2000 XJ8 (64000 miles) has been fine for years. Stopped to fuel car and when I left station car hung up in first gear. Sliding the gear selector over to manual side of Jgate I could shift car thru gears. Transmission has been shifting perfectly the last 10 years. When in D it stays in first gear and when slowing down if you try to speed up you will get a catchup bump. feels like low trans fluid but you can shift it manually at least to gear 4. Summer use car only for us now but I need to fix. Transmission is dry and the car has no leaks! Any ideas... I understand the zf transmission leaves a lot to be desired. Another thing (no idea if it is culprit) the Jgate has resistance or seems to bind in the P-N-D area but is butter smooth on the manual side.

 

To start with, be sure to bookmark this... JagRepair.com - Jaguar Repair Information Resource ...you'll want to look up the transmission manual. There's a possibility it may be your rotary gear selection module.

 

Check for a stretched shift cable. It can cause those symptoms (stuck in first gear when cold in "D", but shifts normally while in "4").

 

That is what mine did and it turned out to be the first drum/clutchpack. Very common at these transmissions. Lots of youtube info about this. So I did rebuild mine myself. Parts $215.00 Labor, well if I wouldn't have done it the car wouldn't have been worth it.