Went to Rugby yesterday to see friends, a typical cruise down the M6/M6 Toll, and all was well, and it was a nice warm day for once. Whilst in Rugby I was turning right at some traffic lights, on a forward slope, when suddenly the yellow fault light came on, plus the words "transmission fault" on the display. The engine fault symbol had also illuminated, (the little picture of an engine on the display). Yet the car seemed to be perfectly OK, no funny noises, changing gear OK etc.

Got to Tesco to buy flowers, turned off engine, restarted, and the yellow fault light had gone out, warning message had gone, but the engine fault symbol was still on. I manoevred the car a bit in the car park and all seemed OK, no noises. We then went for a meal with our friends and when the engine had cooled down a bit I checked the coolant - perfectly OK, up to level. Engine oil OK and no leaks anywhere, just the puddle from the air-conditioning.

Having visited our friends, it was time for the 80 mile drive back to Crewe. So I decided to use the A5 instead of the M6 just in case we had a complete failure, it would make recovery easier. However car seemed perfectly OK, performance was all there, no noises, nothing, just the engine fault symbol. Finally got onto the M6 near Cannock and up to speed, (I had tried it out up to 75 for a bit on the dual sections of the A5 near Tamworth). Car running perfectly and we got back home in good time, albeit a bit longer from using the A5.

Starting the car this morning the engine fault display had gone, then the transmission fault came on again twice returning from a short trip to Audlem, clearing both times I switched off the engine, but the second time the engine fault indicator lit up again. I noticed the radiator fan was not on with the engine running when I looked under the bonnet after returning home. I would have thought on this, the hottest day of the year so far, it would have been on. So maybe the car is overheating, but the temperature gauge shows normal. I also noticed when the transmission fault comes on it locks into a single, (lower) gear.

Al faults come on at low speeds, around 30-40 mph. Could this be an overheating symptom ? The box is also a bit clunky changing sometimes, but not all the time, and only at low speeds.

Oh, well, down to the dealers next week, as I have no code reader.

 

Good luck Fraser. Hope your trip to the dealer sorts out only a minor issue with your beloved.
BTW- how many miles on your xmission and fluid/filter?

 

I hope it's an easy fix , if it had a major thing it should have been all the time no matter the speed you are getting .

 

It seems to be definitely heat-related, as I went out today around town, starting from cold and all was well, apart from the check engine sign being illuminated, but no transmission fault.

What seems to happen is that as the transmission fluid gets hot the changes in the lower gears get harsher, and eventually the transmission fault message comes up.

Temperature today hot for England but cooler tomorrow. Anyway I am off to the dealer on Thursday.

 

I bet you it is the fluid that needs replacing. Hopefully you can just throw $500 at it and it will be fixed!

 

Just thought I'd give an update on this.

Today I took the car to the local agents, (Royles of Wilmslow a local independent dealer, not part of a huge chain). The diagnostic is that I need a software update for the transmission control. This has to be done starting with a cold engine/transmission, so on 11th July, I will leave car with agent and they will reprogram on Tuesday morning. In the meantime, I can use the car, no problem. Diagnostic cost Ł60 = $96 plus our VAT (tax) of 20%. I have to say there were some lovely cars in their showroom.

 

Al's well that ends well. My guess is that the pucker factor around the Mitchell place is much reduced.

 

Please follow up with us when the reprogramming is done, and let us know if the fault comes back on.

 

Just to let you all know that the codes were: -

P0782
U2523
U2518

Technician wrote "Confirm concern with SDD" - what is this ?

 

The SDD is the plug in diagnostic system that the dealers use. It replaced the IDS/WDS systems.

 

I had a trawl round the net to see what the fault codes mean. Why the dealers can't tell you I don't know, we are not all idiots with cars.

Anyway 0782 is "Change 2-3 and 3-2" which confirms my experience of rough changes, but only 2-3, not the other way around. The other codes indicate "CAN communication error" whatever this means, because all seems OK. What can the gearbox fault have to do with the CAN ?

 

Your codes may not be related. It looks like only the P0782 would have set the warning lamp on.

U2518 is specific to the air suspension module and U2523 could have come from the adaptive speed control (if fitted), the air suspension module, the climate control or the dynamic stability control. I wonder if these have triggered at some point in the past and have just been lurking there.

There is a TSB regarding the P code so hopefully the update will sort it.

 

The codes only tell you error conditions detected by the various computers. They don't tell you the reason for the error condition. For each code there is a usually long diagnostic procedure that is designed to eliminate possible causes for the condition. The diag procedures are also not perfect so there is some real tinkering to be done.

Cross fingers you have a good tech who can read between the lines of the diagnostic process as opposed to replace parts until it's fixed. RealTech had a long post in the general section about the SDD software - quite informational.

 

Hey, Guys, many thanks for the info. I mentioned it to my neighbour who has an S-Type 2004 and he had a software update job done to fix a problem similar to mine. Does the S-Type have the same ZF box then ?

Other thing is how on earth can the transmission changes "drift" ? These modern cars are way too complex, in my humble opinion.

 

Whilst waiting for the reconfiguration next Tuesday, I have worked out a "workround" to prevent the fault code from coming up, as it did yesterday, and went into limp mode.

In low speed town traffic I use the manual settings to go into 2nd when coming to a stop, then set off until I am up to around 30, when box would normally have changed into 3rd using Drive, back off the throttle and into 3rd, then 4th, 5th as needed and back down the gears the next time.

Uses a bit more petrol, though.

 

the gear change fault is addressed now by ZF in software updates under the TSB. IT DOES NOT meen however that it will be fixed in ALL cases. But its better than days of old when it was listed as a Hard Part failure in the trans and a replacement needed.
CAN network is how allmost all modules communicate to each other. Think of it as the cars nervous system.

 

Today was the day of the Northern Rally of the UK Jaguar Enthusiasts Club, held at Newby Hall, Yorkshire, and I had booked tickets !

So we set off from Crewe to Newby putting my workround into action, and got there and back with NO FAULTS !! This was a trip of around 300 miles. Mind you it is a bit of a PITA having to remember to drop down to "2" manually at stops and slow speed traffic, then change back up to "5". Once on the motorway its into "6" and car is its normal self.

Got 26 mpg too !

 

Ok, Here's the update........

Took car in last night as the job has to be done with engine cold, so work was done today.

Gearbox software reflash done and car road tested - 30 minutes labour, no charge for software.

Suspension geometry checked at my request due to wear on inside edge of tyres - they also reported one tyre now illegal and other very close to illegal, but I knew this as they had reported tyre wear at last service in October last year, and I had been keeping an eye on it.
0.7 hours labour.

Report of check provided with checks done on: -

- Total toe
- Partial toe
- Setback
- Camber
- Caster
plus a few other things called "King pin and "Incl. angle" whatever these are. Any suspension experts out there ?

Found to be out of limits on toe, camber, and caster, so all adjusted back to within factory limits. This was the front, then checks on rear showed toe out of limits, so also adjusted.

I authorised two new tyres as I am going to Scotland on Thursday, hence could not faff around to get cheapest price, so accepted their price of Ł217 plus the tax each for Pirelli P6000 Powergy tyres.

A bit of an expensive day, but now all tyres are good, gearchange is back to normal, and suspension settings are now known to be correct. Biggest expense was, of course, the tyres. Back ones have plenty of tread and are "Joe Noname" fitted by the first owner who had spent Ł45K on the car, so apparently had none left for things like tyres !

 

Nice , good for you , happy safe driving . Tires should not be sneezed at all

 

Yet another update........

Went up to Scotland on Thursday and had a tour around Clyde Coast and Argyll, completed 867 miles in total.

Clunky shifts now gone, and car going very well, 27.6mpg overall. However now a slight tendency to go to the left after all the suspension resets. I am not sure if this is just due to road camber or not, so shall keep an eye on it. I would have thought this kind of thing can be trimmed out using the settings. What happens in the US, do the cars tend to go to the right ?

If you are going from England to Scotland on the west side, I can recommend use of the B7076 instead of the M74, its the old A74 dual-carriageway with one carriageway taken out - in some cases the formation is used for a cycle track. There is no traffic on it at all !! Motoring pleasure 60s style.