It's been a long weekend, I had a wonderful start to my mini Memorial day break when on the way to work on Friday my car made a loud thud and slipped out of gear. I pulled over to the side of the road, put it in park and turned it off. I waited a few minutes and turned it back on, then tried to put it in gear and found that none of the gear selections would make the car move: Drive, Reverse, lower gears, nothing...

So, I called AAA and had them tow me to a local shop I've gone to in the past. They looked at it right away and told me the left output seal on the TC was leaking, which pissed me off because I had that seal replaced in October 2012 when my T-case fluid was changed.

Interestingly enough, when they lowered it from the lift after looking it over, it was driving again. Obviously something major had happened though so they recommended I go to the AAMCO down the street. I took it slow and got to the AAMCO, but they said they couldn't look at it until today due to the holiday weekend. I left it there and got a ride home.

This morning I get a call saying they inspected it and found it was not the side seal but an upper seal (forgot what he called it) that was leaking. It sounded to me like he was referring to that seal between the TC and transmission, however last week at the dealer my Transmission fluid was checked and was perfectly fine, leading me to believe the Transmission fluid was not leaking into the TC.

I was quoted at $450 to remove the transmission and diagnose the issue and to re-install back into the car. I was also told that to "rebuild the transmission to AAMCO standards" it would be about $2,000 with an extra $400 if the torque converter needed to be replaced.

Has anyone had an issue like this before? This car is an '05 so it shouldn't suffer from the T-case issues of older cars. Also, do these prices seem fair?

 

According to JEPC there are four seals on the transfer case and 1 seal on the transmission. TC=2 output, 1 front seal, 1 rear seal. Transmission=output shaft.

If it's a leaking seal, what happens if you refill to proper levels? It should drive ok if it is only the seal and pinpoint it as the seal itself.

Knowing the name or location of the seal would help the more experienced x-type owners point you in the right direction.

Which of the two units is low on fluid?

 

I'm not sure that any x type is immune to the transfer case issues however I do agree with you that from what I have read it seems 05-08 had far less issues. Sorry that happened to you I have a 2006 and pray that mine holds up!

 

I will know more later today or tomorrow when the diagnosis is complete. The information I was given up until now was the result of a few people simply looking underneath the vehicle.

I was initially of the same opinion: plug the leak, top it off and good as new. However, I must admit that after speaking with the AAMCO tech over the phone, I was concerned that serious damage may have been done to either the TC or Transmission. He told me that "whatever slipped out of place must have fell back in place from towing/lifting the car" but he also said that it would likely happen again if I simply topped off the fluid.

Whether or not that is actually true remains to be seen, but if it comes down to me having to pay $2500 for such a major repair, I'll just top off the fluid and trade in the car.

With proper maintenance I'm sure your car will last you many more enjoyable years.

I'm inclined to believe that my issue is the direct result of some imbecile mechanic that worked on my car last October. Hopefully no irreparable damage was caused because I like the car, but I'm not about to pour thousands into an 8 year old vehicle.

 

Ok, so I was just told the clutches are burned and that the forward and reverse pistons are cracked. They also want to replace the torque converter. In addition to all the parts they normally replace, it comes to a grand total of $3,200.

I told them to hold off for now until I can figure out what I want to do. At this point, I want to trade it in. However, I was told that once they put it all back together now it may not move, which might force me to sell a non-moving vehicle.

What would you guys do?

 

I got the price down to $2,900 since they were able to find a cheaper torque converter

UPDATE:

I've gone with the repair which will give me a one year warranty on the transmission and transfer case, the car should be ready for me on Monday or Tuesday.

After much consideration, I've decided to hang on to the car until the Fall of this year and then replace it with something else. This will allow me to at least get some use out of this expensive repair while not really hurting the book value upon trade in.

Though I don't like the idea of it, I may be Jag-less for a couple years until the new X-Type variant is announced unless they announce it sooner than I expect. But I will continue to be active on here for the time being, and through that strange phase between selling one Jag and buying another.

 

Me personally, I would hold onto the car until the new X- variant was released. I definitely would not have "put it back together and traded it in" as that gives a bad car to someone else. Of course, to each their own, but you did ask for opinions.

Jim

 

Well now that I've spent the $3k on the repair, the next owner would be getting a brand new transmission with the remainder of a 1-year warranty.

My purpose for trading it in later this year is to maximize the amount of money (book value) I receive for it while still getting some use out of this expensive repair.

I appreciate the feedback and wish that the new X-variant were arriving this fall as I would buy it in a heartbeat, but I may have to go with something else for a couple years.

Rest assured, this won't be my last Jaguar!

 

Now I am literally fuming

Last night on my way home from a 4th of July party, I was stopped at a red light. As soon as it turned green, I accelerated and had the same issue: there was a loud thud and the car wouldn't move.

A volunteer fire fighter helped me push it to the side of the road so I could safely wait for a tow. I had it towed back to the AAMCO that allegedly fixed my transmission and left them a colorful voicemail that my car would be waiting for them in the morning.

I am so pissed off that this $3,000 repair was not done right that I am about to kill somebody. I am not paying them another dime, and they had better get it right this time

 

i feel for you Evan- that would make me mad too. I had to drop a new Transmission into my X-type about 6 months ago to the tune of 4g's...then about a month into it got this terrible loud rattle from underneath, sounded like a bucket of loose bolts inside a metal bucket..ended up being an issue with the transfer case but was covered under warranty. Did not have to pay a dime. I would say maybe have a more experienced jag mechanic in your area take a look at yours?

 

Thanks smokecat, I'm glad you didn't have to pay for the TC at least

I would really love to take it somewhere else at this point, but that would mean spending more. AAMCO gave me a 1 year warranty so now they can go ahead and honor that.

After it was "fixed" the first time, I noticed an annoying whine whenever it was moving that seemed to vary with the RPM. I was also told that the smell of fluid burning off was supposed to go away after a day or so, but it never did. Those things led me to believe it wasn't done right the first time, so I was actually about to take it back in early next week.

 

The new XF comes in AWD.

 

I stopped over to AAMCO today to give them the power steering pump I ordered so they can install it while they have the car. I asked when I'll be getting it back and I was told they were aiming for Tuesday, but most likely Wednesday (assuming they don't need to special order anything, which could push it to Thursday)

Let's just hope it's done right this time

That would certainly be nice

 

Did they get it figured out? What was wrong with it?

 

Yes I got it back last Thursday. Apparently some "parts that weren't replaced the first time" caused the issue this time. Then there was the issue of them loosing most of the bolts to the front air dam and wheel arch liners, denting the pulley on my power steering pump, and somehow activating a check engine light.

So I went back that Saturday and had them replace the bolts, fix the pulley, and diagnose the code. Everything was set, and the code was for an oxygen sensor. I decided to try cleaning the sensor so I got on a long highway entrance ramp and J-gated it until I realized I was doing about 110. The light has stayed off since then so it must have worked.

Next on the list is to get the alignment fixed that they somehow screwed up, have my front rotors checked for warping, and diagnose the odd creak/pop noise I started getting a few days ago when turning, starting from a complete stop, and braking.