I have had a very disconcerting experience with my 1997 XK8 Coupe with 72,000 miles on it. I had driven it for two years like it was a brand new car without any problems at all in any way. It was then in storage for about a year while I had knee and hip replacements, and required a new battery to get it up and running. Since the car wouldn't start the transmission wouldn't shift into neutral for towing, so they had to use the little access port next to the shifter on the console to unlock the transmission. The garage that replaced the battery and did the state inspection on the vehicle noted that the e-brake light was on, but that the parking brake was not engaged, so they assumed that something got jarred loose when the vehicle was flat-bedded to the garage. They didn't mention any other EBT codes that might have come up during the inspection, and it passed without incident. The car then drove without any suggestion of something wrong 14 miles to the dealer where it was shipped, along with my new SVR, to Wisconsin. The car was driven off of the truck into my garage, again without anything amiss. Two days late, I went to back it out of the garage. The parking brake was down and flaccid. The e-brake light was still on. However, there was noise and ugliness from the rear wheels (sounding like the parking brake was engaged) on backing it out of the garage (and there were also a few drips of transmission fluid left on the floor). Finally got it out onto the street against some resistance, put it into forward gear and drove it about 1/2 mile, seemingly without much difficulty. However, after stopping short of the garage door and then attempting to pull in, the transmission said no. All forward movement was impossible, accompanied by some smoke escaping from under the car. Gulp! Managed to get it into reverse where some movement was still possible, and accompanied by the previous ugly noise and some resistance, left the driveway in reverse and returned backwards, getting the car under cover and noting the loss of more transmission fluid.
Where to start? I thought that maybe there was just not quite enough transmission fluid, and the loss of a little more on the trip up and down the street crossed the critical threshold and therefore no forward movement. Perhaps the e-brake fault causes a similar behavior like when an ABS sensor fails and stops the thing from going, but the smoke and transmission fluid seem to suggest something more ominous than that. I am a little hesitant to bring it to just any transmission shop, where I am certain the only thing that they will say is that it needs a new transmission, even if it is something far less serious (like an e-brake fault coupled with not enough transmission fluid). I am open to any and all suggestions, including a shop in my (new) general area that can be trusted. Thanks!

 

Your e-brake was on. To release you have to pull up while pushing the button in. The slack handle is the indication that it's not released. This is one of those situations where having the owners manual and reading it saves a lot of grief.

The transmission fluid leak might be just the pan gasket. You should change the fluid and filter after all these years.

 

As RJ237 has already said. The brake is on a ratchet, you just keep pulling it up until the brake locks, and to release you pull it up whilst pressing the button in. It appears your car has been driven extensively with the brake on. Why they took no notice of the dash warning light, beggars belief. It the lever is slack, then the brake is on. If you want to check, just jack up a wheel and check if it rotates with the gearbox in neutral. Jaguar designed it that way so you could get out of the car without having to jump over the handbrake.

My MOT station once put the brake on, and in trying to get it off again somehow pulled the plastic grip over the button stopping it (the button) going in. It wasn't obvious as to why the button would depress and it took some working out what had happened. I managed to release the brake by exposing the mechanism at the hinge by taking off the leather gater at the lever, and using a screwdriver to release the pawl holding the ratchet manually. I couldn't figure out why I couldn't press the button in. Then I decided to try and understand how the button worked, so I pulled the black plastic grip off the handle completely. It was only then that I could I see what had happened. Now I could depress the button and low and behold the brake released in the normal way. The plastic grip had been moved over the end of the button. Obviously the mechanic had pushed the button in so hard that since the button couldn't move any further it forced the plastic grip to move along the lever. I then put the grip back on with some glue to make sure it stayed in place and it's worked perfectly ever since. Now when I hand the car over to a mechanic, I mention how the brake works in these cars.

 

Thanks! There is something funky with the handbrake button because I tried to release it and nothing - so first chance I get I will try to remove the handle and leather gator to see how it all goes together and works/doesn't work...

 

It may be as simple as an e-brake cable adjustment....

 

Sounds like they may have done what they did with mine, tried hard to push the button in and in doing so the black spastic grip has been moved up to the end of the handle. Anyway take the gater off and have a look at the ratchet and pawl. Release the pawl and the break will release and the handle won't be slack anymore. Good luck.