You know. Fortunately I have a bunch of cars because the last few months have been jaguar hell.


Now last year I blew a motor mount and while changing it my transmission line sprung a leak. A few months before that I did a transmission service with new fluid and pan. Well I was heading toward Ma from NYC when my car decided to downshift into first ( I think) which was real fun on the highway.... Then the transmission fault lite and...... I go to MA and at this point my transmission would make a weird noise, and slip a bit. Did what I had to do.... Went to go home...Light was off...Downshifted again light on. Made it home


I figured Id check my fluid....it was WAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY low. Filled it up..Seemed to drive fine for the day. Got some dinner....Acted a little funny coming home and I parked it. The next day a huge puddle of fluid under the car....Ugggggg....Must have been leaking again but now much worse then before.


SO FINALLY yesterday I jack the car up thinking maybe the lines were leaking again.....Dry as a bone....Electrical connector....Dry as a bone....Pan....a bit wet.


Sooooooooooooooo I do the proper fill procedure (this is getting expensive)...Put it through the gears....Make sure its up to temp and full...Drive it around...Let it run for an hour..... NOTHING


No leaks anywhere. So now Im thinking....MAYBE the pan has a crack and only when all the fluid goes back into the pan in reaches a point where it will leak. WELL!!!!!!! Parked for three days now.....NO LEAK!


Now here is what I'm thinking. It was really cold this winter. Perhaps my pan gasket once the engine got cold was unable to hold the fluid back? Now that its warmer its no longer an issue? Anyone have any ideas..Or had a similar issue? This isn't something I can bring the car in to get fixed.....Ill get fixed!!!! For now I am ordering a new pan but these oil fills are not cheap and id rather not waste the time or money if Im over looking something. Thanks all!

 

2004 xjr btw

 

This is a long shot but did you check the transmission drain plug?
When I was under my car checking on something unrelated to the transmission I noticed seepage around the plug. I replaced the pan last year and thought I had checked the plug but I guess i did not.

If there are wild temp swings maybe the plug, if loose, expands or shrinks quicker than the surrounding pan?

 

Yah plug is fine. Well I drove it a bit longer today and the issue popped up again where it got a little jerky although no transmission fault code yet on a downshift. When I looked underneath no puddle however my pan/apron was wet again. Looks like Ill remove apron, wash it all down again and do this one more time...Driving me crazy...Was nice to drive it again though:O)

 

So let me get this straight, everything was dry when you checked underneath, then you went back and the belly pan is now wet? If you've changed the pan, I doubt the temp swing would cause this to be an issue, otherwise everyone in you part of the country would be having this issue. Hmmmmm, an interesting one.

Now, you do know that the trans cooler lines connect to the radiator. Also, where the oil filter housing is, there are 2 coolant hoses that come off it. If your trans fluid was low, and no visible leak on the ground, the fluid has to go somewhere. I have seen many times where the trans cooler itself, which is part of the radiator, fails and coolant and trans fluid cross and mix. I have also seen the oil cooler, which is the oil filter housing, leaks internally. You say now that the belly pan is wet, have you checked the bolts on the pan to make sure they are tight? Otherwise, if the fluid is low, and not leaking onto the ground, then you may have one of the 2 two possibilities I mentioned, most likely the radiator one, since you're having some trans shifting problems as well.

Let us know what you find.

 

If the apron is getting wet with fluid then there is an exterior leak.

Dont put the apron back, run the car stationary, and put it thru the gears a few times when at operating temp and see exactly where the drips come down on the ground.

 

Well let me try to make this a bit clearer. After the original issue of the jerking and downshifting once I got home I evenly jacked up the car and was way low on fluid. So I filled it with fluid using proper procedure (warm up, run through gears etc). Took the car for a ride, seemed to drive fine. Let it sit for an hour while eating. Got in car and it started jerking a bit but didn't do the downshift. Parked it overnight. The next day a huge puddle of fluid under neath the car.


I was disgusted and let the car sit over the winter. Recently I jacked the car up again, transmission pan was wet as was the apron. I completely cleaned the pan and surrounding area. Checked transmission and it was low again. Refilled, went through the gears, let the car run for over an hour...No fluid everything was dry. Take the car out to lunch, on the way back.....SAME THING!...Pan was wet but no puddle even two days later.


So this weekend Im going to pull apron off and keep it off and redo this again. I mean its coming from somewhere. Antifreeze looks fine. I have to had overlooked something. Ill do an update this weekend. I also doubt its a pan issue at this point. And I did check all of the bolts

 

Check the electrical sleeve again. When you changed it did you ensure both the TCM pin side and plug receptacle were dry and not contaminated with fluid? If it had fluid contamination that could explain the driveability issues but not the leak.

Also, there is a possibility the electrical sleeve was not fully seated properly in the TCM. I only say this as my sleeve was initially seated out by 4.5mm and the lock on the TCM engaged onto the sleeve, but it didn't look visually right and sure enough it had to go in even further.

The sleeve should stick out between 2.5 - 3.0mm from the trans case and I highly recommend measuring for sure with the electrical connector fully seated. Anything over 3.0mm is going to be an issue.

As far as the leaking is concerned. Check the trans cooling lines. There is also a vent on top of the trans. Also, a leaking sleeve will not necessarily show up at the sleeve but rides along the top of the trans pen to the front of the case.

Just sharing my $0.02

 

[QUOTE=abonano;1427396]
I bought a new sleeve but never changed it out because it appeared dry. Ill have to check better this weekend. Like I said I obviously missed something

 

You may have found your issue...

 

ARGGGGGGGHHH I am having extreme Jaguar issues this month..BOTH OF THEM!....Anyways. I jacked upo the car removed the lower apron...And well my transmission lines are dry as can be, The electrical connector dry as can be...EVERYTHING BUT THE PAN IS DRY AS CAN BE. This car will be the death of me...And if my my xkr certainly will deliver the final blow. Doesn't appear any fluid is coming from the upper part of the transmission. So tomorrow I'm basically going to refill and let it run for a very long time. I didn't check the fluid level. May not be that low...Unsure. So tomorrow I clean it off. Make sure its full and let it run. It will have to eventually leak!!! In the meantime Im ordering another pan....

 

Try loosening and retightening the pan bolts in proper order.
I managed to have a similar leak when I installed my pan. There's too many damn bolts and it's easy to lose track of the order.
Hope all works out well.

 

My 2 cents ain't working, so maybe inflation has set in, so I offer my 5 cents for what it's worth.
You say you, at first, checked the oil in the transmission and it was low. Wonder where it went---if anywhere? If you didn't notice any leakage of oil on the ground then, it more then likely wasn't low and adding oil overfilled it and then you noticed oil on the ground. This may have been an indication it was over full. However, I don't know how a transmission expels oil or where it expels it from.
Maybe someone here on the forum, that is a transmission expert, could explain.

If the trans down shifted while in cruise, I suspect internal problems and chasing the problem with oil top offs or changes, will just be an expensive "what can I do next" game. It will be more expensive, but I think taking the car to a transmission shop and letting them check it out can be your best--safest--next step.

 

5 cents is better than no sense! I have become an expert in properly filling my transmission. I did a fluid service with new pan/filter last year. I then developed a leak at my transmission line when doing the motor mounts....There could very well be an issue with my transmission but it was most definitely VERY empty when the symptoms first started. And wetness of pan. Then the leaking after fluid fill....And now further leaking after rechecking and filling. It appears around the pan area but nowhere else on the transmission. Bottomline I have a leak and may also have a real transmission issue. If I fix leak and transmission still acts up with proper fluid level well then....Time to upgrade! Talked to a guy in Australia that has a bunch of really good stuff to upgrade this transmission with. Ill only be making around 500 hp or so with my twin screw but Id like to know I wont have this problem ever again....If it comes to that. Will update once this leak is fixed...Again thanks all

 

Did you use a ZF replacement pan? Or, a knock off (eg, APO)

Knock offs known to leak (eg on BMW's)

 

I do know that since the 6 speed ZF transmissions have a plastic oil pan, they are prone to warping over time, and will leak. The sleeve where the wiring harness connects leaks as well. Maybe what's happening is when the car warms up, its sealing the leak, and because you're in NY with a cold climate, when it cools down, the pan is shrinking to the point that it starts to leak. I can't say that I've seen the vent pipe leak unless it's been overfilled. The 2 most common leaks on these transmissions are the pan and the connector sleeve.

 

I'm tackling this hopefully this weekend if the weather agrees. Bought a new pan and appropriate fluid. If this doesn't work likely something happened to the transmission. This all started because the fluid went low somehow and I drove it home that way. When I refilled....It leaked out again...Checked electrical connector, lines....Only place where it gets wet is at the pan level. May very well be a crack that open sup once warm. But if I do the pan....no fluid leaks and I still have an issue....No bueno!

 

I hope it works for you. Good luck!

Let us know how it turns out.

 

Well....Drove it around...Seemed to be fine. The it jerked a bit. It kind of slipped then went into gear. If I floor it, it doesn't slip. But I'm sure something would eventually happen. No fault light yet. Think ill drive it around a bit and see if it totally freaks out on me or miraculously gets better. Regardless picking up another transmission. Ill use this for a core in case I want to do a good rebuild. Wish I knew more about these transmissions. Never quite had an issue like this. On the good side no more leaking..Seems it was the pan after all.

 

Xkslowpoke---
I've been keeping up with your post about your Transmission problems and came upon this web site. Thought you and others might find it interesting and amazed at the complexity of the ZF transmissions. Once on the site scroll down until you can select a transmission rebuild.

Enjoy: youtube.com/watch?V=6MynPhs06TA

I enjoyed the : ZF6HP19 Teardown by Gary Ferraro the best..........