XJR lots of smoke !!
Discussion
Now then, despite my pouring lots of the folding into my 1998 XJR Auto it has let me down again, well kind of. It may have also fixed itself, wonder if it will do its own front shocks......
Tell me what you think.
I have recently had the MB gearbox oil replaced by my usual mechanic, he also replaced the gearbox filter, which wasn't cheap either.
He is a very thorough guy and is a trained Jaguar technician amongst other things, in fact if you are anywhere near Knutsford and want a mechanic trained in Ferrari, Porsche (bread and butter)and Jaguar who also will do a fine job on all classics and even the odd Lambo (If its not caught fire)I can highly recommend him, he's also cheaper than the main dealer. He has done Porsche open days via PH previously.
Anyway back to my story, I went for a blast through the Lakes and took in a few of the high passes and on descent put the car into 2nd and left it there to aid braking etc; The car was superb and I happened upon an Audi R8 when I got to the lowlands and we had a bit of fun, I left the car in 3rd and sometimes D and all praise to the XJR (with upgraded suspension bushes) I stuck with him.
He must have pi**ed himself when we were just coming into Keswick and he saw plumes of blue smoke all around my car ! In fact he came back for another look after I parked, fortunately I was a distance away so saved from the humiliation.....
The smoke was coming from underneath and to the rear of the engine. It was oil that had splurted out somewhere and covered part of the exhaust, hence the smoke.
Called the RAC out and he couldn't find the leak, but it was definitely gearbox oil. He cleaned off what he could and there appeared to be no more leakage, we started it and gave it a few revs and still no leakage. We drove for 6 miles at 60 mph and pulled over, jacked it up again and nothing, just still a little smoke from the excess oil that wasn't cleaned. Again we set off and did another 12 miles and still nothing more.
He advised that as there was no leak he could see, to drive home but keep an eye on it. He was very conscious of the danger of leaking oil for other road users. His conclusion was that "maybe" it was under a lot of pressure in the gearbox that it "burped" to let the pressure off, through the gasket. It may have been a little overfilled when the oil was changed.
I drove 90 miles on the M6 south at a steady 80 to 90 mph and there were no problems and there is still nothing going on, checked under the car today and no deposits on the garage floor.
What do you reckon to this, I know these cars are intelligent, mine told me via the radio display to clean the electric aerial recently, but has it just released the pressure and all will be well ?
Will get it checked over anyway when it goes in for the next bits and pieces.
Tell me what you think.
I have recently had the MB gearbox oil replaced by my usual mechanic, he also replaced the gearbox filter, which wasn't cheap either.
He is a very thorough guy and is a trained Jaguar technician amongst other things, in fact if you are anywhere near Knutsford and want a mechanic trained in Ferrari, Porsche (bread and butter)and Jaguar who also will do a fine job on all classics and even the odd Lambo (If its not caught fire)I can highly recommend him, he's also cheaper than the main dealer. He has done Porsche open days via PH previously.
Anyway back to my story, I went for a blast through the Lakes and took in a few of the high passes and on descent put the car into 2nd and left it there to aid braking etc; The car was superb and I happened upon an Audi R8 when I got to the lowlands and we had a bit of fun, I left the car in 3rd and sometimes D and all praise to the XJR (with upgraded suspension bushes) I stuck with him.
He must have pi**ed himself when we were just coming into Keswick and he saw plumes of blue smoke all around my car ! In fact he came back for another look after I parked, fortunately I was a distance away so saved from the humiliation.....
The smoke was coming from underneath and to the rear of the engine. It was oil that had splurted out somewhere and covered part of the exhaust, hence the smoke.
Called the RAC out and he couldn't find the leak, but it was definitely gearbox oil. He cleaned off what he could and there appeared to be no more leakage, we started it and gave it a few revs and still no leakage. We drove for 6 miles at 60 mph and pulled over, jacked it up again and nothing, just still a little smoke from the excess oil that wasn't cleaned. Again we set off and did another 12 miles and still nothing more.
He advised that as there was no leak he could see, to drive home but keep an eye on it. He was very conscious of the danger of leaking oil for other road users. His conclusion was that "maybe" it was under a lot of pressure in the gearbox that it "burped" to let the pressure off, through the gasket. It may have been a little overfilled when the oil was changed.
I drove 90 miles on the M6 south at a steady 80 to 90 mph and there were no problems and there is still nothing going on, checked under the car today and no deposits on the garage floor.
What do you reckon to this, I know these cars are intelligent, mine told me via the radio display to clean the electric aerial recently, but has it just released the pressure and all will be well ?
Will get it checked over anyway when it goes in for the next bits and pieces.
I had a very similar problem, mine only happened if you kicked down at around 80 MPH, the smoke was whitish, defiantly ATF, and occurred shortly after I had the fluid and filer changed. From memory, it was a couple of O ring seals possibly from the gearbox switch, but someone more informed will along shortly and correct me, I just had a look for the invoice but cant find it. I think the seals were thruppance hapeny but the ATF about 1.5 litres had been lost + the labour took it to a couple of hundred quid inc vat.
Are you sure its gearbox oil? and burning under the bonnet not out the exhaust pipes??
I only ask as a long run down hill in 2nd will give a lot of engine vacuum, could end up with alot of engine oil in the inlet trunking which would get fired through the engine as soon as you boot it.
Had this a few times on the V8 when there a tad overfilled with oil.
I only ask as a long run down hill in 2nd will give a lot of engine vacuum, could end up with alot of engine oil in the inlet trunking which would get fired through the engine as soon as you boot it.
Had this a few times on the V8 when there a tad overfilled with oil.
Zippyworld said:
I could check the oil level if I knew where the dipstick was !
Well normally when filling up transmissions you just fill it untill the oil starts over-flowing (couldn't say how it is on your car though). Unless you are a DIY mechanic, I would take it back to the garage to have the level checked. If it has lost all its oil (or even just a small amount), your transmission could be mince meat in not alot of time.Please note, the MB box (4.0 R cars) needs to be filled in another way.
You need to know the gearbox oil temp (as it needs to be exactly 80 degrees Celsius), and measure it whilst engine running. The temp can be read with the Jaguar Diagnostic tool WDS, anything else (heat gun) will not be accurate.
There is also a 25 degrees celcius mark on the Dipstick, might be easier to guess temp there, but still risky imho, better to do it right with a device that can actually read the temp via the obdII port like the WDS.
The box has a breather on top of the box, so could be a possibility, but I have never had something like this before, better to check the oil level soon the proper way.
You need to know the gearbox oil temp (as it needs to be exactly 80 degrees Celsius), and measure it whilst engine running. The temp can be read with the Jaguar Diagnostic tool WDS, anything else (heat gun) will not be accurate.
There is also a 25 degrees celcius mark on the Dipstick, might be easier to guess temp there, but still risky imho, better to do it right with a device that can actually read the temp via the obdII port like the WDS.
The box has a breather on top of the box, so could be a possibility, but I have never had something like this before, better to check the oil level soon the proper way.
Edited by avos on Sunday 20th September 09:16
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