice to have knowledge and experience on your side.

 

You need to do a proper battery test as bad ones still start the car. Load test, volts need to stay high, and offload after overnight, without engine start, check 12.6V or so.

You could also look at JTB00072 but the battery is by far #1 suspect

 

Sounds to me that you have a failing 2-3 shift solenoid. This can be changed by dropping the pan. A DIY guy can check the resistance of the solenoid to see if that's it or wiring if the solenoid checks out.

But you risk getting locked in gear again if you keep driving because that is the fail-safe mode when that problem is detected. It should clear by shutting of and restarting but depending on how frequent that happens it could get to be a real pain in the butt!!
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I decided to take my car to a transmission shop and have them drain old fluid and fill with new. I did not tell them about my problems (Trust issues for me). I simply asked them to check everything out and then drain and fill. On my way to the shop this morning (I drove about 35 miles), it was acting up quite a bit. Slipping while changing gear more than it had previously.

After checking everything out (Including the battery) and completing the service request, they said everything looked great and that the car was in terrific shape. The mechanic's words, "Whatever you are doing, keep doing it. Your car is like new, engine and all."

On the way back, I tested it out with hard driving, slow and fast. The shifting seems like new. I can only surmise that it was low on fluid. Of course, I still have the drive back to Montana and will drive it around now that the weather is better. We'll see what happens from there.

Thanks a bunch for the help and I will keep you posted on how things go over the next 1,000 miles. Nice to have new friends!

Have a terrific week!

 

I really appreciated all the advice to help me with my recent transmission problem. I took it out again yesterday and today and things seem to be performing like new.

my question is....

Should the transmission perform better after it warms up? A slightly tighter gear change?

Thanks again

 

Most automatic transmissions perform more smoothly after a warm-up period. This was especially true for my wife's previous Lexus RX SUVs (a 2000 RX300 and a 2004 RX330). Both of those crackerboxes shifted like a cheap Yugo for the first couple of miles, then always settled in properly. I hope Toyota has addressed this annoying issue on the newer models by now. I sold both of those SUVs around the 130,000-mile mark after doing transmission drain-and-fills every 30,000 miles because they were known to be weak, especially the 2000 model....

 

Another problem fixed with new fluid and a proper fill level.

Glad to hear it was something so simple.
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Thanks for all your helpful comments.