Hey all, new to this forum. Spent the last 4 hours going through posts here that Google searches have directed me to. Hoping I can get some help with my issue.

2006 S type

Car is stuck in park and won't start in park.
I can manually override to neutral and will start in neutral.
Once I put it back to park the cycle repeats.

Any idea what could be causing this?

 

A pure guess of mine: There should be a switch on the gear selector in the car (under the bezel from inside the car), which either closes or opens when the lever is "parked" in the P-position.
If that switch is buggered and does not produce the required output, the car would not start in P.
So either the switch could be misaligned or the switch may be faulty inside.

 

Welcome to the forum.

Take a look at the bezel at the base of the shift lever. Does the P illuminate when the lever is in Park? I'm guessing not, but the N probably illuminates when in Neutral. Those indicators are feedback of the position of the transmission innards, not the lever itself.

If the P does not illuminate, the most likely culprit is a loose shift cable. Two bolts secure the cable to the side of the transmission. On 2003+ models, these bolts are notorious for working loose and even falling out. Take a look at the bolts as described here:

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/s...l-bolt-269294/


Make sure your brake lights work properly, too. The shift lever is locked in P until you depress the brake pedal. The same switch for the brake lights also controls this interlock solenoid. If the brake light switch has failed, you still be able to start the engine, so this probably isn't the problem, but it's still worth checking in case you've got two active faults.

Be sure to post an update with what you find.

 

Could easily be one or both of the 2 8mm hex head bolts loose/missing (under the car) holding the shift cable to the trans side.

 

@Chai_Bronz

Any updates? Curious what you may have found.

 

Sorry, I appreciate all the replies but haven't had a chance to take a look yet. I was posting on behalf of a friend and passed along the suggestions from the forum. He's been busy with other things recently but I'll post back here when we've done some more troubleshooting. Hoping it's just the shifter cables as a couple of you have pointed out as I'm not really sure what switch Peter_of_Australia was referring to : /

I can confirm that the P on the gear selector does not light up while all other positions do, and the brake lights work.

 

Listen to Karl!
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.
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So I gets to thinking. Let’s say the shift cable mount has come loose on the side of the transmission. This is a known fault. With this unwanted slack in the cable, the transmission may not be shifting fully into Park. The little P indicator light may be dutifully reporting this by not illuminating.

Before crawling under the car to inspect the bolts, try this. Park on a moderate slope away from any obstacles. Shift into Park as normal but do NOT set the parking brake. (I forget the sequence with the electronic parking brake, so maybe somebody else can chime in.) Turn off the engine and take your foot off the brake pedal.

If the car rolls, that tells us the transmission never made it completely into Park. If so, a loose cable will still be the most likely culprit.

 

That's not a great test but easy to try.

To stop the EPB applying hold it down as you remove the key. Oh wait, you're not going to do that so it won't have applied.

Please just inspect the bolts!

 

Meanwhile ... unlike other cars, on my 01v6, I can remove the key while it is in N, and then I engage the hand brake. I do not use P at all.

 

I wouldn't - in case the handbrake relaxes and lets the car roll...

I'd use P as well.

 

Greetings Chai_Bronz,

As advised, symptoms point to a loss of selected P position.
It may be loss or loosening of the 2 x 8mm cable retention bolts.
However, I suspect this is far less likely on your ZF 6HP26.

Feedback to the "engine start" and "solenoid release from Park" are by companion (but entirely separate) contacts in the brake pedal position switch (BPPS) located up under the dash . . . and a hidden micro-switch and solenoid. As your brake lights are working, let's assume for now that your gear select contacts in the BPPS are also fine.

However, there are a couple of micro-switches buried under the gear selector . . . one senses lever moved from D across gate to 5; another for the Park position. Mine has a third. These are known to fail. Worst case is the auction room hero who wrenches the lever out of Park to get the car moving!

Suggest this from XJ8 forum as 5HP uses same . . . <https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...earbox-246896/>

The point to take away is this . . . while the actual "Park locking" occurs at the box (making those tight bolts essential) the feedback to allow engine start is controlled by the BPPS, selector P micro-switch, interlock solenoid, and (of course) the ignition key-switch. By all means, start with checks that are "easier to get to" but keep this fundamental in mind. If you need to go into the selector, there are plenty of threads (and wsm) for removing console etc, as well as the XJ8 thread I have linked.

Cheers and best wishes,

 

On the contrary - it's only that trans which is notorious for it!

 

Hi Chai-Bronz,

What news?
Have you identified and fixed the issue?