Could be somebody (P.O.) had a problem with the shifter interlock and didn't have the smarts to figure it out, so they used the Magilla Gorilla method.

 

I have heard that used Jaguars that are sold at auction sometimes sit for extended periods and their batteries run down. Then the auction crew will just yank on the shifter to get it into neutral, causing damage. That was the case for my car, tho the damage was different from that discussed here.

 

From what I know, this car was traded in at a VW dealer and quickly sold to the dealer I bought it from. I have no idea how this happened but I'm starting to get very discouraged about this car. Mechanics are either lazy, incompetent or both. I can't seem to buy a simple piece of plastic to fix this thing. I've been driving around with the console apart and using a set of modeling tweezers to pull the D to 4 switch while I slowly put the car in drive in order to avoid the tranny fault. It's getting real old.

 

It wont stick. There are too many broken parts. I did try though. As far as the rust goes, it isn't as bad as it looks. Most of it wipes right off. That is the least of my concerns though.

 

Why not buy a used or new part, put it in and quit bellyaching? O have found that very few glued repairs last.

 

If you are determined to try to fix the existing plastic part, you should know (and probably found out) that ordinary epoxy doesn't always stick to structural plastics. However, there are special epoxies - Devcon Plastic Welder is one - which should work. Ten bucks or less. I suspect that you can't get the sub-parts of the shifter from Jaguar as new parts - probably have to get the whole unit as an assembly. And as I mentioned before, you can generally get one on eBay for a hundred or so.

 

I'm not finding much on EBay. Coventry West has the whole shifter for 275 and a local shop (Just Jags) can get it for 250 so I'm buying it from there.

 

Not sure how you were searching on eBay, but auction 300540833013 is only $85. And auction 160558057210 is a hundred.

 

I'm meeting someone in an hour to buy the whole assembly and other parts for less than most vendors want for just the J Gate.

 

Victory is mine. I now have the part. Tomorrow comes the console removal.

 

Replace it all and still get a tranny fault. Next step is the switch on the side on the tranny and if that does not work, I'm going to set this pile of **** on fire and never mess with a Jag again. I should have listened to the Angel on my shoulder telling me not to buy this car. Mechanics and too many owners are arrogant in their defense of these cars while some folks are truly helpful. I'm going to have to rely on my neighbor, who is tight with a transmission guy, for honesty. It has become painfully clear that I can depend on few when it comes to this sort of car. I'm kicking myself in the head for not buying the 7 series BMW I really wanted.

I don't mean to be an *** but come on. How can such a "fine" car be such a pile of ****? My '87 Honda may have been crude but at least that got me to where I needed to go. My Jaguar is starting to prove that all the pointing fingers with laughter are right.

 

If I may make a suggestion, before it is too late. Many Transmission problems in newer cars are caused by a single ailment - a Battery.

The TCM is affected by a low voltage situation, as well as verious sensors being affected. Major problem being that as voltage (or amperage, as often times voltage is acceptable) drops, the transmission detects slippage as the selenoids are unable to be powered properly. This in turn leads to the TCM assigning faults, many of which have nothing to do with the actual problem aside from being in the general area by default.

So please try this before ditching the car.

1. Take your battery to somewhere like Advance Auto Parts that can run a stress test on the battery.

2. Have them run the stress test. There will be two possible conclusions; either the battery will test Good, or it will test bad. Bad = replacement. Good is either very good, or low voltage but good.

3. If low voltage but good, check for water capacity and recharge, or replace. (Distilled water only, charge for 1 hour to allow water to ionize and expand. Some water coming back out after this process is acceptable, and probable.)

4. Clear codes, and try with a known good battery.


Please bear in mind that a battery can appear to have 12.4V on a multimeter AND start you car AND Be Faulty. A battery has to do more than just have a fast discharge for car starting.

Either way, this is a inexpensive, quick suggestion, and should discount a whole series of problems with one movement.

Please let me know.

 

Thank you for the suggestion. I was actually contemplating replacing the battery just to do it as I have no idea how old it is. Your suggestion makes a lot of sense and even if it does not resolve the issue I don't see how I would regret having a new battery anyway.

 

Excellent, well please do let me know, and from there we can determine why the battery was at fault, i.e. age, overcharged, alt. problem, etc...

 

Transmission fault, with the CEL, may have to be cleared manually also...not like the DSC/TRaction control type of warning. Or, it will take several 'drive cycles' to clear itself like a lean/rich CEL does. If it remains, I'm sticking with my original post advising on the rotary switch.

 

I understand your frustration -- but you are dealing with an unusual problem and a car that is now 14 model years old. Who knows what was done to the shifter.


I won't defend the XJ40.......... But my three X300's - 308's have been more reliable than any MB or BMW I have ever owned.

 

The rotary switch was replaced with the shifter if I understand what that is correctly so how could it be that? What does cleared manually mean? I have a scanner/reset tool and can do all of that. It all comes back once the car is put in drive. Funny thing is that this got worse once I replaced the shifter. I could play with what I think is the neutral position sensor and the car would run through all 5 gears as it should. Now that I've replaced the shifter and even the sensor it is a tranny fault and CEL as soon as you put the car in drive. I'm getting a new battery tomorrow morning and we will see what happens there. After that I guess a new D to 4 "thing" after that?

 

The rotary switch is down on the transmission, at the other end of the cable from the shifter assembly.

 

True but because it is 14 doesn't make this okay and the shifter was replaced so I now know more about what was done. My Mercedes only asked me for a new battery and a MAF sensor and she gave me plenty of warning about both. I appreciate your words but this is all very bittersweet.

Bitter because of the situation but sweet because I've figured out somethings and done all the work on my own so far. My mechanic bitched about taking the console out. It took me all of 2-3 hours start to finish to install the new shifter. What bitch he was acting like. Claimed the car wouldn't go back together right and on and on. The job wasn't bad and truth be told, I appreciated the opportunity to get to know the car better.

Speaking of, the fist step in all of this was to have the tranny cable adjusted, true neutral while doing so, etc. From looking at the shifter cable I do not see any scuff marks on the two nuts that hold it. I'm starting to wonder if they really did anything. Know what I'm going to do? I'm going to cover all the surface areas of where any sort of tool would touch these with a Sharpie and bring the car back for this procedure one more time. If I find that the markings are perfect and no scuffs I will sure as hell know that nothing was done. I wasn't charged last time for this and that would be fair if they really didn't do anything.

 

On the drivers side? This is a "get under it" part right? Any web links to a site I could buy this from would be very much appreciated.

Also, thanks for that post you made sometime ago about removing the console. It was most useful and spot on.