Coming up on 50K on the clock. Yesterday I stopped at the dry cleaner drive thru and put the car in Park. When I moved the stick out of P I heard a bit of a clunk and continued to put it in D. Instead of moving forward smoothly it bucked a couple of times so I put it in neutral and tried again. A little buck and then moved forward as usual and drove a couple of miles to an appointment - no problems. When I was ready to leave I shifted into R to back out of the space but the car didn't move. Went to N then back to R and was able to back up but it felt like I was backing over a couple of speed bumps. Then into D and drove away - directly to my indy garage to see what's going on. As I was slowing to enter the left turn lane I could feel a clunk when the trans downshifted and a couple bucks when I gave it gas to complete the turn. This happened late in the day so it won't be looked at till morning. Nothing lit up on the dash. He'll scan for codes and do a test run. He suspects it's fluid related and could be the tranny pump though it's unusual for that at 50K. Any thoughts on what it is?

 

Low fluid?
Front drum?

 

Got my answer.. and it ain't a good one. The drum is cracked. New tranny with solenoids, installed is about $6K+ shipping. As much as I've enjoyed the car for the last 23+ years I've been thinking about selling anyway and, as others here have advised, 10K is about the most I'd get, if that, since I never did the tensioners. SO, my indie guy called a wholesaler he knows and he'll buy it for $2500 as is and pick it up. While I might be able to squeeze up to another $1500 out of it after fixing it it's not worth the risk and having to deal with selling it. So tomorrow is my unexpected last day as an XK8 owner. Nothing lasts forever. Thanks to all for their help and guidance over the years!

 

I'm sorry to hear she has finally tipped you over the edge.
Wish I lived closer to FL

Best of luck with the sale.

 

Thank you. I went to the shop and cleaned my stuff out of the car this afternoon. My wife said I looked very sad walking away from it and she was right. Sort of like putting down an old dog. It's particularly sad because the body and interior are in such nice shape. Life goes on...

 

Brobin,

Sorry to hear the bad news. Purely a financial consideration for you and unfortunately you’re one of many owners who had a fatal ZF5HP24 blow up. It’s a known weakness of the gearbox.

Good luck on your next car.

 

Thank you. Yes, at this point it's mostly a financial decision given that 6K for the gearbox and then at least another $2300 for overdue tensioners, plus costs for a cat replacement adds up to more than it's worth. I've gotten almost 50,000 wonderful miles over almost 24 years out of the car and certainly have no complaints. Being older and less limber now has made getting in and out of the car a little harder which is why I was already thinking about selling it. Guess I should have done it a few weeks ago! In the meantime, I already have my "next" car, an '09 Bentley Continental GT Coupe that I purchased six years ago with only 18K on it. Great fun to drive!