Transmission leak

[davidf]

Hi everyone
My year 2000 XKR has been happily sitting on my front drive, leak free for about 4 weeks. I had reason to move it out into the road for turnaround so as to now be facing the other way on the drive. The engine ran for about 2 minutes with no excessive revs. Later that day I noted pool of about 1 litre of transmission oil under the car . Can anyone suggest the likely cause and which part might have failed so suddenly with so little stress having been placed on engine/transmission .
Thank you in anticipation,
David Frost

[mike020150]

It sounds like you need to get underneath the car and take a look to make a sound diagnosis. That said, extended standing particularly on a slope, may have caused the torque converter to drain back more fluid than normal into the gearbox. On initial start-up, that higher level could then have leaked past the highest seal in the gearbox, likely to be the wiring seal. If the box has lost a litre of fluid, it's important to check the level and correct it to avoid damage. The MB box fitted to the 4.0 litre XKR can be checked with a dipstick. They weren't supplied with the car but it should still be possible to buy one and check the level with the engine running and after moving the gear lever several times through all its gear positions. Of course, the leaking seal would still require attention to correct the cause of the leak. Mike.

[davidf]

Hi Mike
Thank you very much for taking the time and trouble to reply. Since your post I have had the vehicle recovered on a flatbed with no engine start up. Your theory makes sense as the car was facing up a gentle slope on the drive and I then turned it round to face down the drive. My Jag specialist suspects the gearbox will have to be removed to attend to any sort of seal replacement but says the nature of this "sealed fo life unit" means it may not be possible to. A reconditioned box will be in 4 figures no doubt. That would be a shame as the gearbox operated flawlessly .
Also I had the oil replaced about 5 years /15000 miles ago. Mileage now 105000.. Is it right that Jaguar say the "life" of this sealed for life unit is 100,000 miles.! ! Surely not ? They'd never be able to sell a new car to me !
Thanks

[mike020150]

It will be interesting to learn what your specialist finds. Unfortunately, 'sealed for life' is a marketing and not an engineering term! With luck, the problem will be something like my guess and the bill won't be too severe. The Mercedes box fitted to your car is noted for a mechanical weakness which often shows itself at around 100K miles but it usually occurs with sufficient warning noises to allow it to be repaired if acted upon in time. Otherwise, keeping the oil fresh is typically good enough to ensure a longer than 100K mile life. Mike.