Thanks for all the replies. It's a 4.2l with a 5 speed box which has done about 130k miles. The mechanic said it was pretty mucky oil and filter in the box - it wasn't doing any of the limp mode thing before the oil was changed so sounds as though it was the level. Forgive my ignorance but what is a 'ZF approved' mechanic? I am near Hemel Hempstead - any recommendations?

ZF are the gearbox manufacturer - they have service centres, based around gearbox rebuild specialists, dotted around the country. Think there's one round Herts side of the M25 but don't know the details - will be on their web site though

The gearbox needs to be pretty cool before it is refilled/level checked. Think 10 minute drive to get there = 3 hours standing around waiting for it to cool down enough!

Car also needs to be perfectly level when refilled and the engine needs to be run and the gear selector moved through all positions manually with a 2 second plus pause between moves to make sure oil gets to all the right places (wheels don't need to be turning)

Gearbox oil temperature must be measured with a laptop plugged in to know it's OK.

Once all the movement through the gears is done the final topup can be done.

If they didn't get at least 8 litres of oil in there then it's probably low.

If they did and it's now slipping it should log fault codes.

It may be terminal at that mileage.....

Thanks for that, most helpful. I got it back from the mechanic on Thursday so didn't drive it much, but have had to come over to Newport today. Have been using tiptronic and it didn't cut out on the way over - need to get home tonight though... Am I going to completely screw it by driving it?

It isn't going to help it, that's for sure. If you can drive around the problem without it complaining then you should be OK, but slippage is not good for the components.

If the place that serviced it isn't very local to your house I'd be dropping it there on your way home so it's cold on Monday morning for them to check the level. Ideally I'd want to be there though, as if they're incompetent enough to have under-filled it (not saying they have!) I'd like to watch them go through the checks and actually see how many more bottles they get in it and if they're monitoring the oil temp via laptop.

The ZF specialists have the proper kit to flush the box with hot oil and filter it along the way. Any bits in the very fine filter can help diagnose the problem. But we've heard so many tales of woe when a non-specialist changes the gearbox oil and filter, that I'm not surprised.

I'd get it to a ZF specialist ASAP and ask for a diagnosis and, if appropriate, a proper oil and filter change. It costs a little over £100 or so and I get mine done every 20K miles or there abouts, to try and postpone (or even avoid) the death of the gearbox.

But if the car's a good 'un, I think it's worth a recon gearbox

looks like there is a place in Hayes, I'll give them a call on Monday

They should have a machine that pre-heats the oil and then flushes it through via the oil cooler inlet and outlet connectors. If they're a genuine ZF specialist, then they'll know the deal.
Hope it all works out for you.

Yep - Vanmatic in Hayes as listed on the ZF site so I think they are genuine. It is a solid car otherwise and hasn't given me any bother beyond tyres and brakes over the past 18 months (oh, and an inflated fuel bill...). What sort of money are we looking at for a reconditioned gearbox if it comes to that?

£2-3k

Jesus, that's twice what I paid for the whole car... Hopefully a proper oil change helps....