Ok had something new happen with 99 xjr today went when turned car off at gas station left key in ignition when finished fueling could turn car on but would not go into gear. Messed around with a few things until finally disconnected neg terminal to bat...had lost of eletric lock function as well as security system...reconnected neg and after reset all is well.

Does anyone know what to do when this happens to not have to reboot whole system...soft reboot not neg to pos hard reboot.

 

I am sure somebody will correct me, but I don't think you went into a theft mode. I believe you probably had a body control unit problem that was solved with the reboot. As I remember, when I was having the gearshift lockout problem it was really a problem with a wire in the hinge to the trunk lid that kept blowing a fuse that fed the bcu. I would guess that you have an open curcuit on the same wire, that is intermittent. Opening the trunk to reboot the bcu probably just rearranged the wires so that the open circuit issue was temporarily resolved. Anybody disagree?