Hey all. So I have a couple questions regarding the ZF tranny

I just got a little scare today when I was driving. Car was warm, I was waiting at a traffic light that was on a little incline. When I turned green I went to accelerate and there was a slight "kick" in the tranny. It was very subtle but still noticeable. It was as if the clutch kinda clunked in. As a contributing story, it reminded me of my 1999 Jetta which had the 4-speed automatic. At around 120k miles it would slip every now and then (also because VW sucks at making automatics). For example I'd be at a standstill, then go to accelerate, and there would be a delay then it would clunk into gear. All other shifts were fine up and down.

This was the first time it ever happened under my ownership. Also this is the only thing that happened to raise my eyebrow on the transmission. It otherwise shifts perfectly, up and down.

Should I be worried about anything? It has 96800 miles on it and after I researched before I bought the car, transmissions were observed to demand a rebuild around 120k miles so I just want to make sure. Hasn't happened since.

Also is there anything I can do preventative maintenance wise to reassure the life of my transmission?

For example my old Mercedes' tranny had seen failures around 150k miles but it is widely known if you stick to fluid changes and flushes every 30k miles by a Mercedes mechanic you'll see your tranny go to 200k miles and beyond.

Is such a situation possible with these transmissions? What service intervals would you guys suggest? I forgot where but I read that these trannies should be serviced every 60k miles despite being sealed for life.

I'm going to call the old dealer where this car was serviced and see if they can tell me if and when the trans was serviced.

Any input = awesome. Thanks guys.

 

Edit: I have a Gear fault and the same symptoms here:

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/s...ght=Gear+Fault

Looks like I'm rebuilding

Edit 2:

Has anyone bought from this place?

http://www.everdrive.com/partdetails...paign=shopping

They have the transmission but it's used. They have good reviews on Google...so I might try this. Or would you recommend a rebuild? How long do rebuilds tend to last?

Edit 3 cuz I found a remanufactured one on eBay for a good price..


Damn this sucks...I just got this car.

 

Sorry to hear this -- if you actually had a drum failure you can sometimes fix that part without a complete rebuild if it is caught before it takes out the whole unit - obviously needs to go to a ZF specialist.

Good luck.