The other day as I exited the highway my X-Type made a noise as I was operating the clutch and afterwards I couldn't shift gears. I managed to get pulled over to a nearby side road and call for a tow truck.

Here are the symptoms I'm having:
The clutch is not releasing properly when the clutch pedal is depressed.
I have to manually lift the clutch pedal to the released position.

Here are details of the symptoms:
When the engine if off:
You can easily shift gears with the clutch pedal pressed in.
You can start the car in neutral.
You cannot start the car if it is in first gear and the clutch pedal is pressed in. If you try the car will lurch; so the clutch isn't disengaging?
When the engine is running:
You cannot shift into any gears and I figure its best to not even try.

I figured it needed new brake fluid since the fluid was the color of molasses so I changed that and bled the clutch but no luck.

I have not been able to find any symptoms like this using google so I'm hoping someone here can point me in the right direction.

Up until this point I've never had a problem with this car. It has 141,000 and I've put 110K of those on it.

Thanks in advance to anyone who helps or makes suggestions.

 

This must be a unique problem. 143+ views and not a single comment.

 

It *is* an interesting problem - I think maybe nobody want's to steer you wrong :-P

My first thought was throw out bearing - but that would only explain having to lift the pedal back up - which could also be a broken helper spring (if these clutches have one - I don't know - I'm new to the Jag)

It also *could* be the slave cylinder - or possibly the master cylinder - but since it all works when the engine is *not* running ... hmm ... actually - you can select the gears when the engine is not running ... but have you checked to see if the car is actually *in* gear - as in it won't move when you try to roll it (with the engine still off).

Just spitballin' here - I reserve the right to be *completely* off base :-)

 

First, thanks for jumping in and taking a shot at this.

A small detail I left off was that when I was on the side of the road waiting for the tow truck I did try to roll the car while it was in gear. It wouldn't budge. Rolls fine in neutral obviously.

I would have thought that if the clutch was going to fail you would at least have some kind of warning. ???

Slave cylinder would mean pull the transmission.
Clutch or pressure plate....pull the transmission.
Throw out bearing....pull the transmission?

It looks like ima gonna have to roll up my sleeves and get to work.....don't want to but I've got no choice.

Thanks.

 

The thing that caught my eye is that you have to manually lift the clutch pedal.
I assume that if you do that the clutch works OK?

One possible fault that fits with your symptom is that the clutch return spring is broken or missing. With a hydraulic clutch actuating mechanism like in the X-Type you must have a spring to return the master cylinder piston to its retracted position. When it is fully retracted a port in the cylinder connected to the fluid reservoir is opened. This replenishes any fluid that is lost.

If the piston does not fully retract then the fluid cannot be replenished. Then over time the pedal will go lower and lower. Eventually you cannot fully disengage the clutch.

Generally there are two springs, one inside the master cylinder that pushes the piston back and another that is external. It is the external one that may be your problem. The internal one is not strong enough to push the pedal to it’s full at rest position.

On page 1615 of the PDF service manual they show the clutch pedal return spring. It is shown as a coil spring pushing on the pedal. From the drawings it should be easy to see. I no longer have a standard transmission X-Type so I can’t go and look.

Another possible problem is that the master cylinder may be so gummed up that the piston cannot fully retract. The end result is the same. But here, manually lifting the pedal would not help because the pedal should already be at the top. Lifting the pedal does not pull the piston back.

Hope this helps,
Pete.

 

When you say you heard a noise before the situation started can you detail what kind of noise you heard? I cannot personally help you with your problem, but maybe knowing more about what happened will help someone more knowledgeable than myself help you diagnose the issue. Also, any other info you could provide might help, like any other previous issues with the car, any lights on the dash, any recent work to the car. I can't say I have seen an issue like yours posted on here before.

Hope you can resolve this soon and it is a simple fix. Wish you luck!

 

say hello to a new t case....!

 

Sounds like a bad clutch master or slave cylinder.

The master costs $50 at rock auto. The slave costs more and will require trannny removal. Hopefully, the master has gone south.

 

It was just a thumping sound. That's it. No griding, whining or anything else. Just a thump.

 

I had to go over to the new members area and introduce myself and get links to all the helpful information this site has. I'll be investigating this clutch pedal return spring when I find it and keep you all posted on progress. I may be slow posting but I will post my progress. I also plan to take photos if I can get some good shots in the case someone else runs into this problem.

Thanks.

 

jagedgem, what was the outcome of this issue? I'm having a similar problem. I was stopped in an intersection to turn left and I couldn't put my 2005 x-type in gear. Had to have it towed and can't find anything on what could be wrong. I'd just like to have a little clue before taking it a mechanic. Something about a blonde lady and a jaguar that screams $$$$$ This forum has been a lifesaver for me - saved me tons!