Hi there,

I have started out on a project which I should not and now I am afraid I have to pay the price. Any advise would be appreciated.

Model: Jaguar XJR (X308) 1998 S/C 4.0 with 722.650 5 gear transmission with 212000km on the clock.

1. The car have had the "gearbox fault" code for more than a year. All gear shifts were running smooth - no sounds, no hard shifts - but randomly fault codes, "cleared" them with ODBC = fine - but went back occasionally. Lately is was more frequent and at last it wetn into limp mode all the time - only being able to drive in 1. gear.

2. Thought a change of conductor plate, filter and 13 pin connector could do it after reading tons of posts about this. I has a "non-jaguar mechanic" do this for me but seemed to be simple and we did it following correct tutorials (not a garentee for correct work though)

3. I believe the big mistake as when I drained the ATF. We took off the valve body and let it drain for a day. Can could get in 1. gear and drive before drain. After drain and refill of 3 liters ATF - the gear selector would not go into ANY gear and nothing happens when shifting up and down.

4. We thought is was wrong ATF level so we drained again and refilled to correct level though the dip stock hole and not only through the oil pan (which I have read I should have done instead..too late to regret now

5. Took the car to a jag shop - being a bit "angry" about me trying to fix it myself and now they did not know what happend and where to look (even though they are the proīs )

5. Now they have spend lots of hours trying to changed back to the old conductor plate to see what error code they got (P705)- When they instal the new conductor plate the can not make the gear selector indicate with light which gear it is in- only with the old one (?) - still not able to get into any gears..but now the P705 is not showing.

6. Now they say they are stucked - saying they have found metal particals in oil pan (which is strange since we have put total 8 liters on, so I do not understand - but because of this they told me that it mean THE TRANNY HAS DO BE CHANGED OR REBUILT- - thatīs a 3500-4000$ repair in total

7. So I feel a bit lost here...

8. Now I have read that itīs a bad idea to replace to much oil at the same time and I am thinking my tranny has got a "ATF shock" by making this "amateur flush" - and not just changing oil from oil pan a couple of times...

Anyway - I am now wondering my options here.

Question 1: if the car has got a "ATF shock" - what can be typically damaged then ? - can this really cause metal particles even though the car has not driven at all since the ATF ? - just by shifting up and down without start in their fault findings ?

Question 2: Seems like my options are
- asking them to dry to open up and fix the tranny (is this a time consuming work)? OR
- Trying to buy a used tranny for 2000$ with garantee + install work 1700$

The risk is that they will spend lots of time, trying to fix it with the risk of them telling me (after many hours of work) that the tranny is dead and I need to buy a new one..and get it installed - and thereby have "wasted" the repair work. Maybe a converter fix would be enough - or is it the same as total fix ?

Apologies for the long post - put after readings, I now suspect the ATF changed to be the reason for all this trouble...

I tend to find a guy who can try to fix the tranny..

Do I have any other options - to avoid paying soo much money. The car is not worth more than about 5-7000$ in Denmark at the moment..and maybe only 1500 with a non-working tranny.

Do I have any options left ??

ANY suggestions or comments are most welcome.

Thanks for a great forum.

best/Flemming (kind of new to post on this forum)

 

Hi Flemming,

I'm sorry to hear of the trouble you are having with your Jaguar and I understand your frustration and fears.

I think the best advice I can offer is that you take the car to a transmission shop that regularly services Mercedes Benz transmissions. 722.650 transmissions are known to be sensitive to fluid level, so part of your issue may be that the level is not correct.

As far as the Gearbox Fault and Limp Home Mode were the fault codes you would occasionally get related to electrical circuits or possible mechanical faults inside the gearbox? Besides the P0705, what other codes were flagged?

Cheers,

Don

 

3 liters isn't much oil at all especially after you drained out the old fluid and dropped the valve body. Somewhere in the 5-6 liter range sounds more reasonable. Also, you should check on the side of the gearshift module. There's an open electrical contact that can get dirty. If I'm not mistaken, we had a customer with a 2002 XJR with that P0705 code about 5 months ago. I took the center console apart and cleaned those electrical contacts off and it was fixed. What fluid did you use to fill it back up with?

 

Hi Don - and thank you so much for so fast reply.

About fault codes, here is the the codes I have had

1. the last yearīs time I have had the "Gearbox Fault" in display - no limp mode and just erased it with my little ODBC scanner. The reason for that is that I have never ever had any strange sounds or shifting problems despite the errors. So I have tried to make sure battery is charged - changed battery etc..

2. Just a week before changing the ATF I got the P0705 (trans range sensor) fault code many times and decided to solve it with new conductor plate/13 pins connector and then OIL. After "flushing" most of the oil and refill (6-7 liters to correct level (bought the MB sdip stick) I got the P0758 (Shift Solenoid "B" Electrical) which I never have had before - and at that time the gearselector could move up and down - but not go into any gears (the car has NOT been driving (only towed) since ATF change. I do not understand why the new mechanic tells me that he found metal pieces in oil since it was all new - maybe it is from the rest of the oil that I did not get all out when trying to flush (?). But I am still having a hard time accepting the fact that the tranny it all gone and need replace...even though I understand that small metal pieces must not be a good sign...always thought it was some kind of electrivcal issues - especially b/c the car for many years have had some problem losing battery when not driven for 4-5 days in garage..just charged it and then no problem - but never found the source error. That why I somehow think that the tranny can be fixed without a total rebuild - but ofcasue I have no chance to know for sure..just do not trust the mechanic where the car is now - and know he is not happy about me trying to change ATF myself before I towed the car to him (understandable - but always easier for him to say "changed it all". Sorry for the long explanation - but this is filling up my head 24/7 and need to decide..very stressing - Thank you in advance - any comment/suggestions are most appriciated even though I know its a draw somehow. Looking forward to hear from you again.

 

Ohh sorry forgot to mention: the "new" mechanic tells me that he have cleaned/fixed the gear selector (contacts etc..) after putting the new conductor plate on. Last thing I suspect is that the solinoids is maybe put in wrong places even though the "old" mechanic told me he was VERY carefull about putting it in the same places as on the old...what to think (?)

IF there are smallmetal pieces and the tranny is "quick fixed" then I am afraid pices wtill glock up the valve body after short time of driving.

hmm soo many issues to consider even though some say this transmission is not THAT complicated to handle..I dont know.

 

@addicted2boost -yes you are right- I presume when the mechanic tells me the the gear selector is "cleaned and fixed" he also included the electrical contact. The has been at his workshop so I cannot check for myself at this time.

The oil I used was Fuchs TITAN ATF 4134 4 liters and the believed I used 1-2 liters more.

 

I assume that when you dropped the pan and valve body, if there were any magnets in the pan they were cleaned of any black magnetic metal particles that naturally build up over time? If the magnets were not cleaned, could it be this residue is what the new mechanic is seeing? Or could it be that he is simply not telling you the truth in an attempt to sell you work you don't need?

 

Yes the pan was cleaned very carefully after valve body was taken down. The guy who did this told me also that he held some of the new oil in the pan and lifted it up assembling it again. The rest (most) went down the dip stick whole. All was cleaned.

 

And yes I trust the new mechanic saying he found metal pieces..even though I suspect him to recommend new tranny of convenient motives..he said that metal pieces always means something mechanical is broken inside...makes sense but as mentioned earlier..how can it break when the car has not been driving and put in gear AFTER I drained and refilled atf. Then there was no metal pieces. Makes no sense and makes me a bit suspicious.