We purchased a 2001 XKR with 66k miles on the odo. Almost immediately, I started to experience transmission problems where the transmission stops pulling while in gear. In all cases, the transmission feels like it has shifted into neutral. No noise, bangs, etc. Just slips out of gear. It happened in second gear while under very moderate straight line acceleration, once when accelerating out of a normal 'in-town' turn onto a side street, and then twice while cruising along at around 60 mph. I let the car coast and eventually it reengages a gear and continues on. All of the low speed gear losses have needed to coast down to about 15 mph before it reengaged. The 60 mph situations reengaged at about 40 mph. I've driven it less than 10 miles total so this all happened in rapid succession during two short test drives.

Two of the failures occurred immediately after I got the car home on my first 2 mile test ride and before any work had been done on it. I then noticed the leaking connector, checked the fluid and decided to perform the repair/filter/fluid while checking the pan for debris. I had hoped the service and fresh fluid fill would resolve the issues. The rest were after the transmission service during a 6-7 mile test drive.

Now the history since I've had the car. I had to replace the circular electrical connector (the MB 722.6 transmission has this well known problem). Before I did I purchased the dipstick tool to check the trans fluid. Fluid was a decent color and did not smell burnt, however was definitely low.

I went ahead and dropped the trans pan, replaced the filter, replaced the connector and brought the fluid level back up using Fuchs ATF I got from a MB repair shop. The pan did not have any metal or sludge. Not sure if this is indicative of having already been off recently or just that the transmission is overall in good health and this is a control issue.

I just got the car and so don't yet have the manuals. I tried to order a soft copy, but the vendor says it won't work on 64 bit windows 7. I was looking for the TCM connection from the transmission to inspect for fluid contamination. I've heard the fluid wicks from the leaking connector up to the board, but I can't tell where the board is located. I'm going to go have another look today now that it's cooled down and see if I can trace it up from the connection. If someone can point it out for me, that would be great.

Any thoughts on what could cause this problem? Could it be the conductor plate in the trans? TCM? Needs new transmission (hope not)?

Unrelated to the trans but in the interest of full disclosure, I also pulled the passenger side cam cover to fix oil leaking onto the exhaust manifold. While there, I replaced the secondary tensioner. Will get to the driver side tensioner after I get this transmission issue resolved.

Any help will be greatly appreciated as my wife is terribly disappointed at the failure of her newly acquired toy. She sold her '87 560SL to get this car and so far it has been a large let down.

 

Sorry to ask, but you did check the oil level at the right temperature and whilst in gear (and also went thru the gears)? Just to be sure that the oil level is correct now, as that would have been my first guess.

Are there no codes at all? Another thought would be maybe a solenoid gone bad, there was a thread somewhere recently that showed how you could measure it, will try to search.

Here is the link:
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...on-code-70140/
Again not sure if that is related, but something to keep in mind if you don't get any other clues, as it sounds as if there is not enough oil/solenoid not working properly/Oil pump issue.

 

Right after I got back from the 7 mile test ride I pulled into the shop, ran it through drive/Reverse/drive/reverse/park one last time. Checked with engine running in park and it was right at the bottom line on the hot fluid range.

I'm not getting any check lights at all. I do have an OBD II reader but since I'm not getting any indication, I've not hooked it up. Does the Jag support OBD II? I'm guessing that because of it's Ford affiliation it does.

I'll check out the link to checking the solenoids and give that a shot.

I talked with the guy in Atlanta who used to maintain my wife's 560sl and he is familiar with the transmisison, just not in the Jag. He talked about improvements made to this style transmission, but based on the model year, it appears MB made all the upgrades by early 2000. So unles Jag had a ton of these lying around, mine should the stronger version. I found a tech document over on the MB forum that gives a timeline for the changes and that backs up what John told me.

So, based on that, I'm more likely to spend the time finding the real solution than simply replacing this one for a reman unit. The problem is, most of my skills are on classic Camaro and Corvette and I've only dabbled in the new stuff. The TCM for my '68 Corvette is my left foot and my right hand.

Thanks for the link...I'll post up what I find.

 

Would fill a little bit more oil, as I would guess by the time you got back the fluid would be more like 90 degrees. But I don't think it will be the fluid level.
Another thing that comes to mind is that maybe the gear selector cable needs adjustment, or there is something not right with the gear selector unit.

 

Good suggestion avos, but unless you can 'see' whats going on in the TCM, its hard to know if the transmission is actually in a gear, or its slipped out. The linkage could be obvious, worth a check. I do know that AutoEnginuity can see lots of sensors and conditions of the transmission in real time. If you intend on keeping the jag for several years, the $500 investment will be well worth it. I've gotten more than my money back from saving dealer diagnostic time that you can't get with a regular OBD II scanner.

 

Agree fully with Matt, and probably will add some info in my sig as to the importance to have a good diagnostic tool if you want to do your own diagnoses! I use the IDS itself, priceless when needed. The AE is the next best thing and I imho everyone should have at least a OBDII meter which can show live sensors.

 

Thanks again for the input folks.

I'll go ahead and ensure the fluid is at the absolute top of it's range for the temp...so my first add will be cold. I've got 2 liters left over from the fill so I've got plenty to work with.

I'll also check out AutoEnginuity. I did a search on IDS but didn't get a hit. Any more info on that product?

I'll also break out the documentation on my OBDSII reader and see what sort of things it's capable of reading in real time. I've only used it to read codes on cars when they show a dash light so I never really thought of looking at live sensor output.

Two other questions. Where is the TCM located? I'm still wanting to check the end of the cable from the transmission to see if fluid made it to the top and got onto the electronics. I haven't had a chance to look at it again (work keeps getting in the way).

Second question: In the MB version, there is a shift control module which lies just below the shifter gate on the console. It's poorly located because according the MB forum people tend to spill drinks into it. Do we have a similar shift controller or is it all just a cable operation?

As for it being a cable adjustment...when it stopped pulling, I tried shifting over into the left side gate to select a gear directly, but got no response. I would think if the shifter were marginally adjusted I would have hit something over there that worked. Went from the manual select gate to D then to Neutral and back to D several times and that seemed to make no difference. It only reengages when it's darned good and ready.

 

- IDS is the new Jaguar dealer tool (not cheap), the old one was called WDS, is also just as good for our cars, and these can be had relatively cheap (search for a Ford WDS, and put Jaguar software on it).
- Not sure which codes will not show up with a regular code reader for the TCM, as most are still P0xxx ones. But for reading sensors/status info you need at least the dealer tool or the AE.
- The TCM is in the box withe the ECU and is in the RH side under the covers under the hood.
- The jaguar also has the shift module probably in the same place by what you describe (so directly under the Jgate)
- The cable is only for Park, Reverse, Neutral and Drive, and once you go the left with the stick, it is only the shift module that sends the commands electronically to the gearbox. As drive and neutral are so close, it could be a cable thing based on what you describe.

 

I popped that cover off (used it as my work table while replacing the pasenger side secondary tensioner so was curious what was under there). Saw three black boxes. A large flat one and two smaller vertical ones. Thought one might be the TCM.

Hopefully the cable adjustment will be intuitive with firm detents at the tranny.

I checked my Equuis Innova OBDII scanner and it doesn't look like it pulls any live data for transmission sensors, only engine parameters. I'll check on WDS. Looked at AutoEnginuity and there's several versions for a wide range of costs so I may call them to see which model they recommend. Sounds like WDS would be the way to go though. Thx.

 

On 2003 and later models AutoEnginuity with the Jaguar package is a good choice. On the earlier models, it provides little more data than an inexpensive scanner.

 

I guess that negates AE and WDS for me! Glad to know before dollars paid.

 

That piece of information is just incorrect, am using the wds/ids for years on my car and other model years. The wds is a gem for the one that knows how to use it, you only need to decide if it is worth to you when you only use it for you own car. For me over the years it was priceless.

 

Steve (WhiteXKR), I also plugged my AE into a 2002 and used its enhanced features to monitor the ABS sensors in attempts to diagnose an intermittent fault, but can't say with 100% certainty the enhanced TCM features are there. If the ABS can be read, surely the other modules can too. I'm trying to think of someone who has an 01 or 02 xk over here to test my AE on...mjlaris is out of town, unfortunately. The guy at the bank drives his other cars most of the time...

100thduece, I'd be willing to ship you the AE over to you for a test run, but since your a relatively new member, we'd have to work out a deposit of some sort, just to be safe. If you're interested, send me a PM.

 

@WhiteXKR,
I was one of the first users of the AE unit, when it came out and even got Beta software as I was one of persons to ask Jay (harass would be a better word) to develop a version for the Jaguars.
Also that unit will be able to read all ecu's/sensors on board, so it will be a valuable tool as well. Not to be compared to the WDS/IDS, but much better than any generic OBDII reader.
The only reason why I stopped using it was that it couldn’t read the upper O2 sensors in open loop to measure the a/f ratio, which the WDS/IDS can do very well.

 

Well, perhaps I need to investigate further with AE. I believe I may have a newer version of hardware and software than you guys. I have the latest model and it recognizes little more than the engine codes on the 2001 XKR. I also use it on my 2003 S type with the 4.2 and get great results comparable to what Avos and H2Oboy say. My experience was consistent with other usually reliable sources on another forum.

Perhaps something has changed with version 9 or there is a bug.

[Edit] I just looked and I see version 10 is available now...I will download that and give it a try.

 

A very generous offer indeed. I'll be in touch. Thank you.

 

Just ordered the version 10 upgrade, (which now required they mail you a physical 'key' or 'dongle' for security). I'll report back once I receive it and try it out.

 

This trans problem sounds pretty much like a milder case of the one I was chasing last summer. https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...ut-gear-54443/

The trans likely doesn't have a problem, it might be wheel speed sensor related. The shifting into neutral, then back into gear at low speed is an indicator of the failsafe mode if the trans controller thinks it is slipping. It does this by comparing a calaulation of wheel speed from input and output shaft speeds, commanded gear with actual wheel speeds. If the calculation doesn't match the actual wheel speed, tha controller assumes the trans is slipping, or has some other internal fault, adn may either shift into neutral, or to the last known good gear to protect itself from further damage.

Any stability system, or ABS trouble ever?

 

Your thread is an excellent read! Some amazing diagnostics took place there.

I've only just purchased the car and my total drive time has been the two short test drives. I have not noticed any stability system or ABS issues.

Unfortunately, I've been running my tail off and have had no more time to spend on this. I'm hoping that between now and EOD Sunday, I'm able to devote some more quality time. Knowing what you found in the rear hubs is great. I can at least check for play to see if it's a potential issue. Thanks for the info. I'll update as I check things.

 

I recieved he latest AE update.
The new AutoEnginuity 10.1 version seems to be doing a little better and connecting to more modules, but it still says it cannot connect the the TCM CANbus on my 2001 XKR.