Well at 6pm today I was told there is a fault on the gearbox, its registering a fault but he did not say what the codes were. Also said the movement from park to drive was quite stiff, he said the battery was low on charge so it may be throwing spurious codes. It is a new battery fitted a week before it went into the garage. The suspension job has not been started yet. He said the battery would be put on charge over the weekend and looked at next week. Its been in the garage a month on Tuesday next week. He said he may have to program the computer in the autobox but would have a better idea when the battery was fully charged.
I was told the auto box had 37k miles on the clock when I bought it, it could be faulty or could it standing for 18 months have affected it? It came from a 2001xj8 but is the same type of box as the original, would there be some updated computer component inside, just wondering as mine is a 1999 model. Any advice appreciated.

 

I think the low battery is the problem. I hope they don't scam you, but it's sounding suspicious.

 

Yes RJ327 I thought that too. Ive had every excuse going apart from his cat was ill or his grandmother dies again. So I just have to keep my fingers crossed when I go down on Tuesday its sorted. Thanks for the support.

 

The autobox, if you have the ZF trans is very simple inside, containing only solenoids and pressure regulator pistons, in the throttle body. Other than the hydraulic drums and clutches, there is nothing to really go wrong.

The control unit is easily reset, if you do what is called a hard reset, by removing the positive cable from the battery post, and put a jumper from the disconnected positive cable, to the still connected negative cable. You will need to reset the windows, and seat memory, if you have a convertible, but on mine, even the radio held the memory after a week of the battery being jumpered out.

After things were complete, the jumper was removed, I started the car, in park and lifted up my rear wheels. I then went into reverse, a couple of times, making sure the rear wheels came to a complete stop, before repeating the process.

I then put the trans in neutral for a few times, and finally slowly put the transmission in drive, slowly running the engine up, so it would go through all the gears, a few times, making sure the rear wheels were stopped before I repeated the sequence, and put in park.

I then removed the jack stands, put the car down, and slowly drove it around the block a few times, to make sure everything was functioning properly. Once I was satisfied with the shift points, I drove the car, like I normally would. The control unit is like a child, and learns from your driving style. I then put it in sports mode, and drove on the highway, feeling if anything was amiss, hitting the passing gear a few times, just for the control unit's learning circuits. The engine control unit was learning as the trans control unit was, while driving.

If your battery is fully charged, and you start out, with the codes erased, that is all you need to do. Don't let this mechanic tell you the trans is tight, because they don't get tighter, after 37,000 miles. They get looser. While letting it sit for so long, without at least starting it up didn't do you any favors, but the trans should be ok, after about 30 miles......Hope this helps......Mike

 

Thanks for the reply mrplow58. I certainly hope you are correct. What I hope has happened is he has been too busy towards the end of the week, coming up to a bank holiday, and not had time to complete both jobs, screwing me over again in order to get more lower paid jobs through the books. As long as the A&B drums are in order I would have thought most other things were interchangeable, ie valves or valve bodies etc. I was a bit surprised when he said the shift was stiff, I hope this would work its self to a point of normality if it is indeed stiff.
I will update towards the end of this week coming as I anticipate it will take that long to have the car returned to me repaired or with the original box refitted.
Thanks for the interest in this thread.

 

Did you pull any OBDII codes? If you did could you post them? As for the battery yes charge it.

 

No codes Gus as he said the battery was low from standing for 3 weeks, it was fully charged when it went to the garage as it was brand new a few weeks prior to putting it into his garage. He said, as we all know, a low battery can or will cause problems, just hope that is the only problem.

 

Yes a bad or low voltage battery can put you in the wrong direction.

 

Thanks Gus, however I was a bit suspicious as the battery was new and fully charged when it went into the garage, there are no faults on the electrical system to cause such a drain to flatten the battery in such a short time. I know he did not alarm the car, which would put load on the battery, I think he was just stalling for time, or at least I hope so.
More later.......

 

Well, no contact again today........

 

Got the call today that the autobox was finally tested, but bad news was it was worse than the original. When the engine was running there was a noise coming from the front of the gearbox when reverse engaged it bumped noticably and same for first gear, however it shifted reasonably well through the gears. I took it for a test run and 4 miles out there was a bit of a bump and then lost the drive with gearbox fault in the dashboard. I had to get it towed back to the garage. So dont know what to do now, look for someone to repair the original which I suspect has the A drum problem or get it put back in and put up with it or sell it, obviously informing the prospective purchaser.

 

The trans is in part electrical so my question is what are the codes?

 

Hi Gus thanks for the reply, my test drive as around 1615hrs on Friday evening and I just got back to the garage in time for him to give me a tow back. No time for the codes, just glad to have it recovered. The second hand box is clearly bad, there was a ticking coming from the front end and it engaged harshly when put into drive and reverse.
Clearly lesson learned, I am now looking to have the original overhauled/repaired etc, as it was diagnosed with A/B drum problems but it was nothing like this. Will contact a specialist on Monday as they are all closed for the weekend. Good thing is the original box may very well be serviceable with only A/B drums and upgraded value block, hope that is the case.
Anyone who has had a refurb on a auto box like this in the UK, please add your comments re price etc and how good the job was.
Cheers

 

Today I took the autobox to a repair specialist in Washington, they will check it over and let me know what is wrong with it, this is the original box I am talking about, the failed one is still in the car. I have been told the examination will cost £75. When I picked the box up it had a small piece out of the front cover, the mechanic said it was siezed in the dowel hole and a piece about 2" in diameter snapped off, he said he was going to weld it back when the repair is completed. I looked at it and suggested he remove the cover from the failed one once out of the car and replace it in the repaired on, good idea or should I let him weld it? This could not have happened at a worse time as we are off on holiday at the weekend so I may not get this sorted until the end of the month, and joy of joys my insurance is due then. Happy days......

 

The auto box specialist/repair centre called today, said the filters were blocked and it was not worth repairing. The Indy changed the filter and oil last year. I was offered a secondhand box for £775 with a 3 months warranty. I am wondering if the filter is blocked how did that happen when the oil and filter were changed last year and less than 2k miles ago. Something not adding up somewhere. He never mentioned anything about the A or B drums re thier condition. Will have a chat with the Indy tomorrow afternoon and see what he says. After all the auto box was working reasonably well before it was taken out, only bumping on the odd occasion. The way I am feeling now is to just bite the bullet and get the original put back in and live with it.

 

You must feel like you have a target pinned to your back. I don't believe the current story either, they want to sell you a box. There must be a honest shop somewhere, but you need to find it as your trans. is not going to hold up much longer.

 

The Indy phoned the repair centre today and they changed their story to it is worn and will cost to much to refurb and it would be better value to buy the box they have. Still sceptical as most go for around the 500 quid mark. What really bothers me is after purchase I have to pay to get it fitted again, then there is only a 3 months warranty, and I will be putting it off the road end of September so does not give me much time to check it. This is the first time I have had trouble like this in owning cars, usually I sort them myself, just to big a job and no facilities.

 

How close are you to Mackies Transmission Service??? I believe a bunch from UK went on a tour of the shop last year. Seems to have gotten favorable reviews - see links below

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/u...2014-a-111085/


https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/u...art-ii-116043/

 

Wow! Without the codes it is hard to say what is going on with the transmission if the problem is electrical or mechanical but I do know this. In the XK8 the shifter in the car operates a cable to the transmission linkage on the left side of the trans that linkage goes internal to the trans to the right side of the trans to the shifter selector switch that signal goes to the trans control module and that sends a signal to the trans solenoid/valvebody and the selector in the car to light up the P, R, N, D. The transmission control module will receive information from the engine control module allowing the engine and trans to operate as programmed.

This trans has many variables and is dependent on MANY things so not knowing the codes is just a shot in the dark. You problem could be the trans A&B drums, Trans control module, Engine control module and or the Valvbody in the trans oh I forgot the wiring to and from.

I am dealing with a transmission issue that involves replacing the valvebody having the trans control module rebuilt and at the present time a question on the fluid that was in the trans.

Now for the fluid and you had mentioned that you had it replaced the question is was it the correct fluid? I have spent two days on the phone talking about the correct fluid for my car what I found out is this. ZF has manufactured many trans for many different cars and they are specific to that manufacture and because of that each trans has a specific trans fluid for each application. The 5HP24 has a shift overlap and it was suggested that improper fluid may disrupt this operation along with a few other things.

You need to know the codes and what fluid was used when you had the trans fluid changed.