I have a 98 XJR with 142000 km. Runs great. Last night, at shopping center started out with car in sport mode and heard a loud clunk. Car would drive but wouldn't shift out of first gear. Put it in normal mode and it shifted normally. Only about 3 blocks home, put it in garage, could hear noise coming from transmission while idling in park. Havn't moved it since. Have been reading some posts in forum regarding low fluid in tranny or stretch in the cables. Does anyone have ideas or suggestions. Have a call in to repair shop, quess I'll get it towed to shop, scared to drive it. Thanks in advance for any help.

 

Adding ATF is going to be much cheaper than towing. Make sure you use ATF that is compatible with your model of transmission, which is a W5A580 made by Mercedes. So, the dealer has it, Merc dealers have it. Chryslers with the same transmission rebadged as the NAG1 use ATF4+. Valvoline Maxlife Dex/Merc has also been listed as compatible in the Merc documentation.

If you add a liter and it goes away, then it was the level.

Then you have to figure out why the level went down.

One common problem area is the wiring bushing in the front right corner leaking. It is a cheap part and easy to fix. You cannot leave it and keep on adding ATF because it will climb up the harness and kill your TCM.

And at 142k, it is time for a full drain and refill anyways.

 

Thanks Plums, will try adding the ATF and replace fluid etc. See how that works. Really miss driving the car.