Well aside from having a defective sleeve, I just reused the old one, I used the CTSC kit and wrapped it up this morning.

The kit was missing the replacement plug and the sleeve was cracked. I'll be expecting a wee bit of a refund for those as I'm not going to drain the fluid unless the sleeve leaks.

Took a nice drive and the goose honk is gone. That was really the only transmission problem I was experiencing.

73,400 miles and this was the first change.

Fluid wasn't gritty and nothing on the magnets. Color was that of a British Ale, and replaced by fluid the color of American beer.

Actual work effort (excluding the wait time overnight for the fluid to drain):

Day 1 - 1 hour

Drain - 10 minutes
Removal - as I had 6 stripped bolts, it took me 40 minutes to remove the pan.

Overnight - let drain

Day 2 - 2 hours

Sleeve removal and replacement - 30 minutes but I had an issue with a defective sleeve and had trouble with the retention tab.
Pan reinstall - 10 minutes
Fluid fill - 10 minutes
Run car, change gears and top off - 10 minutes.
Recheck fluid level with Pan temp @ 40 degrees centigrade - 15 minutes for the car to warm up. 5 minutes to check.
Test drive - 30 minutes.

I have a lift now and am very happy not to have to do that job on jack stands, especially with the seized bolts.

 

Ive been contemplating doing this to mine. Did you 'reflash' or reset the Transmission computer? and how did you go about filling it back up? i havent been able to find a dipstick tube or fill point under the hood. Ive read that changing the trans fluid involves running through the gears and taking a temperature in each? Its all sounded quite involved which is why ive been putting it off but yours seems to have went pretty well

 

former mechanic here so I timed myself to help you block off your weekend. I'm sure I was slower than a Tech but maybe a wee bit faster with the lift vs. jack stands:-). Basic understanding of DIY car repairs is really all you need. Follow the directions and it's relatively easy. There are several threads on the subject. I used this one:

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...eekend-104279/

There's also an XK video and if I find it, I'll post the link.

No TCM re-flash was required.

Fill point is just above the pan, right rear on American models. So it's under the car and yes you need to have the car running at during the fill process.
As the transmissions were originally designed and built as "filled for life", they were considered maintenance free, so no dip stick. Well, ZF and all of us, know more now than we did then.

I had no codes. I had two symptoms.

1 - starting from idle, the car would lunge on acceleration, like a touchy gas pedal. I actually didn't think it was transmission related but it went away after the fluid change.

2- squawk or goose honk, going from 3rd to 4th gear, under mid-hard acceleration, the transmission let out a honk. No impact to performance. There was a Service Bulletin that advised to put in an additive, however, the additive is no longer available. Apparently ZF added it to their fluid so the fluid change corrects the problem.

 

Thanks Sean! You just described the exact 2 issues I'm having with my 2005 VDP w/113K+ on it now. I purchased it used on the 4 of July. The dealership told me it's leaking or has a stress fracture in the pan, maybe. All of that without seeing my vehicle. Anyway, I'll have the same thing done that you did and it should be able to fix the problem.