My 2001 S Type has suddenly developed a clunk when it's put in drive. Appears to be coming from the rear end. Sitting in the driveway with the car running and shifting back and forth from Neutral to Drive it will clunk when pu in drive. It does not happen shifting from Neutral to Reverse nor does it do it when put in park.

The car has 81,000 miles and I have had the car for two years and is immaculate but I have never had the differential serviced nor do I know if it ever was serviced by previous owner.

Any thoughts on the problem??

 

You probably have the old Ford transmission, running Mercon ATF. Does the car have a transmission pan dipstick? If so, have you checked the fluid level, condition, and color? If you're running the original factory fill of ATF, the first thing I would do would be a simple ATF drain-and-fill. But I would not do a flush - too great a chance of dragging previously-settled debris up through the valves and gears and you wind up making matters worse....

 

^Absolutely spot on.

 

Thank you JON89 for your speedy response. See you are in Raleigh, Elizabeth City NC here by the way. Likewise for ENTHUSIAST responding from Canada. Ex Nova Scotian here hence Jaguar (eh) LOL.

OK back to the prob. This vehicle does not have a transmission pan dipstick which initially surprised the hey outta me as checking fluids is top of the list when buying. I was later informed that it was a sealed unit. So no real idea what state the tranny fluid is like. I hate to go to the (gulp) Jag dealer which is up in Virginia but one has to do what one has to do. Yeah dead on by the way on flushes, I was a service writer for a Chevy dealer and uh huh wont be doing a flush at 81,000.

 

LOL on the eh!

 

My 02 S-Type is also a sealed unit. I know recommendation says service transmission at 60k. If you don't know if yours was serviced, I'd take it in. Amen on the flush. I'm sure you can take it to a non-jag dealer since you probably don't have a warranty on the thing and reputable tranny shops know what they're doing. Get a good referral from your mechanic to a local one. I have learned that it's best to have it looked at now as opposed to next week.

Keep us posted if you can!

 

SA your response is much appreciated and thanx fer the sound advice. I'll let you know

 

Although I love our 2005 S-Type with the 6-speed ZF transmission, I believe that not having a transmission fluid dipstick in this car is asinine. This is the first vehicle I've had in nearly 40 years of driving that does not have an ATF dipstick. Regardless of what any manufacturer wants us to believe, there is no such thing as a "sealed for life" transmission. Fluid gets dirty or contaminated and needs to be changed. Some of our vehicles need their ATF changed every 30,000 miles in order to keep the transmission out of trouble, and some of our vehicles have managed to go 80,000 miles or more without much ATF degradation. But if I've kept the vehicle long enough, I've eventually had to do at least a drain-and-fill on it. Not providing us with transmission dipsticks in our S-Types so we can routinely monitor the level, condition, and color of our ATF is just plain stupid on Jaguar's part....

 

Am I to assume then Jon that a sealed transmission being the case only Jaguar can access it to change fluid???

 

Any reputable transmission shop can change your fluid. Call around and do some research before you decide which one you'll use. Ask if they will provide you with some references of other Jaguar owners or unusual cars they maintain. But first, you need to confirm that your car has the Ford transmission and is indeed running Mercon ATF. You'll also need to know how much fluid typically drains out when doing a drain-and-fill. Some of the Jaguar techs on this forum can easily answer these questions, but they haven't been around lately....

Once you confirm what fluid you're running and how much you'll need for a drain-and-fill, you should purchase the correct fluid yourself and take it with you when you go in for service. If you can't find Mercon ATF in your local auto parts stores, you can purchase it at your local Ford dealership. That way, your car gets exactly the ATF that it needs. Don't let anybody sell you a "generic" fluid that is "custom-formulated for your car right here in our shop". Those "generic" fluids have ruined many a transmission over the years - don't let it happen to yours....

Our 2005 S-Type with the 6-speed ZF transmission runs Shell mineral oil as its ATF. It is completely proprietary here in the U.S. and I have not been able to find it anywhere other than the Jaguar and Mercedes dealerships. I've been looking for other sources since January, to no avail. The last time I checked, this Shell mineral oil sells for (are you sitting down?) $58 per litre bottle. So be glad if your car runs Mercon ATF. It will probably cost you no more than $5 or $6 per quart bottle....

 

The ZF 6HP26 is used in lots of other cars as well as Jags... anyone know if it's NOT a sealed unit on any of them?

I believe ZF themselves sell the oil - but in non-small quantities (and not cheap).

John

 

Back in January or February I read that the new Hyundai Genesis uses the 6-speed ZF transmission. So I called a couple of local Hyundai dealerships thinking that I could purchase some Shell mineral oil one-litre bottles from them at greatly reduced prices. But no, the Genesis transmissions are also "sealed for life", no transmission dipsticks, and the local Hyundai techs were not even trained yet to do transmission work on the new Genesis so the parts departments didn't stock (much less even know) what fluid the ZF runs....

I'll wait a few more months and then call them back and ask again. If their techs are trained on ZF transmissions by that time, maybe the parts departments will stock and sell the Shell mineral oil as well. I would expect Hyundai to sell it for less than Jaguar or Mercedes or BMW, but maybe not. This is the most proprietary fluid I've ever tried to source....

 

Good thinking!