Ive seen a lot of post on this gearbox warning, but mine is a litte different. I got my 2013 jaguar xf base model 2 years ago with 42k miles on it. As of now there is about 72k miles on it. From the day I got it up until the day it broke down, I haven't had not one single issue , noise, warnings or leaks, or odors. I mean car ran perfect, so the other day I went to store, came home , when I pulled in my garage, i went to put car in park, and it wouldn't let me, gearshift was stuck in park, it read gearbox warning, then I just cut the car off. Now the gearshift is stuck in the up position, so I let it sit for a hour or so, when I went to start it up, the car started a little sluggish, but gearshift was still stuck up , but now car was locked in park, I cant move gearshift at all and lights on dashboard where it shows what gear you are in is blinking left to right from Park TO Drive back n forth. So I let car sit overnight, next day I went to start it and battery was dead, lights in car working but no start. I called AAA battery service hoping it was just a bad battery. I was prepared to buy new battery, when the technician hooked up battery to his charger it read battery was good and charged, but wen u try to start car the low battery warning comes on . And now the park brake light is on car wont start and 3 warnings came up
1. Gearbox warning
2. low battery warning
3. park brake was on
Now once again car ran perfect, no gears slipping no odors no leaks , so hopefully someone can tell me how to fix for cheap,
Please help is greatly appreciated.
Im in palmdale or san Fernando valley area if someone knows someone in that area
Thanks

 

There two possible causes for what you're experiencing:

1. Gearbox needs to be serviced with new pan/filter and fresh fluid
2. Battery may be failing

Of the two, in my experience, it's the first reason. The ZF gearbox needs to be serviced at five years, or 60,000 miles to maintain correct operation.

What is the battery voltage across the terminals with the ignition in the OFF position when measured with a voltmeter?

 

I was kind of irritated, I have a feeling a brand new battery could fix issue, but he didnt want to sell me one, he probably didnt have correct battery on truck lol
But for sure I haven't had any gearbox service, and that's only because in the manual it doesn't mention that under recommended service. Should I try a new battery before getting towed ?And I don't have a voltage meter , that was from AAA guy

 

You need a full on diagnostic, it is pointless and a waste of time to go poking around in the hope you get lucky. There are simply too many connections and too many computers, often the conneciton is via communication - things aren't hardwired how they used to be - you will spend thousands before you happen upon the culprit, even a new battery technically needs coding to the car.

There is no mechanical connection, the only thing mechanical is a locking solenoid that stops you moving the selector without the brake pedal being pressed - your problem 'could' be brake switch related - see if your brake lights work. If the battery is OK and the test would seem to say that it is I can't recommend anything other than a full on SDD diagnostic (Jaguar Tool) is in order or anything else is guesswork. Make sure that whoever runs the diagnostic has experience and isn't a chancer there will likely be lots of faults, many will be caused by one single fault and knowing this takes experience.

There is conflicting information supplied by Jaguar that goes against what Borg Warner recommend - the oil in the BW box absolutely is not for life (or until the warranty runs out in Jaguars case) and it ain't cheap either so be prepared, should be replaced at 60k miles despite Jaguars assurances - and get it done right simply draining and refilling isn't 'right' it needs to be flushed.

I wish you luck but I fear that your resolution will not be a cheap one.

 

Battery, do that first, you obviously need one it was dead after sitting.

What you are describing happens when batteries start to fail. Happened to me as well.

DO that first, you need it anyway, its the easiest thing to do

 

Jssaab is correct -change the battery. These exact warnings (transmission etc) are well-known to pop up when the voltage drops too low.

 

Another vote to change the battery first then report back how the car responds.
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Change the battery and make sure it's fully charged prior to putting it into the vehicle. Just because a battery is new doesn't mean it's fully charged as it may be sitting on the shelf of the parts house for months.

Obtain a voltmeter and check the new battery voltage across the terminals. It must be at least 12.6 volts for the vehicle to function correctly.

Once the vehicle is able to be moved, have the gearbox serviced with a new pan/filter and fresh fluid. The ZF gearboxes, contrary to what is stated in the Owner's Manual, should be serviced every five years or 100,000 km/60,000 miles to prolong its service life.

 

I agree that the ZF oil in the gear box is life time, if JLR say its life time. Now for optimal efficiency throughout its life I think you can spend more money to do an oil change.

 

I have changed the fluid in several ZF transmissions and they ALL needed it badly.
It's your car but a fluid change is just smart to do at the proper mileage as NBCat posted above.
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JLR say it is lifetime - the manufacturer says otherwise - I know who my money is on.

The battery was tested, even if low once charged any issues it presented would disappear - I've had a low battery on my XF more times than I can count (if you believe the battery monitor), even after putting on a new battery, sure a low battery will cause strange things to happen - door locks, lights, vehicle security, infotainment system, failure to start unless you hit the button a few times but it has never caused this problem.

The battery management on the XF sucks bigtime as it will deliberately prevent charging in order to 'test capacity' it is my biggest single gripe with the XF.

 

Try to run diagnostics and check the result, the battery most likely ran down because car wasn't shut down properly as a result of gear shift knob module malfunction which also controls the ignition. Hit me up if you need faulty parts, currently parting out a 2013 XF with less than 20,000 miles.

 

Well it fixed my problem, on this an a Volvo XC-70 that had the same issue.

I was able to get the Volvo for 1500 when book value was 5000 because the owner took it to the dealer who read the codes, all types of gearbox errors, 5000 to fix, 500 for it as trade She bought a new one, but sold it to me, she was worried she woubeld stranded again. I Put in a new battery and its been on the road now for 60K more miles. Electronic transmissions seem to be sensitive (across a lot of brands) to a battery not in tip top shape

Just change the battery for what, like 200 bucks? If its more than 5 years old why not?? Pinching pennies on a car that lists for nearly 60K new?

Honestly its a cheap fix, easy replacement for a part that does wear out I can;t believe we are still chatting about this. Worst case you pay 200 and it does not work. Maybe take the battery back or sell it on Craigs list for 100? Out of pocket for 100? Cheaper than a diagnosis from the dealer

I will never really understand over-reactions to problems, keep it simple st.... as they always say

 

my car started fine, then died as I was driving, I pulled over, car would try to turn over but wouldn’t start.. also said battery low... in the kid area of the console you can take off the metal piece and put the gear into neutral if you need to...anyway, after towing it to my jag shop, they ran all the codes... turns out it was the fuel pump. $1100, my warranty covered most of it, I paid for the extra labor and part about difference, plus the diagnostic.. my share was $300, so not too bad...hope that helped

 

So today I bought a brand new battery, just to see what happens, and now when u try to start it , all the lights come on, but wont start, wont even try to start, no warning on screen but does have gearbox warning on dashboard, and the gear selector light on dash just blinks from P TO R (BACK N FORTH BLINKING PARK TO REVERSE) gear shift is still stuck in the Up position and I cant move it into any gear. And now that im thinking , I wanna say this happened when I parked , I think I cut the car off in Drive, and that's when the issue started.I have appointment at dealer on Monday, will it be expensive or no? Because I was gonna trade car in in 2 weeks. Please all advice will be greatly appreciated. And will I have a issue getting it towed?
Car is stuck in garage .

 

So let's get back to the basics before going any further.

What is the battery voltage across the terminals of the NEW battery? Just because a battery is 'new' doesn't mean it's fully charged. Make sure it has 12.6 volts across the terminals when checked with a voltmeter. If it doesn't, charge the battery for four hours at 2 to 5 amps.

Also, check the condition of the battery terminals for corrosion and make sure they fit snugly around the new battery terminals.

In the event the vehicle must be recovered to the main dealer, the gear selector can be placed in the 'N' position according the instructions in the Owner's Manual.