So with the gearbox service 10 days away and armed with the knowlegde it's low on oil, I thought I'd top it up so I can at least keep driving Maurice rather than park it up and have to slum it in my M140i :p
Armed with some fresh knowledge from the jag forums about jacking/stand points I managed to get it high enough off the ground on all 4 stands in my garage to be able to get under it properly and have a good look. I bought two 1 litre bottles of the correct fluid and was ready to rock.
Clearly it's been leaking ATF from where the stupid cnut that last "serviced" the gearbox used sealant rather than a gasket. Or maybe as well as, who the fuck knows. So that's probably some of why it's low on gearbox oil. They probably filled it cold too, because stupid.
Anyway. There's a drain plug, and a fill plug. All I needed to do was remove the fill plug, pour in oil until it started to dribble out, then plug it up again, start it and warm it up to > 30 degrees C, then take the plug out again and refill it again (while it's running) until once again it starts to dribble out. Job jobbed. It's not hard, save for the fill plug being in a really awkward place
Right above a hot exhaust, and no way of getting a hex socket on it and also the ratchet, without using a universal joint and an extension. So a bit on the fiddly side.
My 8mm hex socket didn't seem to be going in very far, but I gave it a tweek and could not budge it at all. Gave it a good squirt with gunk and got a brush in there to clean it up a bit, and put still couldn't get the hex in very far. Something didn't feel right about that so I didn't try again.
Well there we go. A.N.Other meathead has made a right mess of that - it looks like a sodding rifle barrel. <sigh> There's no way I'm going to risk making that worse, with limited access and tools. Why do people bodge things like this? Surely an 8mm hex socket isn't hard to find.
So it will have to sit now until it goes to the Jag specialist and they can remove it safely. I've ordered a new plug in the mean time just to ensure there is one ready for when it goes in.
I am annoyed.