I'm just looking for input as to whether or not anyone else has experienced the complete malfunction of steering.
Two days ago as I began to back out of my garage the steering wheel would not budge. I tried shutting the engine off and back on and still no steering. Yesterday morning, same thing, so I called Jaguar assistance and had the vehicle flatbedded to the dealer where it arrived early afternoon. No word as to what the problem may be yet, but it's been less than 24 hours..
Fortunately the car was parked with the front wheels straight and it could be backed out far enough for the flatbed to be positioned so the car could be driven on without any problem.
I did, by the way, consider the battery disconnect/reconnect but decided against that on a car with only 1600 miles on the odometer--first do no harm being my reasoning.

 

First I've heard of such an issue over the years. The battery reset wouldn't have done any harm, but doubtfully would have "solved" the underlying issue. There could be some chance that a low power state would cause the normal steering lock when you're parked to persist, but, again, of the many gremlins reported of things that didn't work right because of a low battery, I don't recall this being one of them. On general principle, I probably would have put the car on the CTEK in between your first and second attempts, but it's reasonable that you handed over to the dealer.

 

This sounds like a serious problem, esp. with such a new car. It will be interesting to see what JLR finds.

 

Actually, it sounds familiar. I had something like that on my 20 year old Merc. Basically, it was a simple mechanical-based anti-theft interlock mechanism where you had to have the key properly inserted and turned before the steering wheel would turn. Occasionally, I had to tweak with the key turn or the brake pedal to free it.

So, I whipped out my iGuide. Sure enuf, there's a "Steering Column Lock" built into the F-Type. This one's electronic. There's probably more info about in the hard-copy manual, but the fact that the iGuide has some suggestions for 'fixing' it indicates that JLR is aware that it may fail to unlock on occasion. One suggestion is to to lock and unlock the door with the remote key fob. It also says to keep the key fob in the car during towing (I can attest to that) as the steering column lock will automatically engage if the fob is not detected inside the car after a certain period of time... AND (just FYI) to make sure that the steering is unlocked BEFORE disconnecting the battery.

So, my thought is that either your situation could be a sensor failure (eg. Is the door still locked?) or that this was just SOP and the JLR dealer will go through standard checklist and not find any problem. But, I agree that letting the dealer handle is was best, if not annoyingly inconvenient.

Good luck!

 

A question for anyone and everyone:
Is the F-Type steerable without the power assist of the rack and pinion working? If it is, how much effort does it take to steer it?
I'll explain later the reason for my question.
Thanks in advance to all, SS

 

I don't know for sure but if you think about it anyone designing a powered steering system should expect the power function to fail and at least allow the steering to still work but with increased effort.
If not I think it would be negligence.

 

Is the F-Type using electric steering now? If not you should have been able to drive the car just with higher steering effort. If electric when it fails you just out of luck.

Interesting about the column lock as this is a bit of a puzzle on late model Jag's.
My 2014 XJ has no steering wheel lock at all. Yet years ago everything had column locks for anti-theft reasons.
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I think they went to electric assist power steering in 2015. My 2016 certainly has it. I can turn the wheels when the engine is off but it takes a great deal of effort. I don't recall there being a lock of any kind, but my engine off experience has mostly been to straighten the wheels a little before jacking it up.

 

It is illegal in the US to have a 100% steer by wire setup so no manufacturer currently has that. It is electric power assist so there is significant effort to steer without it but it can be done. Much harder while sitting still than when moving.