It started doing the over-rev and catch symptom a few days ago. Took it to the dealer for some diagnosis, and they determined a new tranny is in order. I did bring up the issue of solenoid damage and they are going to take a look before scrapping the existing tranny. They are thinking one of the gearsets are partially stripped though.

I did do some research on the old tranny "campaign" back several years ago and my VIN falls in to the 2002 (2001) production range for tranny replacement. I'm having them check the tranny serial numbers when they pull it. It is likely it was already replaced ( I bought the car off lease in 2004), but I'm going to check anyway and see if I can get anything done if it was not replaced. I don't hold out much hope but what do I have to lose.....

I had an extended warranty that apparently expired at 75k mi, the car has 82k mi on it now. I need to re-read that, I think perhaps the service advisor is not reading it right. It might be a fight with the warranty company. Again, what do I have to lose...

But anyway, probably end up going with a Jag rebuilt tranny. $2900 with a 1 year warranty (and cooling lines). Labor is probably gonna run about $1800 - $2000. I"m having them replace the oil pan gasket since 90% of the parts will be out of the way anyway. Thankfully I have a 15% discount on work, so that will help.

I might have new exhaust pipes installed as well, since they are probably gonna get boogered up when they try to take them off.

Just thought I would share. Everyone please feel sorry for me now.

 

Fingers crossed for you...sounds like you will need it
Good luck though

 

Sorry to hear about your troubles Chris..Did you ever change or drain and refill the tranny fluid while you had this car?

 

over $4000 in repairs, ouch. couldnt you get another x-type for a few dollars more ?

 

I do feel sorry for you. Because my second transfer case is going out and this time I'm out of warranty. I got a quote from my dealer which is similar to your tranny's : 2800$ (CDN) + 10 hours of labor at something like 110$/hr. I'm looking at about 4500$ with labor and taxes.

That was a few months ago and the car is still running so I'm crossing my fingers. It's very noisy but the car is still very much drivable so I decided I was gonna live with it until it dies on me. I'm not sure yet what I'm gonna do once it dies.

If you can't do that because your tranny needs to be replaced ASAP, then I feel very sorry for you.

 

? for Chris: Did you service the trans oil before the failure?

? for Sevre: Did you have air scoop for the xfer case prior to failure?

Not scruitnizing, it's hard enough to bear the repairs, just trying to build more data points.

 

OUCH! Sorry to hear that, Chris. That's a tough spot to be in no matter what. To spend almost $5K to get it fixed has to suck. You could maybe get a couple thou for yours as is and then spend a few more for a different car, but then you won't 100% know what you are buying either. Tough spot to be in no matter how you look at it. For what it's worth you DO have my sympahy. Hope it works out as best it can. Do you have an independent shop you could trust? Might be able to save some $$ n labor at least.

 

Thanks for the well wishes guys. Yep, the fluid has been changed. It was swapped out around 40k when my transfer case went out, then I changed it at 65k myself. I had them look at the fluid and save me a bit of it to look at it. They said it looked fine, and once I took a look, I agreed. No signs of burning. Unfortunately there was some small metal fragments. When I changed it last, the fluid looked just fine.

In this case, it's just straight up mechanical failure. I know exactly when it happened too. I was zipping down the interstate last week, and some bugger in the left lane was cruising and wouldn't move, so I punched it to get around him and the car made an awkward kickdown shift but shot up to 90mph like normal. At the time I thought the shift was odd, but the car continued to run fine the rest of the day. The next day is when the symptoms really started, and they only happened maybe 25% of the time between the 2-3 gear shift, and usually uphill (living in Pittsburgh that's everywhere you go).

It kinda sucks, I'm not really very hard on this car, save for the occasional barnstorming as noted above. I did have the tranny reflashed a few years ago as part of that TSB, so I'm not sure why the shift problem happened. Seems like it kicked down a gear too low for the speed or something. So take note of that fellas. I was going about 65 when I got on it.....

I considered my options, I have other cars and don't "need" this one, but I do love this car, even with it's warts and all. I could have traded it to the dealer for a new XF and they said they would cut me a deal, but I'm not really wanting a payment right now, nor am I sold on the XF yet.

So, I'm gonna fix it, and probably keep it at least the 1 year the tranny is under warranty, and just enjoy it. Other than needing new tires in the spring, the car needs nothing and is in excellent condition.

The worst part is I have to pay for this out of my slush fund that was going to be used for a new ATV. It's been a bad week. My old ATV is in pieces in the barn with wiring problems, and the Pens lost to the damn Caps by falling asleep for 5 minutes in the 3rd period (I was at the game). I can't win! Of course other people in the world are having a much rougher go of it right now so my problems are miniscule.

Oh, Alfa, yeah I do know a guy who runs an indy shop about an hour away. I talked to him and he had concerns about Jag honoring the warranty if the dealer didn't do the install, and he said the labor price with my 15% discount was about where he would be anyway.

 

UPDATE:

Car is done, gonna pick it up tonight. They had to replace both exhaust downpipes as they had to cut them off. I expected this on an 8 year old PA car. Add $450 to the bill.

I thought the tranny serial number was within the range but actually it isn't, off by 1 number so I'm FUBAR on this one.

Unlikely they would have done anything under a 7 year old campaign anyway.

 

ouch, that is a tall bill

 

Congratulations on doubling the value of your car!

 

LOL....yep, I decided to double the value the hard way, Mr. Smarta**...

Eh, at least I know this car and what's been done to it, it's paid for, and I like it. I quickly was reminded how much I like it after dropping off my loaner 2010 Camry and getting back in the X.

Now, it just got better! Car drove fine last night on the 7 mile trip home from the dealer.

This morning, I get a few miles down the road, the car is still pretty cold as my garage is not heated, and it shudders, hard. Then it slam shifts into the next gear.

I quickly pull over at a gas station, shut it off for a minute or two while I grab a coffee, come back out and leave. Shifted into R and it made a slightly louder than normal clunk.

Got out on the road, and it slam shifted every gear up to about 50mph. When I say slam, think if it like a slap shifter in an old muscle car, or if you are semi-dumping the clutch in a manual. Unpleasant. It actually missed a gear totally going up a hill.

So I turnaround, head toward the dealer. As the car warmed up, it shifted fine.

Dealer is going to let it cool off, pull any codes, and see what gives.

 

Off-topic a little bit, but looking at your sig, how do you like your 2007 9-3?

 

I enjoy the car quite a bit. It's the 60th anniversary edition, so it has all the Aero goodies except for the turbo v6. I got it for longer jaunts, as I can pull 34 to 36 mpg if I'm laying off the turbo on the highway. The seats are fantastic.

The car is much quicker than the X. I would give it the braking edge as well. Handling I would give to the X, the Saab will understeer and torque steer when you are on it. Ride is nice, sporty and firm but not harsh. Bose 9 speaker stereo rocks. the trunk is a good bit larger than the X as well.

I have a BSR cold air intake kit on it, so you can really hear the turbo wind up, one of my favorite sounds....

Overall, I find it to be a good car and a joy to own. I am biased though as I've had many Saabs over the years and keep coming back.

 

The labor sounds high, what's their hourly rate $165? The tranny campaign is a RECALL last I remember which means it applies until the earth is a burning cinder inside the outer boundaries of a red giant star. I put seat belts in a '89 2 weeks ago under recall free of charge.

 

I can't remember what the hourly rate is off the top of my head and all the paperwork is in the car at the dealer. I'll post it up once I get it back.

I should have clarified in my post that there are some other things being done rolled into that labor bill - oil pan gasket, R&R the downpipes, I elected to have the cooling lines replaced as well, and water pump belt.

I agree, its a recall, and the dealer eventually did as well, but unfortunately for me, my tranny serial number was just outside the recall range, about 2000 off.

You have any guesses at the new symptoms I'm getting after the replacement?

Thanks....

 

Did you say this was a rebuilt unit from Jaguar, which would make it rebuilt by Jatco themselves?

I've put about 40 of these in(don't panic), with at least 32 of them due to the recall and I only had a problem with 1 box which was totally missing third gear. It would shift 1-2 and then when it should have shifted into third there was nothing there and then slam into 4th and mechanical limp mode.

Hopefully they just have the j-gate or rotary switch out of adjustment as this could cause shift faults like that when the 2 don't agree.

 

Yes, it's rebuilt from Jaguar - verbatim words of my service advisor. So I did assume it was another Jatco.

You were on the right track. They found an electrical connector between the tranny and computer became disconnected. So they re-connected and supported the wiring better and added some zip ties for good measure. They tested it 3 separate times from a cold start before I got it back last night. So far so good.

So, Real_Tech, Jag tells me I have a 1 year warranty on the tranny now. Have you seen many replacement trannys come back within the following year or two totally blown out again? Basically what I'm asking is how is the reliability of tranny #2 ?

thanks for your input, as always!

 

The only Jatco rebuilt trans I have ever had a problem with is the one I spoke of in my last post. That car failed on first test drive after coming off of the hoist and was not delivered to customer until another trans was installed. Otherwise the replacements are pretty much bullet proof. I honestly can't remember having ever changed a trans that had the rebuilt by Jatco label on it other than that 1. All Jaguar rebuilt transmissions for X-Types are rebuil by Jatco themselves.

 

Great, thanks. That gives me some confidence about keeping the car for a few more years, rather than sell it in a year or so.