A couple days ago we arrived home and when I turned off the car there was rapid beeping and it would not allow me to turn the key enough to remove it. I had to try a number of times, turning the key on and off, starting and turning off the car a few of those times, and moving the shifter through the gears. It finally cooperated after a few minutes of effort. Today I ran out to the store and had the same problem, both at the store and when I returned home. I am considering this might be related to the unusually cold weather we've had the past few days, today when I arrived at the store it was 9F, but regardless I need to find a solution.

FWIW there are a couple of codes on the car we need to sort out, the CAN network and an ABS light in particular, but I have no idea whether those might be connected to the current problem. We only got our 2003 STR a couple of weeks ago and those codes have been there all along, but this problem removing the key is new.

 

Welcome to the forum. Congratulations on your new (to you) car.

IIRC, there’s a feature which prevents removing the key unless the transmission is in Park. When preparing to park, before you turn the key to off, look at the indicator lights at the base of the shift lever. Make sure the P is illuminated. This is feedback from the transmission control module, and confirms it sees the mechanical bits in the correct Park position.

If the P is illuminated, then most likely the actuator at the key is sticking and won’t release. Do you notice any difference if the interior is fully warmed up after a long trip, versus still cold after a quick trip? A little bit of spray lube (graphite?) may help if the old grease is congealing in the cold.

 

Thank you for that info. I'll have to pay attention to those details next time. Right now it's down to 5F and I freely admit I don't care to to step outside at the moment. Yes, our STR is temporarily residing outside until we can rearrange and clear some space in the garage, for now my motorcycles take precedence, but we have a few large items that will be cleared out in the next few months to give the STR the protection it deserves.

I really appreciate the advice and will check on it tomorrow. BTW, I drove several miles and but I'll make a point of taking a longer drive to ensure it's properly warmed up next time.

 

It may be a loose/missing bolt (under car, attaching shift cable to trans side).

Not fun to look in bad weather!

 

Okay everybody, please sit down. What I'm about to say will seem shocking. Turns out I was less correct than usual.

The key interlock is cable-operated, and is not electric like I was thinking. It was only installed on vehicles for the North American market. See this excerpt from the training guide for the early models:



http://www.jagrepair.com/images/Elec...troduction.pdf

The training guide for later models only covered the differences from the early models. I saw no mention of this interlock, so I have to assume (Danger! Danger!) it remained unchanged.

 

That sounds like what I've read in other threads since posting this. Have you seen any photos of what this looks like? I haven't come across any. It's a whopping 9F today so I'm not about to crawl under the car. Perhaps I can run her up on the ramps tomorrow or the day after when it's in the upper 30s, but then the temps plunge again. Guess I'll just drive the Camry today.

 

Pics in this thread:

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

See post #9 for an official Jaguar bulletin covering the problem.

However, while it's worthwhile to check these bolts, I don't think they'd be causing your problem of the key stuck in the switch. See my previous post showing the mechanical interlock cable between the shift lever and the ignition switch. Even if the shift cable was fully detached from the side of the transmission, the interlock cable only looks at the position of the shift lever.

 

Are you able to offer any advice on the best means to remove the cover over the J-gate mechanism in order to see these parts?

 

IIRC it pretty much just all pulls apart.
Here's a video that may help, you probably don't need to go as far as he does.

 

Welp, it wasn't quite as cold today but it was busier than I anticipated. I did have a chance to get in the car today and can say with a certainty that the P was properly illuminated when I turned the car off, but the 10 or so seconds of beeping still occurred. I hope to have a chance to get her up on ramps tomorrow and roll underneath to look for the two bolts, if the snow in the driveway doesn't get in the way.

 

Are you sure your battery is all right? When I took delivery of my 2008 (1 year ago) I got that rapid beeping but put in a new battery and never heard it again. Could be a coincidence.

 

The battery is an Interstate AGM that's about 3 weeks old.

 

I was just looking at that illustration again and now I'm wondering whether, if thats my problem, I could just clamp that interlock cable with tension to fix it, at least for now. If not, I have located a used J-gate at a local wrecking yard if needed.

 

OK, The battery that came in my car was new-ish but it needed to be charged. You might just check the charge. My wife had a 2006 RR Sport and one day it threw ridiculous numbers of errors, including that her electronic suspension had failed. Dealer quoted her a couple grand to fix. I charged her battery and all errors disappeared... and the suspension started working again. FWIW

 

I put the car on ramps today and guess what. On a creeper, I don't fit with the low ground clearance, even with the ramps. And with the temps still in the 30s (F) and a wet driveway from melted snow, I wasn't too keen on skipping the creeper today. I'm still not sure exactly where to look under the car for those bolts, even with the photo in the recommended thread.

BUT, I discovered another quirk. Hopefully a positive one, at least for now. I had a tire go flat last night, according to the shop today likely from a poor seal on the tire bead. I had trouble getting the key out again when I pulled into the shop bay so I just left it there. But when they finished, the worker pulled the car around front and he came in and handed me the key. He had no problem getting it out and no beeping. After that I drove for a few minutes, turned off the car and while it beeped, I didn't try to remove the key for a few moments. At that point it came out easily. When I returned home it went the same way; beeping but the key came out within a few moments with no problem.

As for the shifter there's no resistance moving between gears at all, nice and smooth. I'm not sure, but perhaps the next step will be removing the J-gate (ugh), and the weather forecast is pretty darn ugly for over a week at this point. Oh to have space in my garage. LOL. I really do need to make that a priority within the next few months, but a few large items need to find new homes.

 

Use a voltmeter to determine the available voltage as many odd gremlins occur when available voltage drops. The age of the battery is immaterial.

With the ignition in the OFF position for at least 30 minutes, use the voltmeter to read the voltage across the battery terminals. There should be a minimum of 12.6 volts showing. If not, charge the battery for five hours at 2 to 5 amps and retest. If there is still less than 12.6 volts showing on the voltmeter, the battery is suspect.

 

A belated update. For well over a week, the problem of beeping upon shut-off and trouble removing the key has disappeared entirely. Not complaining obviously, just wondering when/if the problem will reappear. I still have dash warnings (ABS and CE lights, and Parking Brake Fault message) but they're not really causing me problems. I know I do need to replace one upstream O2 sensor, but that's not enough to keep me from driving for a bit. From reading various Jag groups I think I might need to check the various grounds (CANlink error codes), but I hardly know where to begin with that.

 

You might want to look into the health (or at least charge level) of your battery, as some of the faults listed are the hallmark of initialization with insufficient battery voltage...

 

I can check it I suppose, but it's barely over a month old.

 

The situation is: when these batteries fall below spec., the car can throw off all sorts of errors that are, essentially, bogus. Just because it's new doesn't mean is doesn't need to be charged.