My 03 S-type R decided to leave me stranded today. I drove it to the mall, with no issues at all. I go to leave and the car will not start, like a dead battery but all the electronics worked. I then placed it in Neurtral and it started up! Wierd I thought then I put it in park and it thinks its in reverse, I put it in D and 2345, and nothing thinks its in neutral. I then place it back in park. I reset the system by disconnecting the battery for 15 mins, go at it again and same thing. I am not getting any codes at all and the gear selector only lights up R or N. I call AAA and wait an hour, then they send me a driver that has to go back to the tow facility and swap drivers for a shift change...then they arrive at the Jag dealer and they are closed so now they are bringing back the car!!! What a day.....

Any thoughts on the issue???

I had a smiliar problem with my 99 XJR, and the circuit board for the shifter was worn and needed to be replaced, I fixed it at the cost of $180 and it was fine...I do have a extended warrenty with a 100 deductable so I was taking to get this issue fixed, the worn bushing in the lower control arm done, and the problem with the throttle body getting wet and shutting down the car.

 

All that for one loose and one missing bolt. I searched the forum and found the post that helped me. For others if they find this post heres more details.

You have to go under the car and take off the black plastic mud guard/protector. Then on the driver side on the transmission look for a black according piece-this is the shift linkage. Have someone shift the gears so you can see it move. On this piece towards the rear there are supposed to be two 8mm bolts that hold the shift cable tight. The front one was loose and the back one was gone. I tightened the front one after taking it out a bit and putting thread lock on it (the space is tight in here so be patient). I then found another screw with the same thread pattern and fitted in the rear hole. I had to use needle nose pliers to tighten it. Once it was all tight I had someone shift the car and all was perfect!!

67K on the car and all I had to do was rear tires, rear brakes and now tighten a bolt..pretty good!

 

Very happy to hear you found the solution to your problem...and the forums saved the day once again!

SilverSTR, back on the road again.

 

Nice job!!! Got to love the information here.

 

Yep, this issue seems to pop up here on the forum every few months. Sounds to me like a design flaw - those bolts are too sensitive to movement and vibration and eventually they can fall off and strand you. I assume that these two bolts do not get lock washers placed underneath them at the factory. Are two 15-cent stainless lock washers the simple answer here?

Our S-Type will be due for an oil & filter change within the next 300 miles. I'm going to take the opportunity to check these shift cable bolts while I have the undertray removed....

 

I didn't take the factory bolt all the way since the space seemed real tight but then again I was doing this at 10pm..If there was a lock washer here then it would help prevent em from coming out. I put thread locker on them and then a little bit of quicksteel (like JB weld) on the part and rear bolt for extra protection. I do know you need an 8mm open wrench to get on it.

 

So even with a long extension you can't get a socket wrench up in there to the bolt heads?

 

Nope there is literally like 1/4-1/2 inch space or less between the bolt head and the frame/heat barrier on the car. So tight that I had a hard time getting a new screw into the hole where it came out. Open ended is the only thing that can get in there. I did't take the factory bolt out all the fearing I couldn't get it back in. Seems they were put in before the trans was raised into its current spot.


Looks likes this: car frame-->|-------bolt|<tried to make (--) represent actual space.

 

Do the two 8mm bolts sit vertical (meaning straight up into the bottom of the chassis) or horizontal (meaning parallel to the ground)? If they're vertical, I think they'll be much tougher to keep a wrench on and tighten....

By the way, how long are those bolts?

 

They sit horizontal next to the frame of the car and heat shield. Best way to explain it is take off the plastic undertray and take a look you'll see what I mean. I had no problem with a 8mm open ended wrench tightening them. Tightening them is easy but if is missing or you have to take one out then thats the problem coz the clearance is little. I am not sure how long the factory bolt is. The one I put in its place was 3/4 of an inch long.

 

Thanks for the details. As I mentioned before, when I do the next oil & filter change on our S-Type (coming up in just over 200 miles now), checking these two bolts will be my first order of business once I get the undertray off....

I wonder if owners who J-gate their transmission most of the time cause these bolts to come loose more often than those of us who just put it in Drive and let the ZF do the work....