HI Everyone,

Thank you in advance for any thoughts and help. I have been a Jag lover since I was 18 and finally reentered the Jaguar universe last night when I purchased a 2003 XKR. This is my 6th Jag and I am so excited to be back in the club yet it is bittersweet as I am back to having to tackle annoying gremlins

Which brings me to my question, I noticed the J-Gate was not working properly yesterday. I cannot utilize the manual shifting side of the shifter. It is basically non-responsive. Also, the sport button does not seem to have any effect. I figured that it might be electrical related until I noticed that I have a J-Gate with only the option to shift to 2nd, 3rd, or 4th. I believe the 2003 XKR is a 6 speed automatic which should have a J-Gate with 2, 3, 4, and 5 showing on it. I only have one with 2, 3, 4 much like older Jags.

This leads me to believe that a prior owner retrofitted an older J-Gate to the car. Has anyone ever heard of something like this? Almost every picture I seen online of an 03 has the 5th gear as an option on the J-Gate although I have seen a few "03s" that only go as high as 4.

What do you guys think?

Thanks!

Corey

 

Welcome to the forum!

Yeah you are right that something is up. I can't imagine how the 5 speed version would ever work. You will need to source the correct one.

 

I would start with double checking the VIN to determine the actual model year. Try to get a CARFAX report. The earlier 4.0 have Mercedes trans, the newer 4.2 have the 6sp ZF 6HP26. Maybe pictures of the shifter area as well as the engine compartment would help determine the exact year.

You have had many jags, so you probably know this already: the "manual" mode only sets the highest gear the box can go into, it does not set the gear itself. So, setting to "4" does not make the car start in 4th gear. It drives around normally, but will not shift in 5th (or 6th).

If you drive up to highway speed from a stop, did you count the number of gears the trans goes through? Should be easy to tell that way, too.

Also, independently of the "graphics", did you count the number of "clicks" the shifter goes through on the manual side? As you shift, does the light follow the shift?

Speaking in broad brush generality, I do not see an old-style shifter working on the newer car. These devices are basically switches that send messages on the CAN bus to tell the trans what to do. The lights are another device on CAN that receives messages to turn lights on or off.

Best of luck, keep us posted.

 

Thank you guys for the fast replies. I will check the amount of shifts after work today. I suppose there is a chance that is is the 5 speed. The car does come up as an 03 with a 4.2l in the AutoCheck (cheaper than CarFax but does the same thing). One thing I found odd, the gauges on the dash above the steering wheel (speedometer, tach, etc.) do not have the chrome ring surrounding them. I was finding that in 2002 and earlier.

Also, regarding the shifter, the lights do not come on at all. The sport mode button lights up periodically and illuminates the red light which should indicate when it is on only when the button is not depressed. Strange stuff to say the least.

 

These rings are cosmetic only, and available after market. They wedge in and out, nothing permanent is involved.

The sport mode button is pretty flaky to begin with. It is also near the cup holder, so spilled soda is not out of the question. Mine works "perfectly" as long as I operate it slowly (press and hold kind of thing). A good contact cleaner spray could help, here.

If you have an OBDII reader, I believe the VIN is coded in the ECU, too, in case the VIN is in doubt.

How are your fog lights? Is the glass part recessed (earlier car) or flush (later car) with the bumper? I am sure there are lots of other clues...

 

Ah, good to know on the chrome rings. I am just getting acquainted with the year to year minute variances in the XKR line and them being aftermarket makes sense since I was not finding total consistency with my observations on those. Regarding the fog lights, if memory serves correct, they are recessed a bit.

I have an OBDII reader and will scan the car when I get home. I would hate to think that it is a mismatch but anything is possible in this crazy world.

Thanks for your help thus far.

 

There is a sticker with the build date (et cetera) on driver door entry area, should clear all.

 

Hi Everyone,

Here is an update on this issue. I believe now that a 5 speed gearshift illumination module has been fitted to my 6 speed car. I have suspected the linear switch was bad so I got to the switch and it looked okay to the naked eye and had 6 speed listed on the switch itself. Also, when I go to use the J-Gate, the shift knob does have 4 stops which would coincide with a 6 speed J-Gate (5,4,3,2) but the J-Gate gearshift illumination module only has (4,3,2). Very strange.

My thinking is that the older gearshift illumination module might be miscommunicating with the transmission and the linear switch. Before I go out and purchase a linear switch for $300 I was wondering what you guys thought. Also, does anyone know where to find a gearshift illumination module or shift unit that works for an 03-06 XK8/XKR? I find tons online for the 5 speed and many 03 and newer S-Type, X-Type, and XJ shifters but none for the XK. It is strange. My hope is that by replacing the shift unit or illumination module I would see the car return to normal shifting operation.

Thanks!

Corey

 

So correct me if I am wrong: The J gate has 4 slots for 5,4,3,2 but illuminates only 3?
Could it be a bulb issue?

 

No, the J-Gate surround has only 2,3, and 4 listed (none illuminate) but the actual shifter knob stops at 4 spots as it should and an 03 has a 6 speed transmission that should show the numbers 2, 3, 4, and 5. The start of this thread had me thinking that the wrong J-Gate had been retrofitted to my 03. This has to be the case for at least the gearshift illumination module (the technical name of the part that has the numbers on it). The manual override of the J-Gate does not function which led me to believe that I needed a linear switch. But I am thinking that perhaps the switch is not functioning because the wrong gearshift illumination module is in the car. I am perplexed to say the least and would like to at least.

 

What is the 10th digit of the VIN??????????????

bob

 

Hi Bob,

It is 3. The complete VIN is SAJDA42B433A32509

 

Odd. My VIN for my 2003 XKR is SAJDA42B 1 33A34265, indicating the car was manufactured at browns lane, where all the XKR'S were manufactured. Are you certain of the Vin having a 4 after the B?

Also, mine is an early build, September '02, MY 2003 which rolled off the line in December 2002, and is the 34,265 car 'vinned', not necessarily in sequence of XK8's/R's.

I am also at the lower range of the spectrum as far as the number 34265, and I believe the 2003 MY VIN started at around ~34,xxx, citation needed please.

 

As the 17th digit is STILL a 3.............. you highlighted the 11th digit.
The digit I highlighted in RED is the 10th digit.
SAJDA42B433A32509

This is getting confusing.

bob

 

It is. I am only a bystander but my information has 2003 MY beginning 2002/06 at vin A30645
What am l missing?

 

Oops, yes I highlighted the wrong digit. Regardless, it is 3 and I double checked the vin and it is correct. Not really sure where to go from here other than keeping a constant eye out for a 6 speed J-Gate illumination module and going from there. Super frustrating to be stuck in regular drive without even sport mode functioning! She still zooms though.

 

Given that you have identified that the illumination module is the wrong one for your car, I would have thought getting the right one would be a good place as any to start, even if it does turn out not to be connected to your problem.

The lights on the module are controlled by the CAN bus, rather than coming directly from the gear lever - I doubt if this is the cause of your problem, but you may as well correct it. Once the lights are working properly you may well get more clues as to what is going wrong, but it does sound like you have a problem with the linear switch (transmission control switch).

I assume you have already tried unplugging, cleaning and reconnecting all the plugs on the gear selector?

 

Exactly my thoughts on replacing the gearshift illumination module. Going to replace that as it clearly is not the right part for the car. The good thing is that at least the physical shift knob stops in 4 places as opposed to the 3 that would be fitting of a 5 speed gearshift illumination module. Once I source and replace that part we can see what happens from there. Fingers crossed that it is that simple.

Does anyone know a good source for one of these parts? I figured I would find at least a few on eBay but haven't up til this point.

Very much appreciate everyone's help in trying to sort this out!

Edit: I forgot to mention that I disassembled the linear switch and cleaned it with electrical cleaner spray. Also, disconnected and reconnected connections going into the switch as well as the gearshift illumination module. Didn't spray those. Everything looked really clean so I am thinking that it cannot be a connector but who knows.

 

Check the classifieds. Like this one:

2005-xk8-parts-trans-subframe-body-panels-steering-rack-mirror-etc-190873/

Finding someone parting a car out seems like your best bet. Check Craigslist.

As already pointed out, my understanding is that this illumination module is a "write-only" module on the CAN bus. It only receives CAN messages to turn lights on or off. There is no obligation for Jaguar/ZF to keep the same messages between the old module and the new one. That being said, you can probably afford to wait. Who looks at those lights anyway? Certainly not while driving. Maybe you can wrap it, or paint it for now, until something original comes up. Just my take...

 

The lights do not bother me one bit. It is the fact that I have a 5 speed module on a 6 speed car. It makes me think that having the wrong part could be the cause of the linear switch not working. From what I am gathering by your post, this might not be the issue as the CAN sends info to the module and is not receiving info back. But what if the CAN module trips up because the info it is sending is not being properly received since the module is an older version? Sorry for my lack of proper electrical terminology, this is an area that I have really never grasped fully!