hi guys...hopefully someone can shed some light on this.

so i have a 2004 jaguar x type.

my son was driving it today and called to tell me the steering wheel and the brakes locked up. i asked him if the car was still running and he said yes. so i had him turn it off. he says he turns it back on and the oil and battery lights come on. he waits for a tow and when the tow gets there, he couldn't tow it. says it won't go into neutral. i found this was because the car wont turn on. my son says he turns the key and the only thing that happens is the airbag and battery lights come on...

any insight into what might be happening here?

 

Miss, Sounds like you have a dead battery in the car and it doesn't have enough power to operate anything. The first thing I would try is hooking up a set of jumper cables between another vehicle and the Jag. This should provide enough power to allow the car to be shifted out of Park and allow some of the accessories to function. if this is the case, then this pretty much confirms the battery is bad.

After that, it can be so many things that you would need to be in front of the car and we can step you through checking various things.

Another check that I would do that is easy is to get to the car and attempt to start it. But, in this case, leave the driver's door open so the dome light is one. As you are turning the key to make the engine start, be watching the dome light. As the key is rolled to the START position, what did the light do? If the light dims, then the starter is getting power. If the light remains bright, then I know that the starter did not have its relay engage, resulting in the no start condition. If the light goes completely out, then you are looking at a bad battery.

One other simple check to try. Do this after attempting to start the car. Open the hood and wiggle the battery cables. Make sure to get them to wiggle all the way up to the connectors on the battery. We have seen where the cables will go bad (they corrode under the insulation) and it will cause funky things with the car. By wiggling them, you will either make all the power go away or you will find that the car will work fine again. All depends on how the wiring comes to rest. The big thing is you are looking for a dramatic change in what the car is doing. You can get some generic cables from a local auto parts store and install them (match up the cables they have to the ones you pull from the car). This is something that can be done by most back yard mechanics with even limited electrical knowledge. The big thing is making sure you disconnect the battery first and connect it back up last.

 

thanks. took it to the shop. the engine locked... yikes.

 

Miss, something is not adding up for me. Making the assumption that the engine had an internal failure and seized (still find that hard to happen without atleast some other noises and/or lights happening for many miles before hand), the car should still be able to shift the car into neutral to get it to move. the engine seized and not being able to roll the car around have nothing to do with each other.

With this all being said, I am going to interpret a few things here and make some assumptions. You talk about the "brakes locking up" on their own. This may very well be that your transfer case and/or your tranny have failed. With the engine not wanting to turn over, this would point more to the tranny being bad than the transfer case.

I think at this point, I would be looking for a second opinion and also asking a question to the mechanic to have him explain (put down in writing) how the engine seizing will prevent the car from rolling. I would love to see this explanation. I think you will find when you ask for that, the diagnosis is going to change to something less expensive to repair. Not saying it is going to be dirt cheap to repair (as I personally think you are looking at a new tranny and/or transfer case to a price of about $2000 or so). But, it is going to be cheaper than a new motor.