I thought I would drop a post regarding an issue I had with my 2010 XF 5.0 (30K miles) on Friday afternoon. Driving along en route from work to pick up kids at school and car stalls while sitting in traffic on freeway. (I commute 36 miles one-way to work each day. I was 5 miles from my destination when this happened).

Car shuts down and shift knob slips into the dash. Tried restarting over and over, shutting complete off between attempts. After 5 minutes, no luck. Just cranks but won't start. People honking, stopping, yelling for me to pull off freeway. I explain each time that I cannot shift the car into neutral because the shift knob disappears when the car does not start. I finally get enough time to get a Jaguar dealer on the phone and explain the situation. They inform me about the hidden lever underneath a cover right in front of the center console. I pry the cover off and pull the lever and it enables me to put the car in neutral manually.

Get the car pushed off to the side and called Jaguar roadside assistance. They dispatch a tow truck and haul the car away. The dealer finally got around to diagnosing the problem today. They described it as "an electrical short with fuel delivery". This is especially interesting as it was not a month ago when they replaced my fuel tank and fuel sender because my gas gauge was indicating the wrong fuel levels in the tank.

Were it not for my wife returning back from a business trip earlier than expected, my kids would have been stranded at school. I'm just disappointed that my Jaguar has the reliability issues it does. I've had more issues with this car than my last five cars combined. Needed to get this off my chest. Thanks for reading. :-)

 

\That sucks..But at least they figured out the problem..Maybe now it will never happen again.

Could you take a picture and post it of where this mystery lever is?..I don't understand your description of where it is..

thanks

 

Glad you got it fixed.

All of the Jaguars I've had have required more "attention" (i.e., things going wrong) than other cars I've had.

Since I got my XKR 10 months ago (driven it about 5k miles since then), I have had to replace the battery (because of strange electrical gremlins), replace the keyfob battery twice, replace the turn signal stalk, replace the right rear axle and today replace the thermostat. Those are only the things I consider above and beyond normal repairs. The total cost for all maintenance/repairs to drive just 5000 miles has been $3475...

 

From what I've read, Its directly behind the cup holders and almost underneath the arm rest. (you have to open the arm rest) Its underneath that Long panel that spands across the length of the arm rest in front of the latch catch. If that makes sense...

 

Thanks Red..

I checked it out and what do ya know..live and learn..This little panel is not easy to pry off..I approached it from the Arm Rest side with the hatch open and pry'd with a flat tip screwdriver until it popped up...For future ease, I put a little grease (Sil-Glyde) on the male spring clips before I reinstalled it..I didn't mess with the mechanism or the red lanyard...Hope I never have to either.

 

You can pull up on this red lanyard as many times as you like. The lever just snaps back down when you press it. This is an essential emergency release lever to get the electronically controlled transmission out of gear or park for towing.

 

DPK nailed it. That's exactly where it is at. I did not have a screwdriver on-hand so I used the divot tool from my golf bag :-) Worked like a champ.

 

Where were you exactly and what time of the day did this happen?

 

Do you think it may be related to the phase of the Moon??

 

lol! I live in the same area, If it were a major thoroughfare it would make the situation exponentially worse... Breaking down sucks, blocking traffic makes it suck worse, blocking i35 during rush hour could get someone killed!!

 

More than likey..he was seen by someone here who travels those freaking interstates in the DFW area..

 

35W Southbound between Golden triangle and Heritage Trace. Adjacent to the shooting facility.

 

Yes, that's a horrible place to be blocking traffic during rush hour! I work in Ft Worth also but I come from the south, and I would hate to break down on 287 on the way in... I used to have a heavily modified Trans Am when I was late teens and early twenties, that damn car would break down at every intersection it seemed. Because of that its still a fear of mine, silly I know..