Greetings.

Car is 2001 XK8 with about 80K miles on. Previously I'd noticed shifting from park to drive was quite stiff when the car had been left outside in the cold for any significant time. Cold means -10C to -25C, and significant time means long enough for everything to be at ambient temp. I put this down to, well, let's say I feel a little stiff at those temps too!
Yesterday I returned to the car after leaving it at the airport for a couple of weeks. Ambient temp was over +20C, so no problem there. Car started fine, but the shift was very stiff. Also the 'D' for drive didn't light and required a bit of wiggling the stick around before it did. Lately the latter has happened a couple of times without the shift itself being unduly stiff.
After driving for 20-30 miles the shift was better, but not as free as it should be, and a wiggle of the lever was still needed to get the 'D' light to illuminate. I should add without the light lit, the car will move, but won't shift up. Once in drive, with the accompanying light, the car behaves just fine.
Any ideas what to look for here please? Thanks!

 

I'm still trying to narrow down how to attack this issue best. I think I have figured out the following - what I'd like is for someone to tell me whether this is right or wrong:

1. The gear shift mechanism's output is switch positions to the car's control system, and a mechanical cable to the gearbox.

2. The input to the gearbox is the cable, which in any case connects to a rotary switch, so in reality the input is also electrical (as well as I presume electronic connections from a transmission control unit).

3. In other words, there is actually no direct mechanical link from the gear shift lever to internal mechanics of the gearbox? Therefore, the stiffness and lack of positive 'click' in moving the lever cannot be down to the gearbox itself, and must be the lever mechanism and/or the cable itself?

Have I got this right? I really don't want to start pulling the wrong pieces of car apart. Thanks in anticipation

/Bob

 

I'm no expert and others will chime in but I think you are on the correct path..see this link, different issue but a lot of good info you may find usefull.

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...rt-mode-84688/

 

Jandreu,
Thank you for taking the time to reply! I appreciate it.

For others that may one day find this thread:
There's a good description on pg 66 of this document... http://matt.zenfolio.com/ajv8-engine...ansmission.pdf

As to a resolution... well I took the gear shift mechanism apart and discovered nothing untoward. But, in moving things around it seemed to become easier to move. So I put it back together. Sometimes a wiggle is needed to get the D to light still. Next step would be to get under the car and lube the cable etc. but I can't easily do that. So plan is to have that checked next service.

This isn't really an exciting topic - I was hoping for some real insight from members. Ho hum.

cheers, Bob