Holy Smoke - what a week.

1. Right now the biggest problem is the Trans. All of a sudden I've started getting "Transmission Fault" warnings. At first, I was able to just shut the car down briefly, re-start, and everything reset to normal. But now, it's coming on almost immediately and with some pretty unnerving banging into Drive and Reverse. I'll try and check the fluid level (6HP26) this friday but I it looks as if I'll have to put her in the hangar until then. THIS is pretty concerning. The only code I've gotten has been a 1111 (useless). I'll try again with the warning illuminated and the engine running.

I'd love to hear from folks who've had experience with these symptoms and who've rectified the situation. BTW: Just before the Transmission Fault gets announced, my speedometer indication drops abruptly. The speedo recovers right after the warning comes on and the trans drops into 4th gear. This is kinda odd to me. Some sort of CAN problem?

2. On Sunday I noticed a scraping/squealing from the right rear. Sure enough, there was a nice 1/4" wide scrape being etched into one of my brand new drilled & slotted rotors! After pulling the wheel and pads I found a fixture inside my Brembo caliper that perfectly aligned with the scrape, but what was causing it to make contact? After putting the wheel back on, I noticed some movement. Nuts - rear hub bearing failure. This happened to left side (but MUCH worse) a few years ago, and it's so curious that the bearings don't make any noise as they approach failure. I'll be ordering a rebuilt hub assembly from England soon. 225,000 miles on a set of bearings isn't too bad I guess.

3. To add misery to misfortune, all of a sudden I'm getting ABS and DSC failure warnings. I have to figure they're associated with whatever is going on at the right rear hub, but I didn't have the same experience when the left rear was coming apart. I'm hoping the ABS ring has just come loose. We'll have to wait until I put my surgeon's apron & mask back on before we'll know any more.

Again: I'd love to hear some stories pertaining to the transmission woes.

Damn, ... I've enjoyed driving with no CEL warnings for so long, ... sigh.

Thanks guys!

 

Jim yes asc/TRAC and failure is connects to the bearing failure. I've seen it , verified by many on previous posts.

So, one less thing to deal with. In case you didn't know: asc/TRAC resets with ignition cycle, ABS resets after you drive a specific distance at a minimum speed ( I forget the numbers).

Will you be doing the bearing yourself?

John

 

Ouch - definitely not a good week for Kitty!!! Have you ever replaced the trans fluid/filter?? May want to start there. Although I have a different transmission, this is similar to what happened to me when mine died the first time but I was able to pull codes reflective of transmission problems

Hope you can get her back on the road soon!

 

They say bad luck comes in threes so you should have had your share.

Graham

 

Sorry to hear about your issues, Jim. I know you have been running Mercon SP ATF for years (like me), but how long has it been since your last drain-and-fill? Any obvious leaks underneath the car, particularly at the sleeve? And just for good measure, make certain the two pesky 8mm shift linkage bolts are snug....

Given the car's mileage, you may have reached the 6HP26's limit before some internal clutch pack refurbishment may be necessary. I sure hope not for your sake, but I would not be surprised. That is a ton of miles on ANY automatic transmission....

Good luck and keep us posted....

 

Those hubs host the reluctor rings for the ABS. Those serve as road speed input for the speedo and transmission. My superficial understanding is that the driver-side rear was "special", but hard to be sure. If this fails, the transmission output speed is used as a substitute. There are (proprietary Jaguar) messages to all of this, so there is no substitute to getting them at this point.

On the face of it, these hub issues are your root cause. I would definitely start there before doing anything with the transmission.

Best of luck, keep us posted.

 

^^+1
The speedo information comes from the right rear ABS/speed sensor. If your RHS rear bearing has let go then I'd definitely look at the sensor/reluctor on that corner. There should be a C1165 DTC in there somewhere.

I'm sure I've read similar trans issues you're getting attributed to this but I can't find it (I'm crap at searches).

Hope it turns out to be the easier fix.

 

Hi Guys! Thanks for the responses and some new knowledge. I didn't realize the speedo info comes off the RHS hub. Good to know! I'll have her on the rack tomorrow.
And to answer some of your questions:

I replaced the MERCON SP recently, but have not yet gone back in to confirm the fluid level. It's been on the to-do list, but it just got moved to the TOP!

The trans filter only has about 50 or 60,000 miles on it. I'll change the filter with the next fluid service in about 20,000 miles.

Yup - I'm aware that the DSC fault will reset with a shut-down, and that the ABS light will extinguish after moving off a few feet. Nuts. I haven't had to deal with those lights for a very long time. Here's hoping it all traces back to RHS Hub Assembly.

As a pilot, I'm trained to looked for a common cause when faced with multiple, simultaneous faults/failures. This situation certainly falls into that. ;-)

 

Jim, sorry for the problems and you know we could have a good time fixing it here. Even get the big guy from Raleigh (Jon89) to help with all the heavy lifting.
Get the hub off and inside for the rebuild, not the kind of weather to be laying on the ground in your area.
Wayne

 

Hi Wayne! I have lifts to use on-base, so no laying on the ground for me. :-) I put her up last Friday to assess the rear and to finish installing some Poly bushings up front. The rear bearing is totally munched! - lol. I might as well have put a handful of gravel in between the races. I've never heard a bearing sound so badly in my life. And there was absolutely no audible warning beforehand - it's just come apart all at once. I'll have a rebuilt hub inbound from England later today, and installed two weeks from now. Until then, Kitty is just going to enjoy the garage for a while!

I can't wait to post pictures of what falls out of that hub!