British Automotive Repair owned by Greg was highly recommended from members in the Phoenix area. I stopped by the other day to get a quick estimate on some preventative maintenance I want to get done on my R after the holidays to keep her in top notch shape.

I threw Greg off when I asked about the tranny drain & refill. He saw my penta wheels and assumed it was an X308, but when I told him about the upgrade he got all excited. Guess they don't see many "real" XJRsmcoming through the shop as he went on to say how indestructible the motor and tranny is.

Anywho here's the quick write up of what I wanted done:

(parts)
Tuneup-plugs: 28.62
Tranny fluid: 32.00
Tranny pan: 47.00
(labor)
Tuneup: 90.00
Tranny drain/refill: 315.00!!! (maybe he thought flush,which I don't want done, is that more involved?)

I thought the tuneup would be pricey and the tranny drain/refill woulda been like 130-160.

He took out a book to get labor rates on the older Jags, said something about the tranny pan being a royal pain on my R because exhaust or something is in the way?

Any input on the quote guys?

 

If you just want a drain-n-fill on the trans you'll need about 4 quarts of ATF @ $3.00-5.00/quart

Not sure why a transmission pan would be needed unless the old one is damaged. Perhaps what we're talking about is a filter kit?



Better clarify exactly what the quote is for







On an XJR/6 the trans drain plug is 100% accessible. Don't even have to elevate the car, actually, if you have a shallow enough drain pan.

If he is dropping the transmission pan to change the filter, then, yes....the exhaust has to be disconnected and shifted asisde. No big deal, really, unless all the fasteners are rusted....which is possible.


Here's what dropping the pan looks like
http://www.jag-lovers.org/snaps/snap...?id=1185050805

Personally I think $315 is excessive but I'm reluctant to press that point very hard since I don't know what his labor rate is ....and I have a feeling that there isn't very good communication with respect to what the quote is actually for.

Cheers
DD

 

Hey thanks for the quick reply. I did the trans drain/refill myself on my 93 XJ6 a couple summers ago. Didn't need to disconnect any exhaust parts. The kit I bought came with new filter and rubber gasket for around trans pan.

Now living in Phoenix I don't have many of my tools, jack, or the space to mess with this stuff anymore. If I could do the drain & refill myself would that be fine or would that be completely idiotic to not change the filter at the same time? Car has 64K on her, going to go out on a limb and say most (if not all) parts & fluid are original.

 

Transmission filters seldom clog. If they do, odds are the trans is on it's last legs.

I like to change the transmission filter every few years on general principles/feel good thing but the real benefit comes from fresh fluid. On cars with a trans drain plug it's so easy to just drain/refill every 10k miles or so (every other oil change for me) that it's hard to resist. No, not all the fluid comes out, of course, but eventually all that's left is fresh fluid.

A year ago I bought a used Honda for my youngest. It also has a drain plug. At 65k miles the fluid was brown-ish so I started draining it every couple months. It only takes a few minutes. Only about 3 quarts come out but after the 4th or 5th time what came out was a nice red color.

Cheers
DD

 

Hey Doug, checked the tranny fluid again today when I was messing around in the garage. It's definitely something I want done soon. I didn't bring a jack with me from the move from Buffalo to Phoenix, but I see what you mean the tranny pan/drain plug is clear as day, car won't even have to be lifted.

I did it myself on my 93 XJ, but I ordered the filter kit when I did that one. The only advantage to dropping the pan (besides having to in order to change filter!) was that I got a chance to really clean the inside of the pan and junk on the magnet inside.

So with 65K miles on her you think there's no point in changing the filter? I have no problem doing just a basic drain/refill myself. But doing the filter too would require me taking it to a shop if the exhaust has to be disconnected and moved. And like you mentioned above there's nothing wrong with the pan, so your right the $47 pan shouldn't even be in the quote above.

Thanks!

 

As mentioned, fresh fluid is more important than a fresh filter, IMHO.

I changed the filter on mine a year or two ago ....on general principles....and have no plans on ever changing it again.

True, though, about it being good to get the gunk out of the pan.

I'd do the fluid change routine and then do the filter when your circumstances permit.

Cheers
DD

 

Hi Guys
Just recently changed filter and oil in my XJR . The pan can be taken off without removing exhaust, but it is a bit fiddley as the guard? for the dip stick catches the edge of the pan. a leaver between box and pan was all that was required.I got the filter kit from my GM dealer Aus $35, Very cheep compaired to jaguar , I did reuse the origional pan Gasket as it is a stiff compound as opposed to the rubber in the service kit. a lot easier to reinstall.
Ran car for 20 miles dropped the oil again I did this 3 times now the oil on dip stick is as new and the tranny shifts a lot smoother dextron 3 is the oil speck
Jaguar price was $1700to service the gearbox
Rommel
96 White XJR

 

Hey Doug, I didn't even notice the above post when you spoke of doing a drain/refill for tranny fluid. You say 4 quarts?? I have an XJR and the owners manual I have says, "up to 7.7 quarts for the XJR drain/refill" and only up to 5.3 quarts for the regular 4.0's.

When I got the quote a few weeks ago from British automotive repair he had jotted down 8 quarts at $4 a pop. Maybe you were referring to the naturally aspirated 4.0

Either way I'm going to do the tranny drain refill today or tomorrow since it is definitely not as pink and clean as it should be! Ill let the shop do the tuneup and rear diff fluid sonetime soon. Just wanted to clarify the quart specifications for tranny.

 

I've done the drain-refill thing several times on my XJR and never needed more than +/- 4.0 quarts to refill.

If the car sat for a long-ish period.... overnight, let's say.... and the torque converter drained down it might well take more than 4.0 quarts.

Cheers
DD

 

Curious - what is he going to do for "tuneup $90"?.

Tuneup on an OBD car is really a misnomer. About all you have to do is change plugs and filters. Sounds steep to charge $90 to change plugs on this engine. Something you can easily do DIY with practically no tools.

 

Doug, I never took into account all the tranny fluid that won't come out when I do a simple drain & refill. Maybe that's where the confusion was. But my manual definitely says 7.7 quarts for a drain/refill. That must be draining the torque converter where the majority of the rest of the fluid is?

Kinda lame that when you do a drain/refill half of the dirty fluid stays in then...I think I came across one of your older posts that recommended that you can just do it again after a week or so when old/new fluid is mixed together, eventually having more clean than old?

Is that why you usually do yours with every oil change interval?

 

Yup, that's the idea. If the fluid is really dirty you can drain/refill several times in row with a few miles between. Eventually all the old comes out.

I do mine every-other oil change...which works out to about 10k miles. Probably overkill but it's so cheap and easy, why not?

Cheers
DD