Three weeks ago I acquired a 2002 XJ8 VDP w/80K miles. I recently noticed a couple of small (pinkish) spots on the garage floor under the transmission pan. I put it on a lift, and the fluid appears to be coming out of the right hand corner of the pan. Yesterday I noticed the car would slip into to gear after a complete stop w/a noticable clunk. It had been shifting very smoothly until this. I am thinking this could be a result of low tranmission fluid? Since then, I am not driving the car other than moving it out of the garage and back.

I am not near a Jag dealer and am kind of on my own on this one. I have purchased a pan gasket, filter and O ring. It is my understanding that it it is acceptible to top off ATF fluid. I know there are a lot of opinons on the fluid. The problem is, I don't think this is the original fluid, which I understand is golden in color. There were no records w/the car. I am out in the boonies and have access to few products, ie Castrol and Mobil synth. I don't mind ordering whatever is recommended, but don't want to go to the expense (Pentosin?) if compatibilty is uncertain anyways. I understand there is no way to completely drain the fluid, without removing the transmission, so I am stumped. If someone could explain, in the simplest terms how to top off the transmission fluid (as well as the type recommended, and amount probably needed), or if there is a laymans way to completely flush the system, I would appreciate it. A mechanic friend is going to help with this, but has little Jaguar knowledge. Sorry to be so long winded, but I need to get this figured out by midweek so I can go away.

Someone also suggested that since the leak is so slow, it may not be a fluid issue, but rather a computer issue and a "hard reset" may take care of the problem. Either way, I still need to take care of the fluid change.

Thanks in advance.

Peter

 

If you have no records for the car's service history, the best thing is to change all the fluids to have a starting point (I have the same car, almost same mileage).
To have an official list of the ZF approved oils, I am attaching a link to the oil equivalents;yours is 5HP24, can be found on the page 3,you can order it from VW/AUDI or BMW dealers.
http://www01apps.zf.com/kst464/ZF_In...011_en0700.pdf

You will need at least 10 quarts of oil, to change it twice(better is three times), to be sure that the remaining oil is diluted with fresh one.

You can have a look on the link bellow,to have an idea about the ZF gearbox, and down the page, the oil change procedure.
FixEuro.com - Freddie's Transmission Service - ZF 5HP24