V12 Auto no drive

[V12-etype]

Last week I recovered a 1972 etype v12 from my garage as the building had become structually unsafe and needed pulling down.

I bought the etype at auction in 2001 and drove it home and parked it in the garage and there it has lived for the past 8 years.

A couple of days prior to starting, I gave a generous blast of WD40 down each cylinder. Today, I put a couple of gallons of fresh petrol, a fully charged battery on the car and with a few taps on the starter motor and fuel pump it fired up pretty much straight away.

After the engine had come up to temp, I put the car into reverse, I noticed the engine noise change as expected for an automatic, however; the gear did not engage, I tried it in drive and still nothing. However; I did notice that there was a yellowish smoke coming from the greabox breather pipe and so shut the car off.

Any info tips etc would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,

Gary

[MarkE]

The poor old thing is loaded up with junk...that's your problem!!

Welcome.

I suggest that you jack up the rear end so that both wheels are clear, run the engine up to temp and engage 1st gear, see if the wheels move. Make sure that the brakes / handbrake aren't siezed on as well.

It sound like it wants to go, but with all the valves and bits in the auto box, it's easy for things to get sticky after such a lay-up. If the wheels do start to move when a gear is engaged, just keep running the car in gear, running up and down the revs and going through the different gears...and reverse. Get the box nice and hot. If then all seems to work, put her back on the ground and try her out.

Otherwise, look for a good 5 speed manual box!

[Heuer]

After eight years it is likely the brakes will be shot so testing it once you have got the wheels spinning could be an act of faith!. Suggest you stick it on a trailer and get the car properly re-commissioned by a specialist or yourself if you have the tools and experience.

[MarkE]

I forgot to mention the most obvious thing, Gary. Have you checked the ATF level in the box? I had an old XJS that had a leak in the auto box, and without the regular monthly pint or so top up, would exhibit exactly the same symptom as your E Type.

The only other thing to mention is that if you've towed the car any distance, the box will be cooked.

[hastylane]

Hi Gary,

It does sound like low oil level. With the engine switched off see if the level registers on the dipstick. If the oil does not register keep adding until it does, 1 pint increments, before firing up. It may make some gurgling noises on fire up which indicate low oil. You will need to keep topping up at this point to set the level.

If the oil level is above the max hot level (engine off) it is probably correct when the engine is running and may be another problem-if the oil level does not go down when running, the pump may not be sucking oil due to a valve block issue(unusual).

Back in the 90's I used to rebuild all Vicarages automatic gearboxes and have a wealth of experience with the BW transmissions-the Borg Warner model 12 as fitted to the V12 E type is very robust.

If it is low on oil, the culprit may be the vacuum unit on the gearbox. If the diaphram splits the oil gets sucked out of the gearbox into the engine and burnt, you will never know that it is happening. When an automatic is switched off the oil level will rise above normal running levels and if it is left to stand for a long time, an oil leak may well appear which you have never had before.

All BW model 8's as fitted to 6cyl E's are ok to be towed at 30mph, the reason being in that they have a rear oil pump which is driven by the output shaft. Most autos have the one oil pump driven from the engine. If you are in the unfortunate position of needing to have your V12 towed then over fill the gearbox by 4 pints and you will be ok at 30mph.

Hope this helps. Let me know how you get on.

Regards Andrew

[V12-etype]

Wow thanks for the response guys.

The car was towed out of the garage at winch (less than walking) speed for about 40ft, so no chance of anything cooking. I was aware of the no-tow automatics rule.

I did check the oil levels in both engine and gearbox prior to starting, both of which were at topped up level and very clean. Gearbox oil was a light cherry red and the engine oil was clean, as I would expect, having serviced it prior to parking it in the garage.

It has been raining everyday since I started it, so it has been left sat on the drive.

I have washed the car and cleaned all the hairy green stuff off what was a brand new interior, and it has come back ok with it only showing a couple of spots of surface rust here and there. Generally though it looks ok and solid.

I am planning to get it moved into the in-laws garage, where it will benefit from a nice dry brick built garage and a loving ex-borgwarner engineer (father in-law) .

I'll put some more pics up soon and let you know how things progress.

Thank you for such a great welcome!