It was a beautiful day, top down….then I pulled out of the bank parking lot in reverse, something was weird…I then put in drive went about 15 feet and NOTHING! Engine revved when I pressed on gas, but went nowhere.. I put in reverse went 15 ft or so then again nothing. Finally got to another parking spot and parked. Had to be towed…again!
The ODO said transmission fault. Tow driver said it MAY be a sensor???? Could it be???How much for a rebuilt or new tranny?
I love my girl, but she's killing me….

 

Could be a sensor and pigs can fly. JK sorry for your luck. My indie Jag mechanic had mine rebuilt up in Conn or Mass at the zf authorized rebuilder as the early 97s are different then the later cars or so I was told. All said and done in my car with a year unlimited warranty from the rebuilder it was about $4200 as I had him do some other stuff while it was in. Take it to someone you trust and also someone who knows the tranny.

 

What are the OBD II codes?

Unfortunately, it sounds like the infamous 'A' drum failure. Do a search on forward drum or just drum failure for lots of discussion on the subject. Involves removing the transmission and while you do not indicate the number of miles on the car once you have spent the labor for R&R a full rebuild is probably justified. Educate yourself on the issue with the valve body and ZF's undated pressure regulation.

 

test point, Could it not be low fluid?

 

it could be but where did it go? Got a god leak under there?

 

I haven't taken it to my guy yet, was waiting till this new year…..And saving money!! Front drum…hmmmm

 

Mine was very much indicative of a bad valve but my mechanic wisely talked me out of just doing that for the price of about $1500-2000 and then still having a transmission which was 15 years old with 80k or so miles. Good luck!

 

Just experienced the same issue as you last month on my 98 xk8. Stopped at red light on a normal day. Light turns green and as I try to accelerate the car struggles and the A drum code popped up. I have decided to replace the whole tranny with a used one. The whole process cost close to 3000 usd. Still painfully awaiting her return.

 

i had my tranny rebuilt and the problem of hard shift was still there. unplugged the tranny sensor and repluged it solved the problem>

 

A drum code? Is that what it said? Mine said Trans Fail….

 

jessiejames...hey where are the sensors located?

 

jam, you do get around. I think he meant the plug on the left side of the transmission.

 

If it turns out you need a major repair bordering on replacement, oh boy - been there, done that. A few questions first:

1) how many miles on the car?
2) what did you pay for it?
3) are you still interested in keeping it?

Even if you are not interested in keeping it, you'll need to get it fixed before you sell it as nobody will want it in the present condition. So, if you are planning to get rid of it, then maybe consider a used transmission with a short warranty (some places offer this). You can find units on eBay for around 3k; maybe a local shop can source one for you and install it. Then you must DUMP that car as fast as you can! Disclose the transmission service to the buyer, but don't keep it for yourself - too much risk of a repeat failure.

If you would like to keep her, do not go with a used transmission - there's zero benefit to doing this unless you want to pay for the same labor to do the job over again in (?) miles. This will very likely happen if you cheap out on the repair here.

You could go with a fully rebuilt and warranted from the dealer - that will set you back $7000 last time I checked (and picked myself off the floor from passing out.)

Or you could try a shop that knows the transmission and they may be able to do it for closer to $5k. I had mine done at a shop in Springfield VA that only services Jaguars for about $4k, but the caveat is that it was not a fully rebuilt transmission. They called it a "refurbished" transmission, meaning that they started with a used unit, corrected the fault(s) (whatever they were), tested and sold it with a 6 month, 6k mile warranty. I only did this versus gambling on a junk yard unit as I planned to keep the car for maybe 30k more miles. It was a big expense but the car was a reliable and enjoyable commuter, so I bit the bullet.

Then..... the car got totaled in DC traffic by some moron in a VW. FML!

Moral of the story - if you use this (or any) car for daily commute in a high traffic area, always consider the likelihood of an accident ruining your long term plans for the car before making a major out of pocket repair like this.

 

on 94 xj6. located on firewall on passenger side below windshield.

 

WOW!!! Well she has 86,000 on her. New tires, new alt., water pump, top hydraulic, new top, new battery, brake job.... My hubby says he would like me to sell it…but, it IS my dream car….Havent decided yet. I haven't brought it in to my guy yet, hopefully this week.
The shop that works on it is called Eagle Classics, they do specialize in European and Italian cars. But they also work on my Vitara. LOL He builds and races his own cars. They are very good and reasonable.
I will reply back when I find out the bad news on her. She is a beauty! Very very esthetic condition.
I paid 9,000 for her a few years ago and put in about 2, 0000. Thanks BurgXK8

 

Similar problem here. '97 XK8 that we love has been making progressively worse noises over two years. Had the tranny fluid changed, but no difference. Now making low howling noises when getting on just a bit of throttle when over 35 mph. Never failed to move or shift, but just getting louder. Brought it into my highly recommended independent shop and got the bad news today. $4400. for a rebuilt with 18 month warranty. We bought the car 4 years ago for $12.k and it has 146.k miles on it. Still looks and rides great, but does have other small electrical issues. But as was stated before not worth anything with bad tranny in it. So what to do? Best case may be to see of the tranny shop wants to buy it so they can fix it at their cost in order to get some money back. Or pay the man and sell to later for hopefully more that the price to repair. But can't just walk away from it. Can I?

 

To paraphrase somebody, Yes, you can.

 

If it turns out to be a bad trans,you can buy mine. I pulled the engine and trans out of my 97 xk8 after it developed a rod knock on the #1 cylinder. I am in the process of installing a LS1 with a T56. Nothing wrong with the stock Jag trans.

 

How much? I might need one also?

 

$4400 sounds a lot for a gearbox re-build. There is plenty of info. on line for issues with the ZF five speed box and you don't need a Jaguar shop to sort. Shop around for quotes from auto transmission shops. Second hand transmissions are much cheaper too