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I am restoring a '79 Series 3 XJ6 in Thailand, which is proving to be something of a trial of patience!
The car has not been used for several years and I bought it last May. I have only just got the engine running, having had multiple issues to resolve (broken pickup in distributor, poor condition HT leads, defective distributor cap leading to no spark; RH fuel tank leaking, fuel pump inoperative, 2 out of 3 changever valves failed, clogged injectors, open circuit wire to CTS, inoperaive cold start injector - probably not needed in this climate anyway).
Now she is running nicely, but I have no drive in any gear, forward or reverse.
I realised that the kickdown cable was missing, and that this operates a valve in the gearbox to change fluid pressure depending on throttle position. I had hoped that fitting this would restore drive. Today, I fitted a new cable and changed the gearbox filter while I had it open. Had to fabricate a bracket for the throttle body end as it was missing. Then went to adjust it. The manual says to connect a pressure gauge to the port at the rear of the box, and adjust the cable to give 55-75 PSI on the gauge at idle, with 20-25 PSI more at 500 RPM higher with the gearbox in D.
I have run the gearbox through all the gears as per the routine when re-filling, and topped up to the Max mark on the hot side of the dipstick.
I am getting zero pressure at the test port.
Does this mean the gearbox is unservicable? Are there any further checks I should make before I resort to removing it?
Assuming it has to come out, are there any steps a home mechanic can take to work on it, or is the general advice send it to a reconditioning shop? It will be very difficult to find a specialist here that is familiar with Jaguars and Borg-Warner boxes, but I was thinking maybe I could get the overhaul kit from SNG Barrett and provide to a specialist workshop.
Any suggestions would be welcome as to where to investigate next.
I had a customer gearbox fail that turned out to be broken oil pump lugs on the torque converter.
The oil pump seized and snapped the lugs.
I installed a good-used gearbox and the customer drove away!!
You should pull the gearbox and remove the torque converter to check the drive tabs to the oil pump.
The cable is busted possibly at the connection with the lever on the box itself. They do that. Mine did, in my driveway!!
Climb under and with the help of a mate see if moving the shift lever actually moves the l;ever on the bosx. Careful, make sure you are safe under there....
Nice work. A slick tool to add to your collection with the hope it never sees use again!!!
Still on the lever thing ! I am persistent or stubborn, depends on the viewer!! When the shift lever in the cabin is moved from detent to detent, does the lever on the box respond in proper order. Park to Park, R to R ?
Yes the selector lever does operate the lever on the side of the gearbox correctly. I misunderstood your first post on that as meaning the other cable (kickdown)
One of the first checks I did was the selector lever having seen advice elsewhere here on the forum, and I also adjusted the bands
I removed it without too much trouble but only just had the car up high enough to pull it clear.
I also downloaded and printed a service manual for the BW65/66. When I opened the gearbox case again and compared to the service manual, it was clear that someone has been meddling because all six of the oil transfer pipes are missing.
Meanwhile, I located an auto gearbox repair specialist in town, so took the gearbox to him for evaluation. He has now stripped it down and found the problem. An incorrectly-fitted spacer had dropped out of position and caused the gears to jam. The clutches are burnt out. He is confident he can fix it all up though, and says he thinks he has a supplier in Bangkok who can provide the required parts.
I’ll update again once I hear back from him.
One thing I found amiss when I removed the gearbox was that the breather pipe is missing. Can anyone tell me where is normally vents to? In the Haynes manual there is a photo of the breather going into a metal pipe via a rubber hose but I can’t tell where it goes from there.
Andy T, you are a hero doing a job like this in Thailand where there can't be all that many guys who know anything about old Jaguars. Fortunately there is this forum. If you are wanting to get serious on the car look for the hard-copy parts list and workshop manuals, they are mines of information.
When I was doing a helluva lot of work on my 1980 XJ6, I found the parts manual more useful than the WS manual. The parts catalogue has all the parts drawings and their relationship to each other. A Really Useful book. Of course you can get the wokshop manual as a PDF, but I like a book as I can read it whilst I'm having breakfast (joking, my missus would never let an oily book anywhere near the kitchen !!)
Thanks for the links. You are right - the parts books are a very valuable resource.
i have downloaded a parts book and the electrical wiring book, and get appropriate pages printed off as required. I printed out ten pages of the parts book on the auto box for this local mechanic to assist him in the rebuild.
perhaps next trip back to UK i will buy hard copies too.
The Jag has been challenging so far, but at least parts are relatively easy to source via suppliers like SNGB and DMG in UK. DHL do a very efficient delivery service and I can usually receive parts in less than 72 hours from ordering. Subject to import duty etc of course.
A previous project I did here is a ‘47 Vauxhall 10/4. Now that really was a challenge!!
Well it turned out that too many parts of my original gearbox were missing or damaged for the local repair man to be able to fix it (at least in a reasonable time frame). However, he was able to source me a good used gearbox from a contact in Bangkok.
The replacement gearbox has apparently been overhauled already. I’ll have to take their word for that!
Today I finished installing it and had my first drive in the car at last! (Just a few hundred yards around the housing estate).
She pulls nicely and changed up into second, but I didn’t get up enough speed for top. Reverse is fine too. Brakes and steering feel good (both rebuilt since I bought the car). So a milestone has been passed.
Next I need to take the car for inspection so it can be transferred to my name. They have a strange system here where you must take the vehicle to the provincial registration office on change of ownership.
After that, I plan to go to a local body shop to discuss the paint job it needs
It wasn’t too bad a job, but a bit long-winded. I lost some time messing about with the rear gearbox mount as after I fitted it, it was bouncy. I then realised from checking in the parts book that it was missing the ‘cotton reel’ centre rubber. Fortunately found one locally that would do in lieu of original part.
I spent three mornings on fitting the gearbox. At this time of year, after 1pm is too warm for playing with cars....it was 39 degrees C yesterday (102F)
I also took the opportunity to get a small hole in the exhaust centre section welded while it was off: the original weld had failed at the flange.
Still a few things to check: speedo isn’t registering for example and tickover is a bit low.
No, not a car lift. The car was up on four axle stands and I have a cradle that goes onto the top of the floor jack to lift the gearbox. I must admit though, it was a struggle getting the gearbox up onto the cradle underneath the car. I had to use a second jack and some big wooden blocks to raise it first.
Borg Warner 66 No Drive
