Hi guys, up to now my 2002 4.4 v8 petrol has had a lovely smooth gear change, recently I noticed a slight issue, that being when I slowed to a halt in traffic for example, I felt a small 'jump' just as I came to a stop.

Then today, after sitting in central London traffic and inching along for over an hour, I finally hit an open stretch and the gears moved smoothly form 1 to 2 and then seemed to stick there, stopped and turned it off and started again, same thing.
Im not sure if sitting in the traffic and basically just creeping along maybe caused something to overheat, normally I only do nice motorway drives and Ive never had an issue.
Apart from overheating Im thinking something amiss with the oil or the filter or both.

I have just passed the 100k mile mark, although it had a new gearbox at 70,000 miles before I bought it.

I have literally just got in form the drive when the 'stuck' gears arose so maybe Ill try it when its cooled down again???

Any ideas suggestions?

PS No warning messages or ding dongs.....

I suggest to first do the gear linkage underneath the car. WD-40 all over it and then cover with white grease or better Shell Rhodina 2. MY 2010 5.0 SC Galway green and sand interior!!
Have the Faultmate MSV2 Extreme to be tinkering with the settings etc. !!

OK
Update.

Waited a while till I guess everything had cooled down and took her for a run, everything appears to be back to normal.

Gear changes as expected and nothing out of the ordinary. Relieved !!!!

So my next question is, what caused that? 'That' being gearbox problems when stuck in slow traffic for a long while.
Obviously its not right, but is it the first signs of something else happening?

Would a gearbox oil change be in order?
Or maybe just a level check? Does the level drop off or is it a sealed thing?

Thanks in advance

If the box was new and it only did 30k mls, there is no reason for an oil/filter change. Was it a new box or a refurb (still shouldn't make a difference as the oil and filter would have been new).

I still suggest to do the gear linkage trick, just to eliminate that (please do a search, there have been various posts on it)

The other potential issue could be the transmission cooler, it could have clogged up a bit. Maybe run a cooling system cleaner for a week or so and then replace the coolant. MY 2010 5.0 SC Galway green and sand interior!!
Have the Faultmate MSV2 Extreme to be tinkering with the settings etc. !!

When in the traffic, did you leave it in Drive the whole time or click it into Neutral when stopped for any period?
Sometimes just putting it in neutral will keep the temps down as it's not sat there trying to drive you forward while you have your foot on the brake.

It's worth checking the oil level and condition to see what it's like. Remember to check the level with the engine running and if it's looking brown and not very clear then it'll be best to change the filter + oil. 

Yes, I must admit I do tend to just leave it in drive, probably a bad habit and looking at it logically with hindsight, as you say its not a good idea to do that as Im always fighting the drive to go forward.

I do have a very good auto gearbox fella quite local, and he has checked/changed my gearbox oil on another motor before for a reasonable price, so I will take your advice on two counts, 1. stick her in neutral when in a lengthy queue and 2. get the oil levels/condition checked.

As for the linkage, Ill also ask him what that looks like when she is up on the ramp !

Thanks all, touch wood thats an end to it !

UPDATE
Had the radiator replaced and now the gearbox is fine, so I guess some sort of cooling issue affecting the temp of the transmission fluid.

The old rad was, according to my mechanic mate, bunged with some of that radweld type stuff, (not by me) this had sunk to the bottom of the rad and effectively rendered the bottom half of the rad ineffective, the bottom bit, I believe that is resposible for cooling the transmission fluid.

Anyway, all sorted

Cool, I like the "easy to resolve" problems  MY 2010 5.0 SC Galway green and sand interior!!
Have the Faultmate MSV2 Extreme to be tinkering with the settings etc. !!