I pulled out of the parking lot at the end of the day and got about two blocks when the transmission failed. It was in Drive but acted like it was in Neutral until the revs were a bit high then it kind of slammed into Drive. I crept the 1 mile to the Jaguar dealership (ugh) and that's were it sits waiting to be diagnosed in the morning. I'll report back when I get the estimate.

I got the dreaded Gearbox Failure (I think that's what it said) and Restricted Performance messages. I did put my code reader on it while driving and saw four codes but didn't have anything to write them on -- from memory, one was possibly P1642, I know it displayed P1111, and P0632 (or something like that) and P1733 (again, or something like that, I know the last two were P06xx and P17xx, but can't swear to the xx values).

I don't want to predict what's going to happen, but I can pretty much be sure that I won't be having the dealership do any work on the car -- so I'll have to figure out what to do about it after they email me the estimate. Should be interesting (depressing!).

 

Mike,

One tiny piece of good news is that you need not concern yourself about the P1000 and P1111 codes, which are status codes not trouble codes. See the thread entitled Fault Code P1000 1997 XK8 for a detailed explanation regarding those two.

A good description of the general "structure" of OBD-II codes can be found here. This site also has a good dictionary of Jaguar-specific OBD codes as well as the generic codes (start with P0).

There are scads of possible causes for the P06XX codes and knowing the XX is critical. The P17XX codes are transmission related.

Not that I think this is the "magic cure," but have you checked the condition of your battery. I was getting all kinds of spurious warnings, including "GEARBOX FAULT", and the car going into limp mode that have all disappeared since a new battery was installed. It can't hurt to check it out.

I hope you are not experiencing the dreaded A-drum failure!!

 

Really sorry to hear Mike and keeping my fingers crossed for you.

Remember, we're here to help so please just ask and the guys in the know will be happy to chime in and help

Good luck

 

Thanks for the advice and words of encouragement -- I was going to check the battery because I was having a little problem with the AC Auto setting, but then this happened. Is it possible for the transmission to act up the way it did if the battery was bad or would I just get a spurious msg and code?

My biggest problem right now is that this is my only car, other than one I have in Wisconsin nearly 1,500 miles away! I could fly up there and drive the other one back if need be, but I'm going to wait to see what the dealership says.

Mike

 

The same ZF 5HP24 transmission is in BMW and Mercedes. Get it out of the Jag shop FAST! $10K
I spent $2,400 installed to have mine repaired. A rebuilt and improved A drum and
an exchange valve body with new solenoids. The other option is buy a car with a bad motor. When I had a bad motor it mine, they would only give me $300 to $800 for the car. These cars get real cheap when they don't run.
LD Walker Transmission in SC did mine. Check with Coventry West. I would guess they would sell one with warranty. Found this one on ebay.
Automatic Transmission 2002 Jaguar XJ8 w 46K | eBay

There are a lot of options for under $3K. Have yours torn down at a reputable transmission shop with the understanding if it is going to be over $3000 you want to replace it with an exchange unit with warranty instead.

Sorry it happened. Don't give up.

 

Mike,

I was getting similar behavior to your car, but not precisely the same. Most times when I would start the car I'd get an almost instant "GEARBOX FAULT" message and if I turned it off and on again it would clear. Other times, after backing out of a parking space and shifting into drive, I'd get a "grab and clunk" followed by a "GEARBOX FAULT" message. Once the car was being driven there was never a recurrence of the issue in any way, shape, or form until she was parked and started again.

I also got other messages, including frequent "bulb failure rear" messages, on a fairly routine basis until, one evening, the car simply would not start. The headlights came on, dimmed, but the car wouldn't crank. Up until that "catastrophic failure" of the battery I wasn't having anything other than the unusual messages and gearbox behavior.

I agree that the last place I'd turn to for any service related to these cars is the Jag dealer. I had one horrible experience with the Jag dealer in Northern Virginia and have, as a general rule from my experience and those shared with me by others, found that there is far too much "lets try to fix it by throwing parts at it until a code that could be caused by various issues goes away" in these shops.

 

I agree that the Jaguar dealership is not where I want the car, but it was close to where I broke down, so I will let them tell me what they think is wrong with it and go from there.

Does anyone know of a good transmission shop in West Palm Beach, FL?

 

bump!!

 

When I worked at the dealer years ago the price of a gearbox was $4300.00 plus labor.

The dealer cost of replacement will approach the value of your car.

A 10 year old car needs a good-used gearbox or a parts replacement repair.

Just my opinion.

bob gauff

 

Sorry to hear this.

Hope it is something minor.

Stewart

 

If I can't fix it for under $3k, I'll be selling it or parting it out. But, I should be able to find a used transmission for a reasonable price, or rebuilt even. I'll see what the dealer says tomorrow. Might just tow it home and get a Range Rover to drive for now.

 

Mike:
So sorry to hear about your troubles! I hope it's not the worst case scenario, but in case it is I thought it might be helpful to tell you that only a couple of weeks ago I asked a local tranny shop what their cost would (you know, just in case) for the install of a rebuilt unit. They said $4300 including labor. If the car is good in every other way, it's probably worth it. Lord knows that you can't buy crap for the same amount of money on the used car market... However, if it is the A-drum issue, isn't it possible to do what Lear45 did - have the new a-drum replaced & a new valve body installed - for a lot cheaper?

Pulling for you!
Scott

 

I'm kicking myself for not writing down the OBD-II codes that I got when I was driving to the Jaguar dealership -- I suppose I could go over there this morning to see if I can still read the codes, or maybe they erased them already. I found a transmission shop that's not too far away from the Jaguar dealership, so I'll be calling them (and AAA) in a few minutes to see if I can arrange transport to their shop so they can give me their take on the situation. I have nothing to lose (other than a few bucks and some time, but I'm not going to rush into anything here!), so I might as well get another opinion (although, I haven't heard from Jaguar as of yet, but as we all know it's not going to be good news from them no matter what!).

Thanks again for the advice and words of encouragement. I plan to get this situation taken care of and get the car back on the road. As stated by another member, albeit in other words, no matter what it costs to fix it, it's still less than what it would cost to replace it!

 

If you need a trans, hit up Dave. He is parting out his XJ8

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/p...ng-out-104523/

Chris

 

it's a $300 dollar fix plus labour for the new A drum, seals and fluid will bump the parts cost a bit, finding a trans shop locally is the next move. I agree with Bob, if you can find a low miles trans cheap or price up the parts. I think $3k should get it fixed with a warranty and change for a good meal. The boxes are a well known item.
One of our forum members did his BMW X5 with the same issue on here, maybe ask about parts cost to get an idea, and who to deal with. It's not the end of the world, just remove it from the dealers to the trans shop asap

 

I thought about that, but his trans has more miles on it than mine did, so maybe I'd just be asking for a future issue.

 

Hey Mike, Shipping would kill the deal but thanks for the thought! Also, there are more than one way to skin a cat...

1. A-drum replacement only ($250 plus labor to R&R) I did this exact thing and 10K miles later it was still working fine until the accident.
2. A-drum and valve body ($250 for A-drum and $300 for rebuilt valve body plus R&R)
3. Used transmission ($1000-$2000 plus R&R)
4. Rebuilt transmission ($2500ishy plus R&R)

It all boils down to how much $$ you want to spend and if this is going to be a 2 year car for you or a 10 year car. They are not crazy difficult to R&R if you have the inclination....

 

Ok, I talked to the Jaguar guy and he emailed an estimate. He said that the drum needed to be replaced which he can do with a rebuild -- his exact words. He also said that he won't know until he gets it all apart what other things need to be replaced. The estimate says: "need trans rebuild done (trans internal fault) $2,586" plus tax.

Also included in the estimate is other work that they recommend (non-transmission related) that I can do myself, so the total that they want, $5,552.12 incl. tax, is not going to happen!

I called the transmission shop and he said that the drum rebuild is way over-priced but didn't want to get specific without seeing the car. It's going to cost me $65 to have the car towed to the transmission shop (10 miles), which I will do this afternoon or tomorrow morning.

For now, I'm happy (?) driving a rental until I can get my mother in law's Jaguar running (I think it's a battery issue, but I haven't been over there to look at it yet) and then I can drive hers for as long as it takes. I love having the luxury of time!

BTW Some of the other things Jag wanted to do:

Replace air filter (found filter dirty) $101.70
Replace fuel filter (fuel filter appears to be original) $137.35
Replace serpentine belt (found belts worn/cracked) $275.28
Perform fuel injection service (found air filter dirty) $199.95 - yes, that's what it says
Perform cooling system service (found coolant is discolored) $257.74 -- no it's not!
Replace both sides cam cover gaskets (leaking) $916.36
Replace bank one knock sensor (knock sensor codes stored) $424.92 -- I replaced this one myself not too long ago, if bank one is the passenger side

Not that the work doesn't need to be done, but the prices make me laugh -- $101 for an air filter! Who the heck are they kidding? Anyways, none of this is going to be done at the dealership!

 

That dealership is a goldmine. I wish I had one.

 

I am a little curious about the A drum being broken on a later car, there is a thread on .co.uk forum, a member repairing the ZF's (looks like he knew what he was doing) said that later models of XJ8's are trouble free. A picture of your A drum will help a lot for others peace of mind.

5HP24 pressure control valve