S Type Jag V8 auto box fault...

[akku]

W reg Jag S Type V8 4,0 with the 5 speed auto - "Gearbox Fault" light is on, car is holding gears too long when cold (shifts fine when warm) and can be reluctant to shift into 5th.

Any ideas? Sadly most of my google-fu on this brings up people who's only answer was to take it back to the dealer.



It sounds fluid-related to me?

Although these boxes are "sealed for life"

Car has 118K on it.

Cheers

[ejenner]

Replacing the fluid does not often fix these problems so would advise against wasting too much money on filters and replacement fluid. After the fault is repaired you would have to change the fluid then.

I'm down near London and run a garage. Usually when these problems come up we take the car to our local automatic gearbox specialist. Manufactures design the gearboxes so many of the little faults can be repaired without taking the gearbox out of the car. The automatic gearbox specialist has lots of experience with the sorts of faults which come up and loves it if you can bring in a car which is still driving as he is then able to see what the box is doing and can identify the problem quickly.

Of course getting the automatic gearbox specialist to look at the car costs money. Usually £200-£300 for repairing minor auto-box faults.

DUE TO THE COMPLEXITY... I tend to find it is more sensible to take it to the specialist and pay the money. Other DIY ways of attempting to fix these problems usually end in tears.

[ChasR]

Many Jag (and BMW specialists in the case of the E39 Series which I believe has the same gearbox) specialists say to walk away from a potential purchase with a gearbox fault displaying on the dash since there is a significant chance that a pricey rebuild is on the cards.

I'll ask my gearbox specialist next time in case it is something simple.

When my Stag was hanging onto gears (it was an older generation ZF I admit) the cause was down to swarf in the gearbox (fluid was clean) in addition to a couple of collapsed clutch packs. I know that in the more basic Borg Warner 'boxes items as small as threads from a rag are said to ruin a gearbox rebuild, so I dread to think how tolerant the newer items are (The Stag 'box was rebuilt at home by the previous owner...).

[akku]

Yeah, suggestions of a better box from a scrappy and so on result in much nose-wrinkling.

Buy a Lexus instead?

[kevfromwales]

get pollitt to test drive it? he's a whizz with autoboxes

[stefan]

Not looking good for a cheep fix then this, shame as it is a loverly looking car and cheep to

[10mpg]

I've had a couple of BMW gearboxes in with these sort of silly problems, a filter and fluid change often sorts it out, sealed for lif is Bullplop, all that means is there no dipstick and sump plug, messy job, but the yanks ignore the 'sealed' comment and change it every 50k..

It's a curse word to do but not hard just messy and long winded

Also even BMW admit it's a good idea to change it.. but at £30ish plus VAT a litre and up to 12 litres needed it can get dear, comma sell it for about that for 5 litres though..

I actually think these modern solenoid controlled boxes are simpler than the old ones, no maze of ball bearings and tiny little channels in the valve body, just a pump and a row of pressure solenoids, all controlled by an ecu

[Deleted]

Alot of modern auto boxes have a oil temp sensor, that maybe the problem?

[Battles]

My Dad looked at these on and off for a couple of years and, though there were lots of "watch out for this" and "beware of that", these gearbox problems were about the least worrying because they were so well covered on US Jag and Lincoln forums.

It's a Ford 'box, a 5R55N. Some of the selector problems were down to cable length, some people said that getting the Dealer to reflash the ECU helped. As someone else has said, the Yanks do ATF changes despite the 'Sealed For Life' jive and they seem to get on better.

I did some Googling in case there had been any developments in the couple of years since I read up on these, here are the edited highlights...

Not exactly the same fault but a good stripdown guide:
www.jaguarforums.com/forum/s-type-s-type-r-supercharged-v8-15/diy-2000-s-type-transmission-valve-body-rebuild-faq-48240/

This sounds like the same fault as the OP, fixed by a cheap spring kit:
www.jaguarforum.co.uk/f27/gearbox-fault-2001-4ltr-5r55n-43184.html

Fluid check procedure:
www.charlietranny.com/5R55Nfluidfill.htm


The six speed ZF box is much worse, from what I remember.
Have you bought it?

[neilclark]

Done oil and filter on my 2002 xj8, takes time but an easy job. Where in notts are you? I'm in derby!

Mine took 11 litres....

[akku]

The car was cheap, but not cheap enough for me to take a punt on. In fact even at "free" trying to fix a hooky autobox could quickly run me out of money.

[Battles]

Jun 26, 2012 7:43:39 GMT akku said:

trying to fix a hooky autobox could quickly run me out of money.

C'mon, it's probably a younger cousin of the box in one of your Yank tanks.

What colour was it?

[akku]

blue. Its that one in the Newark Autojumble thread. Really nice, tidy car. 118K miles, fully loaded. A dud autobox in a yank can drain you of a pile of cash very quickly. The S Type isn't worth spending that money on even if I had it.

[BenzBoy]

Having twice made the mistake of buying cars with busted slushboxes and thinking "yeah, I'll fix that!" I think my preferred method of fixing this one would be to use a large bargepole.

For someone less jaded and more knowledgeable than I, it could make a good cheap motor, but I'd be inclined to file it under "sod that"

[akku]

There was one with working box but some minor cosmetic issues, faulty air con and a bad wheel bearing bid at £200 on eBay. I messaged the guy about it but he never replied. It was only in Cotgrave so worth a look.

How you going to get a decent price for a car if you don't get back to people. meh

Nice cars but I can't help thinking a Lexus is a better idea all round.

[dodgerover]

Erm isn't an of the rest of the fleet running at the mo?