Hi all I am looking for a definitive answer for this:

I have driven a few XJ's and XK's and MOST shift much later in the gear range (not like in sport mode, but still up around 4k I think?) I have 2 cars that shift in the 2500-3K range even if the pedal is 1/2 way down. Why is this? Can I change it?

Even when I go to 3/4 after an upshift it doesn't downshift- I have to floor it for a downshift.

Both are 5hp24s and one is a 97, the other is an 01.

 

Not sure this is going to resolve things to your satisfaction, but you should look up the throttle cable adjustment procedure in this thread. As you know, this car has throttle-by-wire. The throttle pedal has an actual cable that goes to a (rather big) spring-loaded sensor near the brake booster. That cable attaches to the sensor in a way that can be adjusted. There is even a TSB on this, I believe, that details how much adjustment can be made as well as a re-calibration of the sensor range once the cable has be re-positioned.

The short version is that you can take out some of the slack in the cable, and seemingly improve the throttle response. I did this to my car a while back and, coupled with a minor bleeding of the brake calipers, made it feel like the car had lost a few hundred pounds. Car's response to the basic throttle/brake inputs were much more crisps. This is maybe a few minutes of work, for a grand total of zero dollar.

Best of luck, keep us posted.

 

Ok, so on the recommendation of BobRoy, I moved my TPS about 8 degrees clockwise and it shifts much better now- also seems to be smoother, but that might be placebo. I know it should be done correctly, but for now I am very happy.

Still no idea why it would be like that from (ostensibly) factory.

 

May be worth trying a hard reset and then going for a spirited drive. The car adapts the shift points based on how it's driven and there was a post on here recently where someone had found the car much more lively, with more appropriate shift-points, after a hard reset.