I have a 1998 VDP - Got in it today at work, started it up and all is good. I put it in reverse...It starts to move but no go. Put it back in park then reverse. It moves. I put it into drive and start driving. The "transmission fault" light comes on and I am now in 4th gear (I think). The car will move but starts very slowly and does not shift.

Decide to try and get it home so I keep driving. About halfway I hear a fairly loud noise underneath but car keeps moving - same as before in a high gear and does not shift.

Gonna bring it to the shop tomorrow but was wondering if anyone here has any ideas of what I am in for. I am afraid that my car just became a giant paper weight because I don't plan on putting several thousand dollars into this car.

Thanks in advance.
Joe

 

Stop driving her and take her in....sorry to hear you are having issues...

 

You might be able to get by with a transmission drum repair instead of a rebuild which is much much cheaper.

 

Hi Joe (jcharp)
Here are a bunch of weblinks to the forum threads that will give you many ideas on how to proceed. They range from fixes that are as:

simple as adding more ATF fluid; to mid-range replacing forward disk; to more expensive rebuilding entire transmission; to most expensive buying a rebuilt transmission with 3 years warrantee. Also there are one or two DIY solutions.

Here are the threads and one PDF file:

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/xj-x308-xj8-xjr-27/transmission-noise-1st-2nd-gear-55605/

XJ8_Summary_At-a-Glance test .pdf

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/xj-x308-xj8-xjr-27/zf5hp24-repair-manual-attached-faq-54929/

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/xj-x308-xj8-xjr-27/transmission-fault-54741/

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/xj-x308-xj8-xjr-27/transmission-front-drum-49485/

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/xj-x308-xj8-xjr-27/transmission-rebuild-options-time-sensitive-advice-needed-45288/

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/xj-x308-xj8-xjr-27/transmission-hiccup-starting-54146/page2/

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/xj-x308-xj8-xjr-27/transmission-hiccup-starting-54146/

This should give you some ideas about what you maybe dealing with and how you can deal with it.

Jim Lombardi

 

Thanks for the info! This is definitely something I am not equipped to do myself but I did talk to my mechanic this morning. It is good to know that I may not need a new or re-built transmission.

He confirmed what you all said. It is probably the front drum. If that is all that needs doing it would be less than $2,000 but could go up quickly if more is needed. He won't be able to be more specific until he looks at it.

If he can keep it under $2,000, I will probably let him fix it. He just did the timing chain tensioners for me and except for this problem, the car is in pretty good shape. If it takes more than $2k, I will have to think about cutting my losses.

I will post again after I find out what the deal is - costs etc.

Thanks again.
Joe

 

If the gearbox (ZF5HP24) does NOT need frictions or steels, then I just replace the forward drum for less than $2000.00 and still make money on the repair including the updated drum, gasket/seal kit, fluid and filter. I usually charge $1800.00 exchange for the drum replacement so that is a good price but varies according to the labor rate in the various areas. I charge $70.00/HR but I am in a rural County so prices are lower than the Urban areas (the dealer I worked at gets about $130.00/HR)

I would guess 10 hours labor if nothing goes wrong and the person has done it before.

I have done the forward drum in about 6 hours TOTAL but it was the second time in a week so I was well prepared for the second one and the exhaust studs did NOT break.

bob gauff

 

A just-curious question to motorcarman: Are these trannys inherently a lot more complicated than US boxes (for example, GM 4L60e hydromatic) ? Or is the remove and re-install a lot more complex for Jaguars?

 

I have no idea about the GM box because the only one I have rebuilt was a THM400. The only hard part of the Jaguar R & R is the Cataverters that block access to the bell housing. The center part of the exhaust and cataverters have to come off, then the gearbox comes out normally. I set the tail of the gearbox in a narrow barrel (vertically) and remove the bell housing/front pump assy and pull the front drums out for inspection/replacement.

Sometimes the exhaust studs snap and that will slow you down.

bob gauff

 

I always wonder about this because I've had any number of Ford and GM transmissions rebuilt, and the cost is nowhere near what people charge for Jaguar.

 

The frictions/steels kit and gasket sets I have seen are around $700 to $1000. Add the drum and labor and you have a pricey rebuild.

A new or rebuilt valve body is also expensive.

bob gauff

 

I've been fortunate. Bought my 99 xj8 new and just turned 201k miles. still looks and runs like new with just the normal repairs, tires and brakes

 

Do you still have your original tensioners, valve seal gaskets and water pump? I'm curious as to how long these have lasted for some people.

 

Everything is still original as far as the engine goes and just as much power. I did have a slow coolant leak these past few months but never got around to checking it out until the car literally shut down as it was about to overheat. Turned out the crossover coolant pipe on the front top of the engine had a pin hole leak in it. I bought a new one for $76 and it's fine again. Regular oil changes and she's been very loyal

 

Well....I got it fixed. $1,950 for the repair (forward clutch drum) and $208 for the Jaguar fluid. While they had everything out, I had them replace rear shocks and bushings because they were making a lot of noise.

So, now I have new tensioners (done in July) a rebuilt transmission, new shocks (did the fronts myself last year). I have a one year parts and labor warranty on the repairs so I guess I will keep her for awhile.

Joe
98 VDP

 

Thanks for the update , it's good you got it fixed

 

hey

 

how much do it cost somebody ?

 

13 year old thread?
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Old thread but would be interesting to see how prices have risen post-pandemic. Don't know for sure what a shop would charge but I did my A-drum last year myself.

Genuine ZF valve body lower unit and main pressure valve $240.71 from CTSC
Genuine ZF rebuild kit (gaskets and o-rings) $263.79 from Rockauto
Genuine ZF clutch pack kit $194.79 from Rockauto
Genuine ZF filter $97.79 from Rockauto
Genuine ZF fluid $173.18 from Amazon
Kuhle improved A-drum $97.43 from an Ebay seller

So the directly related parts and supplies were $1,067.69 and that includes taxes and shipping. That's scouring the internet for the cheapest prices. A tranny shop isn't going to mess about with that. They're just going to order everything from their regular supplier and mark it up some percentage over list price to you. There are cheaper aftermarket parts and fluids that could maybe save a couple hundred dollars, but I didn't want to take a chance on doing it twice. I could have just stopped at the forward drum, but I also went ahead and installed everything in the kits for the same reason. There were other incidental costs, a tub of transmission assembly lube, cleaning solution, and a bunch of "while I'm at its" such as a new rear tranny mount and a disintegrated plastic heat shield so you can probably count on another couple hundred dollars of incidentals.

And I wouldn't say a full rebuild is a DIY'er job for the average shade-tree mechanic although if it hasn't sent shards throughout the system, just the A-drum by itself is very doable with some amount of ingenuity. I spent months (a few hours every other weekend in between yard work, car washing, home repairs, family, the other broken Jaguar, etc.) researching, watching youtube videos, fastidiously cleaning up in between steps, and mostly cobbling together my own versions of a few ZF special tools. But I figure discounting all my messing about, I probably did it in about 20 hours of direct labor.

 

Any links to your rebuild?
Great parts list too!

I assume the transmission came out and was blown apart on the bench?
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