Hi Guys,

I have a 1997 XK8 4.0

I have had trouble with the Auto gearbox ever since I purchased the car. When car is at a standstill and then pull away fast, car would rev and then jolt into gear and away, so you had to baby it at junctions etc. eventually had 'gearbox fault' message, which reset on ignition cycle.

Also, when pulling away first thing in the morning, you hear a slight dry grinding of gears (like gears rubbing against each other without lubrication) from about 5-10 mph. Additonally, when in traffic or stopping the car after a good run, you get the smell of burned ATF. Also at times, when downshifting when coming to a halt, the box sounds more like a sequential manual box in downshifting, and not seamless like the boxes in my other cars.

After advice of this forum (or another I cannot remember) I added a litre of correct trans fluid, and for a few days things were perfect, I could take off with any throttle input without delay, no burning smell, and no grinding when first setting off, however after a while the faults came back (but not as bad as they were initially, I have not had gearbox fault message since)

I am wondering if it is worth trying a full fluid change (fairly pricy in the UK) as it seems that maybe the old fluid has had it and the injection of new stuff masked the problem until it got broken down?

Appreciate your thoughts guys, the reason I ask is that I have seen reconditioned g-boxes for £500 or so, and it seems silly to spend £250 odd on a proper fluid change if it will make no difference!

 

It sounds like the A drum failure, but there is something you can do without spending a lot of money to get more information. Remove the transmission pan and see if the four magnets are covered in metal chips and shavings. Then replace the filter and refill the transmission. The proper procedure can be found in the sticky's near the top of the forum page. If the magnets are relatively clean you may be okay, but I doubt that is the case.
RJ____________
97 XK8 conv. 86K mi

 

There are a couple of places in the UK who do a kit - fluid, pan/filter/spare bolts but you MUST follow the sticky instructions.
I'm afraid I agree with RJ though, it sounds like the dreaded A drum- fixable but not if you continue to drive.