Gearbox

[Kitty2]

Hi all,
Has anyone had a problem with intermittant drive failure on an XJ8 ?.
The car suffers from loss of drive, as if in neutral, but only occaisionally. Had the AA out last time but they could find no fault. After a while the car drives normally again.
Anyone had a similar problem. nearing wits end with this one.
Nothing shows on fault computer.
Regards Alan

[Brakebuster]

Alan,

welcome to the forum

it has been known for the gearbox to fail, but it is quite rare,

however,

Jaguar sold this car with a ' sealed for life ' transmission, but its not actually so, anything from 80k miles onwards they could do with a new filter and oil change, not a cheap or easy job, but compared to a new/refurbished box ( £2k ) or even scraping the car, its the cheapest option , and you wont find a dip-stick, as there isnt one....

bear in mind that the 3.2 V8 has a completely different gearbox to the 4ltr V8 , the latter being fully electronic , and made by a different company.....

hope this helps in some way

BB

just had a thought,
there is also a switch mounted under the selector lever in the car, it can also fail/play-up giving intermittent trouble, and lack of gear selection , but that only goes for the selector i think.....

[BrianG]

Sorry, Brakebuster that's not correct: I think you are confusing it with the X300 straight-six models, where the 3.2 is completely hydraulic. Both the 3.2 and 4 litre V8's have the fully electronic 5HP24 gearbox made by German company ZF.

What IS correct is that both are sealed for life. Opinions differ as to whether changing the oil and filter prolong the life of the gearbox or just "stirr up trouble" by dislodging dirt which then gets into to places it should not (ceratinly seemed to be the case with my gearbox!)

[Brakebuster]

Brian,,

nup

BB

[joejag308]

Seems to be a subject worth discussing some more, as a member Mr Tony Roberts sent me this..........Joe, Hi there, I'm writing to ask if you have come across any members mentioning problems with their auto boxes? I know a number of members are not impressed with 'filled for life oil' dictum, me included. I've been in touch with David M about my problem (gearbox failure light up) and he has suggested an oil change and dignostics check. The diagnostics check revealed a gear indicator problem, this part was replaced a couple of years ago by David - I dont know whether he cancelled it or not! I'm in the Bristol area and had to use a dealer for the d/check since there are no autologic boxes in this area it seems. That cost me £124, with further investigation being approx £400 and gearbox change being £3000 to £4000. Good business if you can get it!! A critical mileage in the g/box life span is 60k to 80k it seems. I would dearly like to contact member(s) who have been thru' this nightmare and how they sorted their problems. There must be some gearbox experts about (other than the dealer network), at the moment it seems to be one of Jaguar's best kept secrets! It certainly won't help the sales of X308's unless the problem is better understood, and has a few acceptable(£) solutions. Any information would be appreciated please. Tony Roberts.
Obviously a worried guy...........so i made some enquiries at my local Jag specialist........Joe

[joejag308]

I contacted my local specialist West Riding Jaguar.......in Mirfield
And his price quoted is ....
For an exchange gearbox £1,500.00
for an exchange gearbox and converter an extra £500.00 totaling £2,000
i told Tony this and now if he or anyone else wants the deal let me know
Joe

[daveji]

Should a gearbox replacement be needed Bristol Transmissions are in your area Tel 0117 9524920, ( www.bristoltransmissions.co.uk) They have been mentioned in the Magazine and advertise in it.
An alternative maybe worth considering is Express Gearbox Company of Portsmouth. 023 9265 0502 (www.expressgearbox.co.uk)
Both these companies supply (and maybe fit) recon auto gearboxes.
I hear price for a Recon. Jaguar ZF gearbox is £1300 ish.,but in any event they a vastly cheaper than the "main stealers"