How should my transmission feel and sound???

[sshaunus308]

Hi, I wonder if anyone can advise me on this.

How should I be expecting my transmission to behave and sound??? Overall, it seems to be working fine. Smooth changes, adequate kick down when needed. Especially when floored. But, there is a faint whine. I’m not sure if this developed since I purchased the car a few months ago or whether I’m overly sensitive and paranoid about a transmission failure. It’s not a loud whine, but it’s there. Also, when I put it into D or R, I can feel when it engages. It’s not a jerk, just a slight “feeling”, as it engages.

Is this all normal? Should I feel worried? As I said, when it operation, all is smooth and working fine.
71000 miles and no oil change btw. I’m currently considering whether to have it done.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

[J44EAG]

Gearbox oil changes at 60k mile service intervals are concidered mandatory by experienced members of this Club. Indeed they figure on each 60K Jaguar Service Schedule. Ignore at your peril and get this action done as soon as possible.

Whilst your gearbox operation as described in the above post currently appears to be functioning as it should, the longer you leave having a gearbox oil change done, the "rougher" the gearbox may begin to feel. Continuing to use time expired lubricant (after 60k miles of use) will greatly accelerate internal gearbox component wear. Do not under estimate the power of clapped out oil to ruin mechanical components. Note that a reconditioned gearbox is likely to cost around £3K so having an oil change for one tenth of that figure makes serious sense.

I suggest you contact a local indipendent Jaguar repair facility and discuss the subject as soon as possible.

Mike K

[sshaunus308]

Thanks for the reply and advice. I just wanted to see if it was definitely on its way out or not as this would dictate whether I’d spend on an oil change knowing that it would def fail soon. This is the first time I’ve owned an automatic so wasn’t sure what I should be expecting.

Thanks

[ptjs1]

sshaunus308,

As Mike suggests, go and get the oil changed straight away. It's difficult to say whether the "slight whine" is anything to worry about. And if you've never had an auto before, it may be that its perfectly ok. Also, I would expect you to "feel" the car very slightly going into both Drive and Reverse.

Get that oil changed!

Good luck

Paul

[steve_m]

See related posts in the S Type forum!

[sshaunus308]

Thanks as well Steve and Paul, trying to find a garage to change the oil and service now. Will also check the S Type forum. I’ve read so many transmission stories and advice that I’ll probably start dreaming about it.

All the advice is much appreciated

Shaun

[sshaunus308]

Update....

As I stated above, my transmission was operating fine. Nice and smooth, changing when it was suppose to. Just a slight whine etc. I was debating whether to get the oil changed (which hadn’t been done at 71,000mls) or whether to take a chance considering the potential cost of an oil change. Well.... had the oil changed today and I can honestly say, having it done was definitely the right thing to do. My transmission is even smoother than before, quieter than before, the gear changing behaviour has also changed and the car actually feels (meatier). The car, generally, is quieter and feels a lot better to drive.

So glad I had it done. They said the oil that came out was pretty dark. Hopefully no lasting damage was done and I have many miles left with that transmission....

SEALED FOR LIFE MY BEEEEEEEHIND!!!!!!!

[Andy P]

Hi Shaun,
Very good work indeed.
I did mine myself a couple of years ago now when at 120000 miles I thought some strange things were happening,the filter had the date Nov 2000 on it and like you noticed a difference afterwards.
I will probably do another oil and filter change this year mainly because the torque converter retains some oil and without flushing the gearbox you can't get that oil out(about 4 L I think).
Enjoy the luxury and take care.
Stay safe.
Andy

[J44EAG]

"Filled for life" . was the marketing hipe at the time was in the sales pitch.

Sealed, the gearbox is not. Tricky to fill and vital to get done at the right temperature it is. Members and other users at the time the car was current would suffer frequent transmission failures because the 60k oil service change did not figure on the schedules. Only when an unacceptable number of failures started to occur and the matter started to appear with monotinous regularity, did we start to hear alarms sounding.

Just as we thought it couldn`t get any worse, it did......the early S-type appeared with a modified Ford Bordeux transmission which was biuild from chocolate and treacle. You were lucky if those gearboxes did 50k miles. My V8 box blew up on the M27 outside Portsmouth at 44K miles and was completely lunched! Bristol Transmissions rebuilt it for £1600 plus VAT. Fortunately, the later models aquired a ZF unit as did most of the other cars in the Jaguar range. They came on the scene with the 60k oil service appearing on the work sheet. BMW and Merc had been doing that for several years prior to Jaguar waking up to the issue.

We all know oild degrades under heat, pressure and in the presence of oxidisation. Why on Earth this basic engineering priciple was ignored by Jaguar is curious and unforgivable at the same time. It was a sharp wake up call to get their act together. A definate black mark on the part of our favoured car builder. Lets hope such naivity never occurs again.

Mike

[ptjs1]

Mike,

Cynically I don't even think it was naivety. As I understand it, Jaguar approached both ZF and oil manufacturers to develop a gearbox and oil that could last 60k+ miles without change. And this was driven by the US standard of quoting full costs of running a vehicle for 5 years or 60k miles. By removing the autobox fluid change cost from the equation, they had a better cost figure to appear in the vehicle comparison tables.

As you recognise, the theory didn't really work long-term!

Is it sealed for life? Absolutely! It's just that its lifespan been reduced considerably!

Paul

[ptjs1]

Mike,

Cynically I don't even think it was naivety. As I understand it, Jaguar approached both ZF and oil manufacturers to develop a gearbox and oil that could last 60k+ miles without change. And this was driven by the US standard of quoting full costs of running a vehicle for 5 years or 60k miles. By removing the autobox fluid change cost from the equation, they had a better cost figure to appear in the vehicle comparison tables.

As you recognise, the theory didn't really work long-term!

Is it sealed for life? Absolutely! It's just that its lifespan been reduced considerably!

Paul

[steve_m]

A bit like the 4wd drive on the Freelander 2 (and other models).
Not mentioned in the service schedules at all but need to change the oil and filter in the Haldex every 2 years or 20k miles.
Otherwise, no workee sir.
Mine failed 3 days after I bought it.
Luckily bought it with an 18 month warranty.
Note to self: warranty expires in April, drive harder and break more things.