My XJR shifter is acting crazy. Pull out of park into drive, if red D doesn't light up car wont shift, just stays in first gear. Other times taking the shifter out of park will allow the car to roll, but at times it wont reverse when in R (acts like in nuetral), other times it does the same thing in drive. Please help. any ideas?

Shane

 

You could try doing a hard reset (remove the ground strap from the battery and hold it to the positive strap for at least 10 seconds). You should also check to see if the transmission is leaking from the electrical connector (common problem) which may be shorting the signals from the TCM.
Are there any messsages on the instrument panel and/or is the check engine light on?

 

No messages on panel and no check engine light. How hard/expensive is the TCM to replace?

 

FYI- I have one of those available BUT are you sure the cable isn't loose?

Remove the ski slope and check to see if it is loose or out of adjustment- it sounds like the position of the shifter isn't matching the transmission lever and so it is getting confused.

 

Available for how much? At this point I'm not really sure of anything. I just bought the car. So I am just starting to get into it. Not even sure what the ski loop is or how to check the shifter/cable etc. I've worked on cars my whole life, just this is my first Jag.

 

$80-but I will reiterate that I don't *think* that is your issue.

the ski slope is the wood part that goes around the shifter and up the console (looks like a ski slope jump ramp) Once that is off you will see the cable that runs next to the shifter on the right hand side- there are two nuts that can be moved to adjust the shift cable- see if they are loose, or if the "click" matches the shifter lighting up the correct gear and adjust accordingly if needed.

 

How to remove the ski slope:

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...-removal-6379/

 

Okay, I disconnected the negative battery terminal and held it the positive for over 10 seconds. When I restarted the car I had the messages and the check engine light on. Two transmission messages were High Trans Temp and Trans Fault. The red R would not light up on the shifter console, nor would the red D, the car backed out of the driveway but would not shift out of first gear. I unhooked battery again and did the reset, the Transmission messages went out on the warning panel and the D light came on and car shifted fine. I tested the check engine light and got a P1000 for the ECM, after driving the car awhile the check engine light went out. It had two other codes for the transmission stating signals were out of range as if there was a wiring problem. Went to drive car again and shifter did the same thing all over again.

I will tear ski slope apart this weekend if think this will help.

Thanks again to all who have posted.

 

Hey Shane,

Thanks for the additional info- also check the transmission plug (located on the drivers side of the transmission- unplug blow out and plug back in.

 

Further info - there are two large adjustment nuts down and to the side of the trans selector once the ski slope is out of the way, these might have come loose. There is a sweet spot you need to get back to, be very careful on how you go about tightening the two nuts back up to the post that holds the selector cable in place.

Remove the neg cable on the battery before diving in to remove the ski slope.

Once you've removed it, you'll be able to see the mech and adjustment nuts.

Make sure you've a flexi magnet as it's almost guaranteed you'll loose screws down between chassis and carpet when removing the trim, and no short cuts putting it all back in! (no spares left over!)

I've included a picture of the selector cable locking bracket and one of the large nuts, the other nut is on the other side of the bracket sandwiching the cable to the bracket, with this you can adjust the selection into the micro controller forward of the bracket. Yes it's a rhd car so your system is on the other side, but is the same. Moving the selector into each gear so it feels right, tighten up and reconnect the battery, see if you've got it correct, if not back the nuts off and re-adjust.

If this doesn't cure it, then it can be a leaking seal at the gearbox where the control wiring harness plugs in, check by looking underneath, disconnect the harness by twist and pull, any fluid around? If so you'll need to order an updated seal.

Hope this helps, update with any progress

LOL - I've just seen Dsnyder's post!

 

Hey Shane,

Any updates?

 

Well the hard reset with battery cable didn't work. I am not going to be able to tear into it until this weekend. Something interesting, when I turn the key on and let all the bells and whistles run through all there stuff before starting it does some better. I will keep you updated.

 

Hi Shane8362
It does sound like the shifter cable is out of adjustment.

You have looked at this XJR Gear Shift thread "Shifter Stuck":

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...r-stuck-66097/

Jim Lombardi

 

Okay here is the update. it is fixed. Thanks to my friend Hunter. We took the console and everything we needed to to get to the shifter assembly. Pictured you will see a black box, the shifter control switch, we placed the car in drive with the red D not lit up, Hunter moved the connector around on this box and the D lit up. We removed the shifter control switch and found that the connectors, shown in other picture were worn down and not making good contact, Hunter used a pointed punch to raise the connectors on the three prongs. We put it all back together and it worked so much better. It is working great now.

Hope this helps someone in the future.

.

 

Oh yeah, here is a pic of the car. 1999 XJR

 

Well done - not heard of this problem or fix before, thanks for the update, it adds to the forum.

 

+1

It's certainly a brand new discovery never seen on JF before.

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