I did a lot of preparation and planing for this job and miserable as it is to drain the pan and drop it nothing was mentioned about just how hard it is to change this sleeve.

If you read about the ZF cautions about not rotating the thing when it is inserted you are scared about damaging this idiotic plug design yet there's no access for seeing or even getting a hand to insert the thing and it's all a near blind operation too!

I guess I missed all the admonitions about don't do this yourself.

ZF wants you put Vaseline on it first. DON"T!

On anything but a new car or out on the bench that will just result in the piece be covered with road dirt - not good.


It looks like I need to support the tranny somehow and then remove the tranny mount in order to gain access to this spot? That's insane!

I can't see a damn thing, the car is on jack stands, and unless you have 10" long fingers it's near impossible to insert this thing.

From what I could tell removing the old one it looks like the locating fin is at the bottom.

There's also no nice external orienting spot so that you can make certain it's in the correct rotational position for insertion.

What am I missing?

 

Getting the new sleeve properly seated is indeed tricky because you are working blind. Line up the sleeve as best you can and just keep trying. Regardless of what ZF says, you'll have to twist it a bit to get it properly seated....

WARNING: Rick and I did not believe that it is possible to close the white plastic sleeve securing tab (by pushing it upwards) unless the new sleeve is all the way in and properly seated. But that proved to be false. We learned the hard way that you CAN close that white tab when the new sleeve is not all the way in. The sleeve in my wife's XK8 needed to go in another quarter-inch or so but we did not realize it because a) we couldn't see it and b) the white tab closed as expected....

So be sure to triple-check the position of your new sleeve before you install the new pan and begin the ATF filling process. If the new sleeve is not all the way in and properly seated, it will begin to leak within a few days and you will be doing it all over again, even madder at the car than you are right now....

 

I believe the locating fin is on top.

I got mine accomplished but I have adjustable drive on ramps. You can coat the sleeve with lifeguard.

You want to generally glide the sleeve in with the fin in almost the right position to not touch or damage the pins.

The newer sleeve has larger o rings requiring a bit of force to get in. Use a block of wood and a wedge to put even pressure on the sleeve.

Like Rick and Jon I also was able to lock the white tab while the sleeve was too far out. I checked for connectivity to the TCM and it was faulty requiring me to remove the sleeve and reinsert and measure.

You must be between 2 and 3 cm or mm (I forgot) from the case and the base of the harness locked in place to ensure the white locking tab will go up properly and the harness will make good contact with the TCM.

Take your time and it will work out..

 

I did get it in, tab is at bottom. I had to remove another narness plug from it's holder and that only happend because I bumped it so much working on that sleeve. Even so my hands are cut up from trying to work around that aluminum mounting brace.

I saw the part about the measure of it not being in far enough well tough crap on that. I've done all I can now. If it doesn't work properly it gets towed to the dealer, fixed and sold. No, I'll take it to my local garage as he's great and this isn't a Jaguar only thing. I have no more patience with this car. Can you tell?

There's no way I can measure that gap reliably while lying on the ground. The access is just too horrible.

ZF sucks.

Then there's that asinine non reusable plastic pan and all of those horribly under engineered torx screws. Is this the German's idea of revenge for losing WWII or something? It's used on so many cars. How could the possibly be this stupid to build something this way?

The fluid looked horrible too @ 50K miles! Sealed for death.

It looks like you CAN change the fluid when it's on jack stands though I expect the next step (fluid fill) to be quite miserable due to the hot exhaust.

This job really should be done on a lift.

Just don't do it this way IMHO.

 

While it is not an easy job, I did my 2004 S-Type on jackstands about 2 years ago and I completed my 2004 Vanden Plas about a month ago on jackstands.I also replaced the transmission oil cooler lines on the VdP.


I do have a nice 4 car garage with a tiled floor and neither car is my daily driver so I was able to take my time.


I had suitable tools to get all the fasteners and plugs,a nice $5 manual pump for the fill. I also have good lighting.


I was 71years old in April and I had a cataract removed last Wednesday.


So I say stick with it!

 

I wish I had a garage.

I have a short and uneven driveway with pavers. Do you know what transmission fluid does to pavers?

I used to have a garage that had a 13 ft ceiling with a lift. Having done this this proper way before this is not the right way to do this work. Period.

But here's my question. With all that great garage space why in the hell don't you get yourself a lift? There are a ton over very innovative options now.

Something would fit.

 

I managed to put a 3 mm wood shim splinter in the gap so it appears to be just about correct.

 

This thread may be of some help:

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/s...ve-saga-39450/