I had suspected the valve body in my 2000 XJ8L was cracked. Symptoms were delay going in to Reverse and Drive when hot. The transmission worked fine when cold first thing in the morning but after about half an hour the trouble would begin. I took to parking on an incline so the car could roll a bit if it didnt get a gear right away. I was trying to avoid that bang or thud! Anyway, i bought a valve body on Ebay for $160 and kitted it out with the Transgo valve and completely dismantled and cleaned everything including the solenoid screens and testing their function on the bench. Finally got my new ZF filter and Pentosin fluid so today was a good day to do the work. I was very relieved to see the big crack in the upper part of the body which you cannot see without removing it. All went well and i drove home thoroughly please with myself. i took the long way and made sure i followed the route and stops where i would typiclly experience troubles. Nothing! So, i wont be buying a transmission after all. my car has 188k miles on it and everything in the pan was spotless so i wonder if the trans has been replaced before?

here you can clearly see the crack.


not an XJR! i swapped in the grill and wheels for a "less grandpa look

 

Great job, nice to hear a positive outcome story for a ZF transmission.

Is your alignment ok? In the first photo, the front wheels look a bit off to me.

 

Not sure on the alignment. it seems to track straight though. i do have some slight clunking over potholes and seams. My next job is changing the ball joints and shocks. I already did the sway bar bushes, end links and new upper shock mounts. Noise is still there. After i do the ball joints it will get an alignment ck and adjustment if needed.

 

Good plan. I have to do my front shocks also, I can shine a light through the lower shock mount bushing.

 

The clunking might be the front subframe bushings or the motor mounts. I would have said upper shock mounts, but you already replaced those. Certainly could be the ball joints too. I'm guessing that the subframe bushings and motor mounts may have never been changed. In my case, I never could get the alignment just right until I replaced the subframe bushings. Then everything trued up perfectly.

 

Thanks for the heads up! Well, i dont know if they are ok or not. i have had the car up in the air on the lift a few times lifting by the jacking points and the subframe didnt seem to droop at all. is it a common fault? im going to price them and see if it makes sense to change them. and the motor mounts.