A few weeks ago I took my car to the shop to check the transmission because it wasn't shifting. Today I find out I will be needing a new transmission and everything will cost me $2500. Funny thing is, this will be my third transmission on this car. I bought the x type years ago when it had 32,000 miles and on the carfax it said the transmission has been changed. So I bought it with maybe a new transmission if not refurbished, and 60,000 miles later it needs a new one again.

Am I driving wrong or something or do these transmissions suck that bad? I don't floor it at all, I may have only done once or twice. Or can this be an underlying problem which is causing the transmissions to fail prematurely? Has anyone else experienced so many tranny failures? I'm hoping that the "new" transmission was actually refurbished and that's why it failed, because if one transmission only lasts 60,000 miles, that is not very good.

 

I have an 03 manual so I don't have that problem, but here are a few comments. Other cars use that transmission, does it fail there?

The X Type has a major design fault in that water from the windshield is channeled into the left lower A pilar and then out the rocker panels. This causes rusting and I read comments that there is water leakage into the footwheel (where the transmission controler is). Look for rust bubbles around the left front door hinges or for water in the footwell. Your controller may just be getting wet.

 

You need to constantly check your automatic transmission fluid in the x type. It can get too hot very easily. I just pulled a transmission that had overheated because there was crap in the cooler. Get this thing called kooler kleen. You will be amazed at the blockage you have in your cooler. Mine was only a year old and deposits already started. Granted, this was on a trail ready jeep, so it's abused a lot, but still, it's something that can cause whatever transmission you install to go bad very quickly

 

Hello,

Our auto trans are also very sensitive to the quality of the fluid. Jaguar tells that they are maintenance free, it is absolutely WRONG, just drained mine and fluid was dark as night with less than 70 000 kms (around 43 000 miles).

When you drain your transmission fluid be careful with the specs of the new fluid you use to refill, it is mandatory to use a fluid that meets Jaguar specs. I personnaly think that the M2C922-A1 Ford spec is not enough given that JATCO 3100 PL085 and Idemitsu K17 are often mentionned and are transmission's manufacturer spec for the first one and a japanese spec for the second one (Jatco is a japanese manufacturer). A lot of fluids are meeting the Ford spec without meeting the 2 other ones, so I think they are more restrictive than the Ford spec.

Searching a little bit I found the Fuchs ATF 4400 fluid that meets all three specs and costs 3 times less than platinium-plated Jaguar fluid. Don't believe people who try to sell you generic or universal fluids telling you that it's OK for your gearbox, they are wrong.

Cheers,