When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
I took apart my shifter to install new buttons on sport and traction control. What a f-in nightmare!!
anyhoo, it’s back together and the neutral light is on, shifter moves through gears fine and drives normal, but no other lights come on when shifter is moved.
is this an error light? Did I mess something up on the board?
Sort of sounds like you might have a CAN Bus issue as the gear position switch is in the transmission and feeds back current position to the J-Gate via CAN Bus to provide correct gear indication lights.
Does the sports mode selector work and give you a engaged indication light?
If you press the stability mode switch, does it toggle the orange indicator light within the instrument cluster?
If they are working then you do have some level of CAN Bus activity to the J-Gate getting through.
If CAN appears to otherwise be present and working on those functions, then you may have somehow forced the neutral light on with something like a pinched cable or incorrectly seated plug within the J-Gate assembly.
I have not had reason to delve into my J-Gate, so just trying to think of what it could possibly be that you have encountered.
Thanks for those insights, I'll double check wire plugs. I do have activation of the traction control and sport buttons, but I don't the shift position indicator on the dash.
Contrary to a lot of other cars, there is no shift position indicator on the dash in the X350. The only indicators are the lights on the shifter.
As you said that you dismantled the shifter, I would assume that something happened during the reassembly that caused the lights not to follow the shifter stick, and therefore I would diassemble the shifter again and check.
FYI, for anyone thinking about swapping those buttons--don't. Unless you have to have perfect. I could not BELIEVE how much disassembly I had to do to the center console and then the shifter to get to the indicator faceplate off (and therefore the buttons).
I've owned Jaguars from the 70's, 80's, 90's, aughts and the teens and this car, (2008) has a lot that looks like they learned from Ford, but this shifter seems like a straight hold-out from a British engineer.
Funny, I had swapped the shifter some years ago and have dismantled the old one some months ago for some pictures for another thread, and I cannot remember it being such a nightmare...
But then, at the time I replaced the shifter I had basically dismantled the whole interior to clean the leather properly, so my perspective might be a bit flawed...
FYI, for anyone thinking about swapping those buttons--don't. Unless you have to have perfect. I could not BELIEVE how much disassembly I had to do to the center console and then the shifter to get to the indicator faceplate off (and therefore the buttons).
While the process is indeed stupidly over-complicated, IMO it is worth getting rid of those melting buttons (if you can find replacements: this or that; BTW it seems that not all buttons let through the same amount of light, probably depends on m.y.) Trying to replace the shifter cover/facia only - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum
I had to destroy the shift knob (the half-leather ones tend to ignore twisting - won't come off)
Also I don't see how one can release the actual facia without breaking its brackets... (OTOH thanks to super-glue and a baking soda destroying the brackets wouldn't bother me anymore)
No need to be afraid, the interior of the Jag is actually quite straightforward to dismantle and reassemble. The front seats are a bit heavy, and, as others stated, removing the rear bench is a bit fiddly the first time, but apart from that, there's nothing too complicated.
I have done the same to quite a few of my cars by now. I was always passionate of a good car audio system, starting with my Fiat 127 from1974 and my Ford Fiesta from 1981, and to lay all the cables needed, it is preferable and easier to dismantle more, than less, instead of trying to pull cables through very tight spaces, risking scraped knuckles.
Although the Jag is the first car where I did nothing to the audio, system, as I am quitte satisfied with the quality of the premium system, I did it because I wanted to clean the interior, including the carpets, properly.
This is what my W124 Mercedes looked like "before" and "almost after" when I retrofitted electric windows, rear headrests, and a few more original Mercedes options that the car did not have... see the similarity to the Jag? Only with the Jag, I did not add anything
I got as far as the main dash but that was enough for me!
Yes the rear seat and those rotating tabs are a bit tough. Now I did see a suggestion?
In this picture they drilled a small hole at the end of the pivot. Then tied a string to the hole and left it under the back seat but where you could grab it. Now a simple pull on the string will release the rear seat tabs. Do this to all 4 tabs. My hands are so big it's very difficult to get a finger on the tab AND push it hard enough to release it!
I have not done this yet but if I need to get the rear seat out again I might do it.
.
.
.
The dash you show is from an X351, right? Might be a bit more complicated than the X350...
Regarding the releases of the rear bench, yes, it's definitely worth to do it... as they say: been there, done that. I saw the tip first in an English Jaguar Forum and did it already afew years ago. Shoestrings are perfect for the job.
Shifter indicator light problem
