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I've been having an extremely frustrating issue with my 2011 XF shifting knob. Initially, I would unlock the car, apply the brake and start the car without issue, but the knob would not raise intermittently and I couldn't get it out of park. If I restarted it, it usually went away. Then I started to get interment transmission faults while driving down the road, and all the lights on the shifting knob and start bottom would go dark, flicker, and then come back after a few seconds.
I did some research and found that many people stated that the condition of the battery can affect the shifting knob... So I went a purchased a new Bosch AGM battery, and installed it into the car. When I went to install it, I noticed a frayed wire directly connected to the battery positive terminal (see picture below).
So I installed the battery, and left the wire alone for now. Now when I press the starter button, the car tries to turn over for about 1/2 a second-- and then the screen goes dark and everything seems to shutdown and come back on.
I figured the battery might of been weak from shipping etc (was reading ~12.9V sitting), so I hooked up my car battery charger and charged it up. Now the car started up, the car was charging the battery at ~14.5V... I drove around for about 2 hours. Parked it in the driveway, and the next morning it was doing the same thing again. I would press the button, the car would turn over for a millisecond and then go completely dark. It seems to be shorting out somewhere.
I'm pulling codes: P0850, P0851, and U1016.
Does anyone know what that cable is directly connected to the positive battery terminal and if that may be causing this fault? If it is possible, does anyone know where I can find the part number for this cable? Is it perhaps time to replace the shifting knob assembly?
Thanks in advance for all of your help. My family and I have 1 XF, 2 S-Rs, and an XJ-- and reading through this forum has been a life saver on so many occasions!