The first two times I did not use my car for awhile (2-4 weeks) when I started using it again the gear shift lever would be stiff. After using it for a while it started to work fine. In addition to being stiff the car would go into park (ie the car would not move) but sometimes the car would not start unless I pushed the selector forward a bit.

Recently I did not use the car for awhile. The gear shift selector is not stiff this time but the car is not going into park-even though the selector says park. In fact whenever I put the selector into park the car still moves a little if I am on a hill. Also the car will only start in neutral now.

Any idea what I need to do here?

Thank you,
Jomo

 

The 96 XJ6 ?

 

Yes.

 

Be careful in removing the thin chrome plastic surround on the

To the right is the transmission linear switch

 

Is the linear switch what allows me get out of park? The gear shift selector does go into park. Once I am in park I can't get out of park unless I have the key in the on position and I have my foot on the brakes. The transmission does not go into park. If I was unclear about that sorry. The will roll a few inches before the car stops. At that point it seems to be in park.

 

Hi jomo,

Sorry to join your thread late. In addition to Parker's suggestions, I'm wondering if you may have a problem with your gear selector cable. It would be worth raising the vehicle and inspecting the cable where it connects to the transmission to be sure the cable is still properly attached to the lever and the bracket that secures the cable to the transmission is not loose. One or both screws have been known to loosen and even to fall out.

The L-shaped connector on the end of the cable where it connects to the transmission lever has a ball-and-socket joint, which corrodes and wears out over time and sometimes the ball even pops out of the socket. It's possible there is a problem in your J-gate where the cable connects, but the end of the cable at the transmission is the more common problem area since it is subjected to the elements and a lifetime of vibration.

It could be that your cable has stretched, and there is a provision for adjusting it at the transmission end. You can physically move the lever on the side of the gearbox to the Park position, put the gearshift lever in Park, then adjust the slack out of the cable. Here's the diagram showing the ends of the cable:







Cheers,

Don