Hello Everyone,
I'm new to forums and would appreciate some feedback on this major Jag headache.
So to start off, one morning I wake up and start the car as usual. When I turned the key, all the lights came on as normal but the car wouldn't crank at all. No Noise or anything. I turned on my headlights,radio everything seemed to be working just fine except the car wouldn't start. About 3 months ago I had this same problem. I pulled into a gas station for some gas. Filled up the tank. As I'm getting ready to leave I turn the car key and there was no crank at all. I had to call Triple A towing. When the car was towed to my house, still being in the flatbed, The tow guy asked me a few more questions, then he went over to the passenger side of the car, stuck his hand underneath,went to the car and magically it started. I asked him what he did but he just smiled and said he tugged on a cable underneath the passenger side that leads to the transmission. He said it could have been it became loose due to hitting something on the road like a piece of can or something (That's crazy how such a thing could paralyze my car completely!). Since then I haven't had that problem until now. I tried to do as he did, but I don't see anything hanging from the car nor do I know exactly where he touched. If it helps, when I try to crank the car, the shifter is in park, but it lights up the reverse instead. the known plastic piece that breaks in the shifter has already been replaced by a metal one months ago when the plastic broke. To start the car in drive, I have to shift into a manual gear like 2nd, then bring it back into automatic Drive, ever since the plastic broke and the shifting cable was replaced. The safety neutral switch has been replace as well.I have adjusted the shifting cable and despite all this, my car won't drive unless I place the shift in 2nd gear manual then back to drive, But this is a minor inconvenience and I care about the car actually starting.

 

Hi, and welcome to the forum.

You mentioned the shifter lever is in park, but the R is lit up. This means your transmission thinks it is in Reverse. A safety interlock switch only lets the starter run when in Park or Neutral. Try fiddling with the lever until either P or N lights up, and then see if the starter will engage. (For safety, make sure your foot is on the brake!) If so, you've found the problem.

A known issue on these cars is loose mounting bolts for the shift cable on the side of the transmission. I'd be willing to bet large sums of your money that the bolts have worked loose. This could cause all of your symptoms, including having to fiddle with the shifter to get it into drive.

I've never had to mess with mine, but believe this link shows the suspect bolts on the bracket to the right in the second picture:

http://jagrepair.com/images/AutoRepa...ch%205HP24.pdf

Hopefully somebody more in the know could chime in with exact location of these bolts. I don't believe they are as easily accessible as the picture would lead you to believe. Regardless of access, that is the first thing I'd check.

 

Answered my own request. This thread sounds exactly like you had, and includes the description of how to access the bolts:

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/s...-start-152340/

 

OMG THANK YOU. This actually makes sense despite what previous repair shops were trying to sell me.
Those bolts could indeed be the root cause of all my problems.
Just realized how many people have this problem,somehow I couldn't find any of those posts.
It's amazing how those bolts can decide the fate of your car.
Thank you for once again helping me and countless others with this.

 

The 4.0 will have the Ford 5R55N transmission, the later ZF has the screws that fall out.
but it still sounds like a cable adjustment problem.

 

The earlier cars (5R55N trans) have the shifter cable that can stretch. Sometimes they adjust but otherwise need replacing.

 

I'll keep that in mind. Cable adjustment had already been checked out a few months prior to this incident in regards to fiddling with the shifter in order to get it to Drive.

The cables were okay but they were adjusted just in case (Didn't fix the problem). It could be since that time frame the cable needs adjusting.

Kinda odd though how the tow guy stuck his hand underneath the car passenger side, and fixed the problem of the Jag not starting the first time.

 

next time this happens. Put the car in "N" then try to start your car. If this works then either your trans cable is stretched or out of allignment (high probability) as other members already mentioned or your park interlock mechanisim is shot (much lower probability)