Yesterday, we had some torrential rain move through. Normally, my 2005's sunroof doesn't leak, but we got so much rain it was basically like being underwater, and apparently it overwhelmed the sunroof drains. There was water in the headliner, which dripped down into the center console. Now the car will start up just fine, but normally when you step on the brake, you can shift it out of park and drive. Now, when I step on the brake, the "brake" light stays on, and the shifter stubbornly refuses to budge. I can manually toggle the "brake" light on and off with the emergency brake button-thingy, but it doesn't free the shifter.

I'm almost certain this is moisture related, much like in this thread: https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/s...ny-gear-86600/

That was resolved by just waiting and letting it dry out. Unfortunately, I need to drive to work tomorrow, and I'm not all that sure that the car is safe where it's currently stuck. If I can bypass whatever's locking the shifter, at least to drive it home, I can probably wait a few days to see drying helps, or if further work needs done.

I've disconnected the brake button-thingy, but that just gives me a parking brake fault. I've disconnected the green connector, and the car won't start at all. There's a black connector on a metal box shaped thing, but I can't seem to get the connector off of that yet, so I've no idea what that does.

I haven't attempted to remove the shifter itself yet, as the front two bolts seem to be under the ashtray module (so far attempting to keep disassembly to a minimum), and I'm not sure if it can be moved enough to access any connectors under it.

I'll spend the rest of the day searching through the threads to see if there's anything already posted, but if someone knows how to free the shifter and could let me know, it would save a ton of time and frustration. All gunk was pre-existing, I'd clean it, but at the moment I don't want to introduce more moisture than is already there.










Black connector to silver metal box-shaped thing

 

My that looks a mess but it begs the question, why didn't you use the emergency release procedure for the gear shift.

To start with, clean that area completely and check the connectors then reassemble and try again.

 

Because I didn't know there was an emergency release procedure for the gear shift. I've had the car less than 2 months. If you could point out where I could find this procedure, I'd appreciate it.

 

There is probably a stickie on it somewhere or it will be in your manual if you have one. If you look on your gear surround you should see a torx shaped indent, remove that and then using a long thin insulated tool, insert into the hole and press down, this should then allow the lever to come out of park.

 

I don't believe that there is an emergency release.

 

I may be in left field (as usual), but maybe the water dripping on the shift console was a red herring. Perhaps the same deluge that overwhelmed the sunroof also flooded the trunk. The trunk seals on these cars are notorious for leaking.

​​​​​​Look for water in the spare tire well. Some electronic components are located there. I'm not sure if these components are even related to the shift interlock circuit, but a quick visual back there would be worthwhile.

 

This might help also.

 

I'd already found that video, but thanks for posting it (I was just about to myself). That did indeed let me get it out of park and drive home. There are several threads about the same condition being caused by liquid in the center console, and within 12-72 hours, most seem to have resolved themselves. At least now I can get around until it does, or until it doesn't and I need to replace parts.

Now to investigate the front sunroof drains so it doesn't repeat...

 

Glad it helped.

 

As of this morning, apparently everything had dried sufficiently and it was back to operating normally.

 

Glad to hear it, now to clear out those drains.