Hello all. Some may remember me. Well I browse STR's occasionally to see what kind of deals I may come across and ran into one the other day. I really want an 05 STR to replace the one I had to sell but I came across an 03 for a good price in the color I always wanted. I know about the trans lurch problem and am curious since I never had the issue, when did the lurch present itself to those that have had it? The car has 104k miles. I'm wondering if a test drive would show it and if not is it something that would develop that late into the mileage. I really don't need another car as I currently have my convertible Infiniti and my truck. So if I do pick this up it would probably be a daily driver to get better gas mileage than my truck and to have a sedan for traveling. Any other things I should look for on an 03 that I may be forgetting?

 

Only some ever had any and many but not all were cured with a reflash.

My 04 never seems to have had any lurch.

 

Hey Chris,

Good to hear from you. Hope you're able to find the right car. 2003 was the first year of the 6-speed ZF 6HP26 in the S-Type (including the STR). I don't know if the lurch was present in the previous 5-speed ZF, but as you know it has been discussed quite a bit over the years in the 6-speed version. In a nutshell, it appears that either your car has the lurch or it does not, meaning that it will not suddenly develop after many years and miles go by. I have the 6-speed ZF in both my 2005 S-Type 3.0 (now at 96,600 miles) and my wife's 2006 XK8 (now at 105,500 miles). Neither one of them has ever lurched. But we've done two ATF drain-and-fills on both of them, switching from Lifeguard 6 to Mercon SP, and I really believe that has kept both of our ZFs in great shape. So if you do decide to jump back in with an older STR, one of the first things you should consider doing to it is changing the ATF (especially if that has never been done on it before). I would go drive the car in plenty of bumper-to-bumper stop-and-go traffic. If it is going to lurch, it will definitely do so during those driving conditions. So go kick the tires, drive it, and let us know what you decide to do....

Do you ever come back to the Raleigh area to visit? If so, let me know and we'll get together for lunch....

 

Good to know. I will ponder on it a few days as I'm not in the area it's for sale at the moment and maybe do a test drive and see what it does. It's white so it's definitely got my attention. Have to check all the usual things. The bad thing is it has an open cone filter and the guy doesn't have the factory airbox. I still have the Riski Red Mafiaso intake I can throw on it but I need the factory airbox. It's really tempting to get another STR since they are getting pretty cheap and I would like a sedan.

I try to get to Raleigh when I can but it's been a while. I'm currently on a project in Nashville so I rotate in Atlanta and Nashville. I also bought a house on some acreage so I try to enjoy it when I can since I'm only there half the months. I'm going to try and get out there once this Nashville project is done. I'll let you know.

 

Mine,'s bad the lurch since day one and no fix has been successful. I just drive around it and forget it's there.

 

On a 2003 STR check that it will shift at red line. Many reports of short shifting which limits the cars performance.
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Found out the guy lives farther than I thought going by where his ad said. So threw him out an offer that would get me to drive out that far. Still waiting to see if he accepts it before I try to get a ride out that far to look at it. We will see. He sounds pretty desperate to sell it. I just bought a house throwing out an offer cause the owner seemed to want to get it moved. It worked out there so lets see how this goes.

 

I found this site earlier in the year and it covers the lurch and the screach very well from an owners perespective who has taken these issues to Jaguar.
Very good reading.

Jaguar S-Type Ownership Experience - The ZF LURCH Fault

Mine has a combination of lurch when moving off, lurch between 5th and 6th gear change, lurch just before stopping. Using sports-mode on the gearbox virtually eliminates the problems, but I cant afford to drive in sports mode all the time.

The screach happens uphill when changing down and accelerating. But it can do it at slow speeds on the level when it feels like it. Doesnt do it all the time.
All I do is adapt my driving around them.
From the site link there doesn't seem to be any satisfactory fixes.

 

Well there are some fixes but as you said they are not 100%.

Be sure and have the TCM flashed with the latest software and also make sure your fluid is clean and at the proper level.

I had some Lurch problems on my 2005 STR but when I had Brutal do the transmission service. We changed the pan screws, Pan with integral filter, Sealing sleeve and new Lifeguard fluid as well as the software update.

I rarely have any version of the Lurch now.
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Late reply but what the hell. Yes, I have the lurch on my 03 STR had it since about 6 months new. So many jag owners deal with it there is a website devoted to it Jaguar S-Type Ownership Experience - The ZF LURCH Fault Dealer reflashes did nothing for more than a day or so. I pressed them for a tranny replacement which was basically laughed at with a comment of how much I'm willing to spend on a lawyer to go against Jag. 13 years later the lurch is still here especially when the weather is warmer. It's annoying, frustrating but it doesn't seem to get any worse. Only a couple of years ago, long after the end of warranty of course, a new Jag dealer I go to admitted that it is a mechanical failure. The only way to cure it is a tranny rebuild which costs in the neighborhood of 2.5K where I am and I have better things I can spend the dough on. Overall, the car has been fantastic. I put in between 2-4k in repairs and maintenance into it a year which for a car like this is really not that bad. I still think its one of the most beautiful machines on the road with the closest car looking this good being a Bentley GT, for about 20 times more money, so overall I am fairly happy and keeping this beautiful beast as long as I can.

 

No it is NOT a mechanical problem, at all! There are no mechanical parts that need to be replaced. In fact as far as has been posted there is nothing wrong with the lurch other than it is rough and abrupt. It does NOT cause any transmission problems or failures. That really is what is so frustrating about it.

It's purely a programming problem. This transmission is very common now. In 2003 when Jag started using it the 6 speed ZF was a brand new transmission. As the years went by and more manufacturers used this unit the complaints started falling off as the programming was improved. BMW and Audi both suffered from the Lurch in some of their earlier models. BMW even released a TSB about it.
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I thought there were actual (physical) changes as well, which is why later cars don't suffer it and why no amount of reprogramming can fix some earlier cars.

I think the TC may be one of the things with an internal change.

That said, some fixed cars re-get a lurch and it can be re-fixed by another reprogramming. I suspect the issue is the way the driver drives together with some software thing and that's why some drivers never get lurches.

Some cars have never been reprogrammed due to being out of the dealer network, and may have a lurch that could be fixed if a reflash were done. (I suspect.)

I feel we're short of accurate data, however.

 

Just to update this. The guy did not accept my offer. I ended up getting this instead so I'm closer to returning to Jaguar. In the same family at least. Lol.


I have been eyeballing this for when I get my Infiniti paid off. STR's are just getting too hard to find with low miles in good shape but I still have the Jaguar itch so I will return once day. Likely in an F-type.

 

Good to see you back here, Chris. If you plan to visit your old Raleigh stomping grounds anytime soon, let me know and we'll get together for lunch....