2004 XJ8. Dropped the valve body out to change the seals. I noted how it mated to the shift lever. I thought it went back in as it came out, apparently not. At first it drove fine. It made a clunk you could feel. Drove up the drive way and shut it down. At first it would not start. Later it started but will not shift out of park and the display says "gearbox fault". Any ideals what i did wrong and how to fix it?

 

Tomcoo wrote: "Dropped the valve body out to change the seals."


I'm not sure what valve body that you were talking about, but it sounded rather major.. Were those seals actually bad, or was this simply some preventive maintenance? What I can personally tell you about these Jaguar Xj8 cars is to never do anything with those premium luxury cars unless absolutely necessary. I mean., you will find plenty to do with these vehicles already without adding more fuel to the fire. As is often the case, these high tech cars are seldom easy to service besides replacing the light bulbs.

 

Even lite bulbs can sometimes be a bee itch.

 

Yes, had to remove the front facia to put in new HID lights.

As for the trans,changing the seal is a recommended maintenance item. I assume I messed up the linkage when I put the mechatronic unit aback in. I hope the trans has locked itself in part to protect itself and there are not bent a broken parts in there. I have an engine and trans from another junker ($250 March madness special on engines and trans) so I may have a cheap source of parts. The mechatronic unit by itself is worth $1,500.

 

"Made a clunk" Would that be similar to the clunk of a parking pawl falling into place?

 

Most likely is the shiftier cable guide has come undone (either loose or missing bolt).

 

Yeah, it does.

 

The only thing you can mess up when doing the work you decribed is the positioning of the gear selector on the transmission. Assuming the mech unit wnet back in ok which is an easy job.

You must have the gear selector in the car in the same position as the gear lever on the side of the transmission when mating it up. ie both in neutral preferably.

Sound easy and it is if you knwo exactly what you are doing.

I have done this quite a few times because of a transmission problem I had and it is easy to get the "items mentioned" mismatched.

 

Checked my work. Everything was OK, except maybe plugging in the electrical plug. I turned the collar but did not have the 3 mm gap (more like6mm). Re-inserted the plug to get the 3 mm gap. I also replaced the 5.5 year old battery. Transmission is fine now. I recommend the metal pan. No more leaks and a replaceable filter.

 

Good to hear that all is well now.