I finally got an 1998 XK8, British green convertible. Very impressed but being a car guy I picked it up for 1500 bucks 60K miles but a bad tranny- always gotta do it the hard way! The cats are a bear to pull but once done I must say, what an impressive car. Cool, comfy and fast. But a manual would be preferable so Ill be looking for some manual tranny threads. Since Tranny issue seem fairly common and “oil for life” seems to be a root cause, I just wanted to ask this question:
The used tranny I picked up runs great and I did have the TC rebuilt. Im not getting any codes but I do get a jerk from a cold start if I take off fast, which is hard not to do. On a normal takeoff its smooth. I figured I made out on the used tranny but that little jerk on a fast start is concerning. Since i’m in the car for 2K Im not complaining but any comments are appreciated!
If the replacement tranny had been sitting around for a time, perhaps something has gotten gummed up. Have you considered doing a flush and refill?
Good point. The tranny was supposedly rebuilt but I’m always skeptical. The oil in it looked new but I did put in new oil. The old tranny would go in limp mode and keep tossing a P1747 code, with the TC whinning. The TC on the used tranny went to a rebuilder, who said it looked very good inside but that is a popular one for having clutch issues. I have a lift and did the running engine while I drained off the extra fluid. I did, however use the Valvoline syn ATF that claims to meet all the ZF specs.
To my surprise the car ran nice. No funny noises, no codes, smooth shifting and the slap stick works great. The little jerk only occurs in 1st gear from a dead stop if you take off fast. 1st is not supposed to have any lockup, so it “feels” like the tc clutch might grab a little. Perhaps a fast start is making the TC grab a little but that’s all conjecture.
That said, this car is pretty darn quick. Its hard to find many places to open it up, as stomping it gets you to 75 so quick that you don’t do it on side streets. And the shifts are so smooth that other than the tach dropping you barely feel the shift points. Like all European cars, they are quirky to work on but very fun to drive.
Congrats on the buy! Glad to see you getting it back on the road!