Just bought my '03 X-Type 2 weeks ago. I really like the car. One odd thing, whenever I release the brake pedal I hear a pronounced clicking sound. Anyone know what this is?

 

edsdking, without hearing it, it is hard to say. Could be the pad on the stop for the pedal is gone and what you are hearing is a metal on metal tap. Could be for some reason the brake pedal switch has developed a loud click. if you could describe the noise a little more, it may help me narrow the source down. Are we talking more of a metal on metal sound, something taking a fork and hitting the side of a plastic bowl, etc. The other thing that I would do is to say to stick your head in the footwell area and move the pedal and see if you can see what is making the tick. I find that if you can move the pedal with your eyes closed, you can picture where the noise is coming from better.

 

Mine does the same thing. Ive been told by my Jag guy that it's the solenoid in the J gate that prohibits you putting it in gear without the brake pedal pushed down.
It's on my list of silly little things to fix. I just hope it's a screw in or push in part.
Anyone know?

 

flyrr100....i'm quite sure he is correct, my landrover did that and i was assured it was what your guy says it was...my X does it also. The sound is right behind the j gate right?

 

I have replaced dozens of gearbox selector lever assys for the 'clicking' when not-in-park (mostly in warranty when the cars were still in factory warranty).
The selector assembly should NOT click when anything other than park is selected.

It does not hurt anything to leave it this way but it is annoying.

A new selector lever assy will cure the fault.

bob gauff

 

i think mine does it when in park and i press the brake to select a gear

 

Can you not just change the solenoid? Should be an easy job?

 

Why change the solenoid??? It's working fine!!!
The system does NOT recognize that the selector is Not-In-Park so it energizes the solenoid every time the brake pedal is depressed.

Since individual parts for the assy are not available, I never tried to diagnose and repair the fault. I just replace the assy and go on with my life (or leave it and let the customer listen to the 'click' each time the pedal is depressed).

bob gauff

 

If the problem is the Not in Park switch, it's easily accessible through the top of the J gate. It's an off the shelf microswitch available at any electronics part store. Just be careful when lifting the lid on the J gate so as to try not to disturb the internals - though they can be re assembled with minimal(?!) engineering common sense! And don't drop any of the securing screws down into the centre console! Potentially difficult fishing expedition.

 

I have had my 2003 X Type for 10 years now and absolutely love it!
I too had the clicking sound from the auto select and remedied it by removing the fascia panel around the selector lever by lifting it at the forward end, which then exposed four mounting screws. Unscrew these ( be careful not to drop them ) and lift off the selector gate. This exposes the solenoid and a swinging arm that operates the lock position for the lever, which is held in place by a self tapping screw and flat washer. When I loosened this screw, I noticed a slight movement of the arm which is spring loaded,- back to its rest position , indicating that the tightness of the screw was putting downwards pressure on the washer which was in turn restricting the movement of the swinging arm. - A little squirt of CRC and leaving the screw slightly back ( ie. 1/8th turn ) from fully tight has given me a 95% success rate. - It MAY click once or twice every couple of weeks.-- I hope this helps !

 

Any chance someone can capture this on audio? I'm interested to see what your are hearing.

 

It is exactly the same noise that the solenoid makes when you apply the foot brake to move the selector out of park, - but seems to be louder. On my car it was most evident when I took my foot off the brake pedal every time after applying the brakes. It is definitely the solenoid making the noise as I was able to replicate the fault before fixing it as explained earlier. Freeing up the swinging arm somehow remedied the problem. It would even do it sometimes when you were parked at traffic lights in drive with your foot on the brake and was b----y annoying !--All good now though.

 

I followed GordyNim's instructions and have definitely reduced the noise. I still have a quiet click, but now it's more plastic on plastic rather than the loud metal click.

 

its not an issue or a fault....its just a really bad design, but yes its the gear selector solenoid

it was just built improperly

 

The click started to become more regular again so I took Astromorgs earlier advice and replaced the Microswitch. It is a Burgess V4LST7 and requires soldering of the two wires. It is accessed as described in my earlier submission, and is removed by easing the retaining clip on the right hand side, which allows it to be lifted out. Take care when soldering not to apply too much heat to the switch terminals --ie. tin them and the cables first The result so far ( 6 days ) is no more noise. I disconnected the battery to do this, and did wonder afterwards whether doing this had somehow reset the electronic system and eliminated it that way. Anyhow, it is all looking good so far.

 

I am confident now that the problem is fixed, - no more clicks for two weeks constant driving !

 

There was a thread on the fix somewhere with the part numbers of the after market micro switch and vendor who supplied them. It could be one of 2 types I ordered both just in case @ around $2.50 each. It was a 30 min DIY and I was so glad to get rid of the constant click every time my foot came off the pedal.

Mine was doing while driving and not just going in and out of park. It's been about 9 months now and never came back.

 

Just on 12 months now since the fix, and the click has never returned.

 

Mine does the same thing. When I get the time I'll be trying the fix posted here. Thanks a ton!

 

That’s what the switch looks like that is causing the problem. I actually had this same problem too when I first got my car almost two years ago and I took my switch out and took it apart carefully and cleaned the contacts and lightly lubed the internal moving parts and put it back together and it’s been fine every since