[HHI944]

Take my 04 VDP to dealer with an weird 5-6-5 shift problem, starts to shift then reverts, only at higher RPMs and under load. Local dealer resets adaptions checks the intake elbow for tightness at the throttle body per ZF bulletins FOC because they just did a fluid change and tells me that if problem persists I'll likely need a new transmission, but everything seems fine.

A few days later, I take the car out of town and experience the problem again. I then drop it off at the dealer in that town with the copy of the service write up. They reset adaptions again and tell me that if the problem persists I'll need a new throttle body. Pick it up and the problem occurs again within just a few miles....and of course that's also within me handing over a nice chunk of change for their 'trouble' I go immediately back, the tech tries to read codes and says there are none...he's not sure what's going on but wants to replace the throttle body. I tell him that I need to get some lunch and think about my course of action. While at lunch, 8 trillion things go through my mind and I conclude that there simply must be an air leak somewhere past the MAF...so I remove the intake elbow in the cafe parking lot to inspect for cracks/pinholes etc....while loosening the MAF side clamp, I notice a warping in the elbow....and a very small pebble drops out when I pull the elbow off... I quickly wipe down the mating surfaces and reattach the elbow with the MAF side clamp just a little cock eyed to hold the warped section tight and go for a drive......perfect....and I seriously ran the car through the paces as well. Ordered a new elbow with my local shop, will be in Friday and I'll use a can of BG Throttle body cleaner and give her a new air filter as well just for good measure and peace of mind.

2 Jaguar certified gold technicians-0
Jackass me with a beer-1

When I told the second dealer I'd like my money back since they didn't actually properly diagnose and fix what turned out to be a very simple problem, I was told to pound sand. I managed to lay hands on the personal cell number of the owner of the dealership and he told me to pound sand as well.....CC told me they'd have the cash back in my account in 48 hrs based on my recorded statement.