Everything was running fine then this afternoon I was at a meeting, got in the car to start it and it started up but no gear would engage at all. I read about a "hidden" switch to manually release park but I have found nothing indicating where it is. Any ideas? It wasnt giving any type of symptoms it just seems like it wont go out of park at all.

 

Is it a BW 66 or GM400 transmission?

 

No such switch on a Ser III



I suspect some sort of difficulty with the shift cable. Hopefully the car is situated where you can get it up on jackstands for a look-see at the transmission end of the cable.

One other thing....

Is it parked on a hill? If so, the weight of the car might be putting such a load on the "park pawl" that it won't release. If so you'll have to manhandle it...and hope nothing breaks...or get some helpers to push the car a few inches to unload the pawl.

Cheers
DD

 

Sean, if we take him at his word that he has an XJ6, it'll be the BW66. The 400s were used behind V12s

Cheers
DD

 

It is on a bit of downward slope not anything major though...the weird part is the shifter itself moves like normal but nothing happens at all when I try to go in any gear forward or reverse, its like it doesn't know i'm trying to get out of park at all.

 

I'm thinking the shift cable is broken.

Or.....

And I'm going from ancient memory here....

Under the car is small bracket welded to the underbody. This bracket holds the outer shift cable stationary so the inner shift cable can slide in-out. If that bracket is broken, the cable won't work.

Or.....

There's something wrong at the gearshift end of things. You'd have to remove the ski-slope panel to inspect that end of the cable and the gearshift mechanism itself.

Cheers
DD

 

Thanks,

I'll start digging into that tomorrow, I did notice that the gear shift was a little off but didnt think it was a big deal all the gears were there it just didnt line up with the letters (they were all off by 1 with 1st actually being below the 1). Im guessing your probably right about the cable, at least I can put my wife at ease for the night she is just sure the transmission just instantly went south.

 

Yeah, I was going to suggest a slipped or parted cable. it happened to my car. fortunately, in my driveway. I got what was described as an improved replacement from Johns cars in Dallas fort Worth. The swaging on the housing had parted allowing the housing to move, with no effect on the cable within. It was wrapped with padding and zip ties in such a way as to suggest, that this malady had happened before!!

 

Whoops, my mistake.

 

Just wanted to follow up and tell everyone thanks for the advice and help. I had a little trouble at first finding a shifter cable locally but found an old garage that does nothing but jag work totally by accident while visiting a client on friday. Got the cable and bought a replacement turn signal arm along with a few other misc parts that were needed mainly cosmetic interior stuff. It was indeed the cable, and now the inside looks fabulous too. The best part is I now have a reliable source for cheap parts and a bit more confidence about keeping it running.

 

Mine is a 97 XJ6 VDP and I have the same problem. It is bordering on the ridiculous the number of times I use the manual override to get the car out of park, and the frequency is increasing. I am afraid that all this override is going to damage something.
Would the cable solution work for my car too?