You parked on a hill/sloping drive? if so it may well be holding the weight of the car on the gearbox if the handbrake is not doing its job or you are applying the handbrake after putting the car in P. I park my car on a steep drive and have to put the handbrake on first and when on fully I put the car into P or I cant get it out of P when it comes to drive off . I just had it happen again when I just went up a kerb slightly put it in park and rolled back a bit.Moved the car a touch and it freed up .

 

That's good stuff about the brake lights, I'll remember that. Something to do with having one's foot on the brake to get it out of park?
Leedsman.

 

Just a little note..... The 03 and up (2002.5 in the UK) have the automatic electric parking brake.. No hand brake.. That is in the early cars...

The early cars have this issue much more than the newer cars... Usually when the newer cars have an issue it is related to the linkage bolts...

 

Er... it IS also a hand brake. You can apply it any time you would apply the lever-type hand brake. (At the lights, junctions, whenever you like.) It's also an emergency brake.

 

Possibly a shift interlock solenoid malfunction??? If so, should be an easy fix.

 

When my X-type did this (and said gearbox fault) on the dash, here's what I did.

Most of this should apply for the S-type too.

Take the shifter knob and the cone metal piece under it off. They just unscrew.

Then, pull the wood trim up and off, and you will see 4 torx screws (I believe mine were gold) that hold the plastic cover that has the shift gate on it on.

Remove the 4 torx screws, and slide the gate up. You will see the interlock on the drivers side, looks like a galvanized steel lever. Push it down with your finger, and with the motor running the car should come out of park with no fight. It will make sense when you see it. Once you have confirmed that you can shift to all the gears, your problem is NOT mechanical in nature. (i.e. disconnected cable or cable loose @ trans side). If you CAN'T get all the gears in this way, then your problem is mechanical. Start looking at the cable, especially under the trans.

If the problem is electrical. It's one of 3 things. First, The brake micro switch. Take a multimeter, and test to see if the release solenoid is getting 12v when you press on the brakes. Second, it may be the actual latch itself. If you have a set of test leads, you can actually apply 12v directly to the solenoid. I actually used a cordless drill battery. It worked fine. I realized I needed a brake microswitch, and the car was stuck in park until I got it, so Instead I wired +12v from the lighter socket in the ashtray directly to the solenoid, so when the key came on, the solenoid would drop. It's been that way for 3.5 years and works fine.

One thing to not, the brake microswitch has TWO outputs, one to the trans, and one to tell the car to enable the brake lights, just because your brake lights work, doesn't necessarily mean the microswitch is ok.

Another thing to note on my S-Type. If you listen closely, with no radio on, you can actually hear the click when the lockout releases when you step on the brakes. I have noticed sometimes, and only in this situation, if you come to a stop, go into park, and have your foot on the brake the whole you CANNOT come out, without releasing and reapplying the brake pedal. so it seems as though each time the car is in park, it needs a new application of the brakes to release the lockout.

George

 

my 2003 s type jaguar stuck in park, mechanic said need new shifter assy because the interlock solenoid is bad and solenoid can not be replaced. Cost to replace shifter assy 1400 dollars

 

Get a used one from a wrecker or ebay. Swap solenoid or the whole thing. Dealers don't do this simple kind of thing.

 

I agree with JagV8. Many cars being parted out on EBay. That is a common part regardless of the trim/engine so look for one with some broken plastic since you only need to rob the solenoid.
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Hello Jaguar peeps; Here is what happened to me.
Plus some technical stuff from my version of "How do they do it"

Wife's 06 S-Type dropped the rear bolt to the transmission shift cable, and the front one was about 1/2 out (loose)
She could not shift from "PARK", so she (inadvertently) broke the upper shifting disk within the shift housing. After that nothing worked. The car was towed to our driveway, so I would have time to work on it. I am not a mechanic, but am mechanically inclined, and I got some tools.
I took the shift mechanism all apart and J.B. Welded™ the grey disk. While it was curing overnight, I wondered why it broke in the first place. This took me to the pawl that prevents the mechanism from shifting out of "Park" by itself. The solenoid retracting the pawl had not activated and when the wife forced the shift lever from park, the disk broke. Well, that is why it broke, but why did the pawl not retract or solenoid not function correctly.
The electrical system energizing the solenoid for the pawl retraction is only one part of a two part system for the "Park" mechanism. First, you place your foot on the brake, then start the car. By pressing the brake, a cable removes the spring tension from the back side of the solenoid (See pics), so the electrically energized solenoid can retract. This rotates the pawl down and out of the way for the shift disk. This allows the operator to move the shift from "Park" to another position. When the shift lever is placed back into "Park", the spring tension on the cable is release and the solenoid rod places pressure on the pawl to go in the up position.
If the shift disk in any other position besides "Park", the pawl rides under the disk until the "Park" position is selected, then pops up to block the activation of the shift rod to any other selection. To move it from "Park", the operator must AGAIN press the brake pedal. If the operator has the brake pedal depressed continuously, they must let off, then press again so the system can re-arm.
I discovered all this, because the troubleshooting led me to this as a result of the broken disk. This however, was not the shifting problem that started all of this, just a secondary fault.
The primary fault, was the shifting cable retaining bolts came loose and the transmission could not get the correct gear position information.
During that fateful afternoon, my wife's car dropped the rear retaining bolt (Somewhere), and the forward bolt was halfway loose. I discovered this only AFTER scouring the net for cause and location. (Which I eventually found on this site.)
If you are missing bolts, you will need replacements, ACE Hardware had M6-12mm. The original bolt had an 8mm head on it, but I could only find a replacement with a 10mm head. I HIGHLY recommend ratcheting box end wrenches. Safety is an important factor, it would do you no good to repair this problem and not be able to get out from under the car or out of your coffin because you failed to properly secured your vehicle from dropping on you.
Nuff said.
Despite all of the information on this site, I still had tons of doubt and questions, not to mention "Where the heck are these bolts at?" See pic. The bolts are located between the muffler heat shield and the transmission under the driver's seat half way between the seat rails and the pedals. You can see (with a good flashlight) the cable going to the bracket. Once you locate it, you will see if you have one lost one loose or both lost. You will probably not have problems if they are both loose, as the bracket will stay in position. Check every now and again to verify they are tight.
I worked with a mirror since I did not have a lift or a pit. Since I am NOT double jointed, and only had the car up on Rhino ramps, I had to become creative on how to get the bolt up into the tight area, and get it started without it falling out of the wrench. I used some gorilla glue on the head of the bolt. This kept it in the wrench while I tried to place the bolt in the VERY restrictive location, then pulled down on the cable to allow enough friction for the ratchet to work. It took a few tries, but finally worked. After tightening everything down, and reassembling the items I took apart, the car drives just like before.
I am thankful people took the time to document their efforts and pass them on, or I would be looking at a VERY expensive repair bill instead of $12.35. Bolt and ratchets. Dealer is minimum $120 hourly labor and up.