1998 XJ8 L trans fail...

[brelandt]

My sister's Jag was feeling as if the trans was slipping when I drove it last week but she and her husband did not mention to me that they where having any issues with it.
Yesterday she calls me to say that the car is barely moving and sounds funny. There was also a fault light on the dash for a "transmission fault". I asked her to just get it home and park it.
I believe it will need to be rebuilt. I opened the hood to see what the fluid level was like but was not able to find the trans dip stick!
Any offers to what maybe wrong?

 

[G-MAN]

Originally Posted By: brelandt
Any offers to what maybe wrong?


Uh...the transmission is broken.

 

[bdcardinal]

Good luck with that one. It is similar to the 5R55E/S/W in the Lincoln LS V8. IIRC that is the style where you fill and check the level through the drain plug.

On a funny note, I called over to the Jag dealer a couple doors down, they said $45 a quart for the fluid on that thing.

 

[Trav]

This one is for an 03-04 i have no idea if it will fit but you get the idea. Otherwise you say 4-5 grand.

http://www.tomsforeign.com/p-186656-tran...CFYZM4AodpHEAEQ

 

[hattaresguy]

Junk it, or pay $5k or more for a new trans. POS cars, my grandmother had one since new, 1998 was a bad vintage.

 

[Win]

Originally Posted By: Trav
This one is for an 03-04 i have no idea if it will fit but you get the idea. Otherwise you say 4-5 grand.

http://www.tomsforeign.com/p-186656-tran...CFYZM4AodpHEAEQ


It won't. The '03 - '04 Xj uses a six speed ZF. That '98 uses a mediocre quality 5 speed Ford transmission, a bad choice for a premium car, imo.

Between the Nikasil bores, and the Ford transmissions, those early AJ-V8 powered cars could be a real tear jerker.

 

[SteveSRT8]

Ouch! Sounds like my neighbor. He was a-crowing the other day about his gorgeous Jag sedan he got for 6 grand.

It IS pretty, and it seemed nice until he had the AC quickly fail. That cost a small fortune, and I just noticed his wife isn't driving it any more. I'm sure there's a new story!

A whole lot of cars that are highly sophisticated engineering are available as used for a relative song. But you better be able to afford the necessary repairs.

 

[JetStar]

Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
Ouch! Sounds like my neighbor. He was a-crowing the other day about his gorgeous Jag sedan he got for 6 grand.

It IS pretty, and it seemed nice until he had the AC quickly fail. That cost a small fortune, and I just noticed his wife isn't driving it any more. I'm sure there's a new story!

A whole lot of cars that are highly sophisticated engineering are available as used for a relative song. But you better be able to afford the necessary repairs.


+1 Cost of ownership kills a lot of otherwise cool cars. A friend back in the early 90's bought a Porsche 928. He didn't have it long after a few trips to the garage.

 

[01rangerxl]

Originally Posted By: Win
That '98 uses a mediocre quality 5 speed Ford transmission, a bad choice for a premium car, imo.


I don't know, the Ranger transmission might be the highest quality mechanical component in that car.

I agree, it's a really poor choice of transmission for a luxury car.

FWIW, that transmission has its origins in the C3, first used in the Pinto in 1973. They were all built at the Bordeaux Automatic Transmission Plant in France through 2011.

 

[brelandt]

Well, this guy down the street that brings me all of his alignment jobs tells me he is a certified Jaguar trained tech. He is also Russian and has a strong accent that's hard to understand at times what he is telling me as well!
He has a few "extra" items around his shop that he can "fix" the car with but not sure what his charge would be and if the fix would be worth the 80 mile tow to get the car to him.
BTW my sister is looking for a toyota now and the Jag will be a second car.