If we were closer, I wouldn't have a problem of dropping the transmission for you.

First, stop doulting yourself, most of us started working on our car with no formal traning.

Go to Sears and get a good set of tools, $99 to $199.99, perfer the $199.99 set, 6 ton jack stands and pump jack, (Craigslist) for about $100.00 to $150.00. Get the special star bit socket, the 1/2 & 3/4 (don't know the size, but look like a 15MM)version and a transmission jack stands.

This is not a hard job, just time consuming and you need to be well organized. People get scared talking about engine and transmision removal.

Why way of thinking is, if it is bolted on, I can take it off.

Second, Jack up the rear (both sides) of the car and place it on secure jack stands. Start the car, turn off the Traction Control, and place the car in drive, get up under there and listen to what the trans is doing. Listen for any type of adnormal noise, rattling, chinging, grinding, etc... if any of that is going on, then most likly the trans is shot.

If the rear wheel is spinning, stop it with your foot (DEPENDING ON HOW FAST IS IT SPINNING) or have somebody apply the brakes. Listen for any type of adnormal noise, rattling, chinging, grinding, etc...

Third, check to see of the axle pop out of the differential, trust me I had that happen. Listen for any type of adnormal noise, rattling, chinging, grinding, etc....

If you feel it is still the A-drum, then purchase it.

Print the how to transmission removal and A-Drum replacement instructions.

Let all of this sit for a week, to build up your nevous, then that next Saturday, get up early, take your shower, have a good breakfast and go work.

That is how I did it on my first tranmission and engine removal.

Trust me, your wife will be more impressed than angry now. She might even help for a while, get the tools you ask for, bring you coffee or drinks.

You will saved well over $1500.00 and the feeling you will have when the job it completed.

Now you have tools for the next job.

Even ask your friend you brought the car from, if he can help.

Good example of this, I had a craiglist mechanic ad, some years ago. This one guy called me to change brake pads. I told him after today, you won't need me to do this again, get a chair and watch what I do. Now, he only calls me for advise, he do all his own work. Just two months ago, he replaced his first engine in a Chevy Surburban.

All you have to do is build up your confidence, when that is done you can do anything.

Steven G. Breeden

 

BUMP>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Ok....c'mon guys, lets show Morpheus what this forum's all about.
Its' time for the forum collective to dive in and find a way to help him through this.

If its bumping this thread, adding links c/w pics etc, offering tech advice etc, please all chime in and help!!!!
We need a Thermo / Gus / Rev Sam or similar in the area who can help to diagnose and or help fix.
In the meantime, I'm adding "Forum collective help needed" to the post title to try and draw more experience to this post.

Thanks Steveen, good advice & much appreciated........any others willing to chime in and help?

 

Steven G. Breeden,

I really appreciate your response. I have absolutely no plans to work on this. Yes I know it will ultimately be an expensive repair.

I'm in a pickle...

*I need reliable transportation
*I'm torn between either selling it or getting repaired
*This was my best friend's car and I don't want to tell him(he couldn't have known)
*It was fun driving it for 7 days
*This very well could be last repair for a very long time

I'm thinking that I need to start with telling my friend. Next, getting it towed to a shop and then inspected.

I'm open to any ideas, suggestions, or comments. Thanks!

 

I see a motivational speaking career in the makings...

 

My confidence was built the first time I installed a new toilet bowl. I tightened the bolts too tight. It cracked! I had to buy a new one. I'm amazed at the many handy-man type things that I can now do but the price has most often been costly for gaining experience.

A wise person once said... "A man has got to know his limitations".

 

Yeah, a cracked Jag would definately cost...

 

Ok then, if you are definitely not going to work on it yourself, find a good used (or rebuilt) transmission with some kind of guarantee and then shop around for a shop that will install it for a low price. A rebuild will cost you quite a bit more than a used one so weigh out how long you are going to own it in the equation. (if you are going to keep it for another 10 years, then a rebuilt is the way to go- if only 2-3 more years I vote used.)

 

Ok! This is helpful info. However, I'm saying this is tranny(I'm not a mechanic), and for me to go ahead and invest in another one without a confirmed diagnosis would not be wise.

 

Dont feel too bad, mine lasted 7 weeks after I bought car, 156k miles on what looks like the original transmission, bought a used one with 50K miles and will be installing at my friends school-auto shop next week, will open up old one and take a look at the drum, if so, will replace it and store in the shed for next time, love my car though,JJ

 

You don't have much of a choice. If you sell the car as is, you will have to allow for a $4000 drop in value. Buying a used trans. and having it swapped should cost under $2000.
RJ____________
97XK8 86K mi

 

When you have it towed in, make sure to post what they tell you before acting, there are experts here who can help you negotiate the best result. (money and quality-wise)

 

You had enough time to fall in love. I only had 7 days. Sheesh! I'd just driven it from Ill. a 13 hr drive.

Ha! RJ, that is exactly what I paid for it. Can't someone pay me more for the aggravation. LOL!
I was texting this guy... he asked how much... I said 4600 and he said it was too much because he sold one last year for 4000. I then said I would take 4200. He has not responded. I really do not want to sell it but I don't have time to worrying about how I'm going to get around.I have a 94 accord with completely worn out brakes I'm forced now to get repaired because the jag is not running.

I have a motorcycle but I take my son to school and he will not ride on it.

I will definitely do this because I need help. I appreciate everyone chiming in.

 

The first decision you need to make is, either REPAIR or LET IT GO. (not yelling)

If you let it go, you will not be able to sell it for anymore than $500.00 - $4000.00, instant lost of $3500.00. Salvage yard will give you even less.

If you repair it, shop around for shops that will do it all for you, locate and install, then look for shop that will just install and you purchase the transmission.

In your situation, perfer to find a shop that will locate and install the transmission. This type of shop will give you 60 day to a 1 year warranty on parts and labor = BEST ROUTE.

If you decide to locate a tranny yourself, make sure you get one with a warranty and have a shop intall it. Be advised, this route, the shop is NOT responsible for parts or labor. If the tranny is bad, you will have to pay to remove and replace again = OK ROUTE.

Sit down with your wife and go over cost factor, how much you are willing/can drop into it. I/We can't stay to go ahead and repair, because I/we don't know your financial situtation.

I do agree to tell your friend about the situation, but not in a blaming/negative way.

Moviational speaker, yah, I have a speech issue, I studder when I get nervous and my grammer is not that prefect.

I just know his pain and what I had to do when I was in his situation.

Steven G. Breeden

 

I can imagine how you must be feeling after a short euphoric period of ownership to suddenly be faced with a major failure. Blown a few engines and transmissions in my time.

There's a lot of theory in this thread but until you get the vehicle and expertise together in one place, that's not going to turn it into fact.

Once you call in the tow truck to get it to a shop, the costs start. If the shop the vehicle goes to then starts dismantling it for investigation, you're almost locked into using that shop for the repair and consequently to whatever they want to charge.

Is there no local, preferably Jaguar mechanic you can have come to the house and give an informed opinion of the transmission fault based on an actual inspection?

If you're definitely not willing to carry out the do the work yourself, then you really do need to scope the issue before committing to even start repairs.

Graham

 

I have learnt from experiance that is dangerous to assume that this or that has failed without definite proof.
I don't think anyone has mentioned low ATF fluid, it would seem to be the 1st. thing to check.
Just my 2cents worth.

 

GGG's bang on with the above advice.

Is there a way to search the forums to locate a local Jag Tech for this guy? Anyone with Autologic/IDS so it can be confirmed?

It does sound like A drum failure, not an electrical gremlin. Was there a bang or donkey kick from the tranny when it went?

If it's low on fluid it whines in drive (pump cavity noise) does it do this?

 

The day before I noticed a hesitation once. That was it. Once it started slipping, there was no noise except my engine reving slightly because it could not find a gear.
I've sent out 3 feelers to locals and no one has yet responded.

You're right Steven! I'm calling him tonight and take it from there. He is a stand-up guy. We go waaaay back!

This car has not been driven a whole lot in recent years and last receipt showed trans fluid replaced 2008. Absolutely no leaks.

Well! My wife's cousin has a husband who owns a shop that services Mercedes/foreign cars and I may try to see what it would take to get him to take a look.

 

Seems like the responses ar now coming thick n fast from knowledgable and helpful members Morpheus.

I'm sure there'll be more to come with helpful and useful advice.

We have a few techs from that area ( approximately ) who may be able to help.

Have you looked through the Regional section to see who may be close enough and willing to help??

You've got your location as Miss..............can you narrow it doen some?
This may be helpful in anyone deciding if they can assist or not!

 

Jim,

I'm located in central Mississippi near Jackson.

 

You said that it hesitated when in gear and revved before finding a gear.
Funny story; my 1998 VDP w/157k did the exact same thing 4 days before complete failure of the drive train. (This happened 2 weeks ago, precisely the same time I'm writing this....)

Before this happened it was showing a 'stability control failure / traction control failure' warning message as well as the ABS warning lamp that appeared every time the car moved.

This message came on intermittantly at first and then came on consistantly for a period of about 2 months. [my little orange friend on the dash] 1.5 months before the initial hesitation/pre-death cry, it seemed like the car would jerk slightly more than it should at what felt like the u-joints, however it was so slight that I didn't regard it as anything serious.

Right before it hesitated/revved/jerked-forward, when pulling up to a stop light in drive, it felt like it clunked into a fully stopped position. After this, it did the hesitation thing for the first time and I knew immediately there was a serious, serious problem with a MAJOR component of the car.

Once it pulled off it made a weird grinding noise and then repeated the hesitation process several more times during the following stoplights. After doing this 4-5 times, however, the problem went away. I thought I was in the clear, but in the back of my head I knew it was only a matter of time.

Thursday, August 30 2012, at ~1:00am, when pulling into my parking garage lot ramp, it happened. I was in drive, going uphill when it let go and stopped going forward. I can't remember if it made a pop when it happened (probably due to my subconscious mind repressing the memory of this very traumatic incident), but when it stopped moving forward I could no longer put it into any gear.

No reverse, no drive, no j-gate manual gears either. Then, when I went to move the shift lever back into the park position it made a sickening grinding sound.

At this point the first thing that comes to mind, as far as the problem is concerned, is (F**K!!!!) the transmission is blown and there are probably large chunks of metal wreaking havoc inside what's left of the gearbox.

I searched this forum for a possible cause/solution and found that the a-drum could be a possible culprit, but there was no way to determine exactly what the problem was until I could do further exploratory investigation.

The problem is, I just started Old Dominion University 2 weeks ago and I work as a pizza delivery driver and I don't live at my parents house (where my tools are). I decided the first thing I should do is call my insurance company and see if my USAA full coverage would be able to help me.

Long story short; they can't do ****. I brought the car to the dealership(checkered flag, Virginia beach) as part of the insurance assessment and, to my surprise, they said it was actually my differential and not my transmission, and it would cost $5,100 to fix; not including a list of other non-essential problems they happened to find.

In my 12+ years of being a very good mechanic to my own vehicles, I am naturally uncertain about the validity of their diagnosis. I have a feeling they are completely full of ****, but until I can do my own diagnostic second opinion, there's no way to be sure.

I feel for you because I'm in the exact same predicament. I have had this car for a year now and it is my baby. I love this car. I only paid $5,000 for it 20k miles ago and I still owe $3,000 on it. At this point I wouldn't be able to sell it for $300 and no way in hell am I going to pay the dealership +$5,100 to make it work again.

I would have to kick my own *** for that. Therefore the only option I have is to take the loss like a man and accept the fact that I have a 1:1 scale model of a Jaguar Vanden Plas until I have the time and money to fix. Considering my job requires a car and I'm taking 13 credits as a sophmore electrical engineering student, that might not happen in the immediate future.

Hopefully any assistance you get will also help me. Good luck and keep your chin up brother

-p.s: The transmission was replaced 40k miles ago, June/2009. warrantee ran out @ 36k/3 years after replacement