Hey all,

I went to take a look at the s-Type 4.0 today and everything looked good, test drove it and checked histories and the price was right - so I took the plunge and bought a 2000 Gold S-type 4.0.

What a fantastic car! It has so many options (the mechanical shade in the back window?!) and when I took corners with it, it just made me smile.

Drove it 300 km home, and around with the kids and wife - but then something weird happened:

When in park the car wouldn't start(not even cranking - just all the lights and accessories would turn on), even though 5 minutes before it was running perfectly (ran into the grocery store). I took the key out, waited about 20 seconds and retried - started fine.

Thinking it was a fluke - we went to my wives grandmothers house - where it did the same thing after only 2 minutes of having it off but this time the key trick wasn't helping.

After a bit of fiddling I found that if I put the car into Neutral it would start no problem, and everything works as normal.When I put it back into Park(while it was running) however the reverse lights were still on (strange). We now have gotten home and I've tried to recreate the issue 5 times here and in park it has no problem starting...intermittent issues UGH.

Any ideas on what might be causing this? I thought maybe the battery, but in neutral it has 0 problems - so that rules that out. Could potentially the shift cable (is that on 00 models?) be the issue? or I have been seeing a "neutral switch" mentioned briefly but cant seem to find any threads - could that be the issue? I didn't have my OBDII with me at the time, I'll try and update with any codes once it does it again...

Thanks for any input. I love the car already and I'm not deterred from its British humour at all :P

AngryCanuck

 

Check the shift cables. There are two bolts that hold the cable that tend to come loose.

 

Sure slounds like it.

Congrats on the purchase!

 

Sounds like the shift cable is stretched - an adjustment is most likely in order considering the no start in P issue is intermittent. If adjusting doesn't do the trick - then replacement of the cable will be necessary. (Or, just start the car in N)

 

In the meantime, when putting it into P, just push it forward as much as you can, not just slide it.

 

Glad you like it!

Have the timing chain tensioners been changed? If not you have a ticking time bomb so don't delay in checking this out.

You most likely have a stretched shift cable and it will need to be replaced. You could have a misadjusted shift cable but your car is now 14+ years old so the cable has done its duty. It’s not uncommon for this to happen.

First check the bolts on the side of the transmission.
Second adjust cable. The procedure is in the factory shop manual which Jaguar calls the JTIS. The lucky thing is you can get it free on this site.
Third Replace the shift cable.

With having a 2000 model and the 4.0L engine I would get the JTIS ASAP!! Also get the JEPC which is the parts catalog and it's also free on this site.
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Where in Canada are you located? Welcome to the S-type club... although I'm stunned there are still buyers out there, willing to purchase 99-02 S-types...

 

Thank you all for great suggestions, i'm planning on doing an oil change sometime this weekend, I will definitely check the cables and those two screws.

I did notice that I have been able to get it into park by listening for a small click. As long as you hear that click it seems the car recognizes the park.

I did take a look under the car and noticed that the shield underneath is missing (both pieces)(yay no leaks?) not sure why it's not there, but what do those normally run? I don't have a scrap yard near me with S-Type pieces lol.

Also I looked through the records and I'm not seeing anything about The tensioners, any other way of double checking if they were done other than ripping it down?

Thanks for all your help guys, by far the best car community I've seen.

Angrycanuck

 

Hello AngryCanuck!
I took the plunge on a 2003 S-Type this week as well. Mine also has only 1 of the 4 (?) valence/shields. The dealership wants around $500 for the front and center. Not sure what the side pieces costs - and I don't know what others are doing about replacing them. My thought is i want to put it back into as close to original without spending a fortune. Good luck with the shifter.

 

Thank you for that info. Tbh I thought it would have been closer to 700, so that's something. I know I'll need them before winter and if I can't find a junk yard with them then I might not have a choice .

 

Be aware that the under-car shields are different on a 2000 than a 2003

 

+1 on Mikey's assessment.

 

You can check your tensioners fairly easy. Just remove one of the cam covers. You probably will need to change your cam cover gaskets anyway because of oil leaks.

The correct tensioners will be metal and the bad ones will be plastic. They are white when new but by now they will be a very dark orange/brown color. It’s very obvious when you look at them.

Do you get any oil smell in the cabin?
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Thanks for the info guys. Currently no, no oil smell in the cabin. Tho I will be looking for those tensioners(and gaskets) soon.

Today I was able to get under the car( raining since I got the car) and check the two bolts for the transmission and do an oil change. The bolts were very snug and I did get one to tighten a bit more(1/20th of a turn?) and the oil definitely needed to be change (dark oil and filter felt like it was welded on).

The shifting doesn't seem to be any better, and seems like getting the car out from park can be difficult 50% of the time, so what do you suggest next? Adjust the cable or drop the pan and change the fluid?

Also found with all this rain that the rear passenger sunroof drain might be clogged(drips of water coming down the rear passenger pillar), so I might tackle taking the headliner down so I can check the tube to see if it's disconnected.

Thanks again for all the help guys!

Angry

 

Both.

I would adjust the cable first. Do you have the instructions? It's in the JTIS if not. Remember it's probably stretched so replacement might be the answer?

Then I would change the filter and fluid. I would almost bet it has not been done. Plus you should take a look just in case there are chunks or too much metal shavings on the magnets.

How is the shifting? You have the Ford 5 speed like I have in my wife’s 2003 Lincoln LS. We had to change the valve body to get the shifting correct but it was a permanent fix.
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I will post a video of the shifting when I get home, I just took it at work and it shows the intermittent issue very well.

EDIT: Heres the video link showing the issue currently


Also tried the parking brake trick posted here, and it didn't seem to help at all.

Thanks all

Angry