Hello all,
First some intro, then a request for much needed help. please.
.

The S-Type tucked away if far corner, and X-Type nosed in front of it are in tip-top condition again, while the XJ8 Sport is now out in the central bay, where I can get in to pull and repair gear selector.

The XJ8 has broken interlock in transmission selector (not broken gearbox as advertised), often found after ignorant, ham-fisted wannabes wrench gear lever out of Park without first engaging footbrake. I bought it with its fault preventing any stick selection other than R, N, D. I found broken internal bits stop the stick from engaging P or any transit over to manual side of J-Gate . . . nowt other than one position fore and aft of where you see the stick here, in 'N', which allows start and drive.

This pic shows gaping hole in wall of selector, with all the bits in following pic found lying inside once cover was removed. This is the interlock which requires several things happen before releasing gear lever, allowing it to move from PARK (key in; ignition on; foot brake on)

The bar with 90 degree hole is the armature that fits inside solenoid at left of previous pic. Other bits are a jigsaw I have not yet solved.

Final pic of disc superglued from the 8 pieces I found. This disc is upside down in pic, and it is my intention to laminate another disc of black plastic onto its visible surface to strengthen and hide all my glue joints. Only then, will I have a shot at solving the jigsaw puzzle. I have rebuilt the curved ramp in lower half of disc as this engages the D to 4 micro-switch under the upper gate illumination module that signals a shift to the manual 4, 3, 2 side of the J-Gate.

At first, I confess not being over fussed about the mashed PARK interlock. The 2 safety interlocks (P & N) are still present, refusing any engine cranking unless either PARK or NEUTRAL is engaged. In addition, I believe the critical parking pawl is contained internally in the gearbox itself. I believe that it is 'set' by the selector cable, without being contained in here, but I will check this with my gurus. However, I do see a major safety issue in being able to move lever from PARK before car is started, thus releasing pawl and perhaps allowing car to roll on an incline if handbrake or foot brake are not engaged.

It goes without saying (but I should have) that, once freed of all the shrapnel seen in centre pic, and several of the larger bits that are now glued to reform the disc in final pic, I have regained full, uninterrupted motion of the gear selector shaft all the way into and from P all the way down to D, then across gate into 4, 3, then 2. I cannot recall if red illumination of these gear position letters and numbers was working before disassembly, because of restricted stick movement.

Why don't I simply chuck it, and replace? New is NLA; used are fiendishly expensive; and none are available down here. With airlines screaming for international business, you would not think I need a sizeable mortgage to import one, then extend mortgage to pay for freight! If push comes to shove, I will 3D print new replacement(s). What would be nice is a pic of the actuator > armature > shift lever arrangement that should be inside under cover plate. Anybody been there with a camera?

If so, this will help me solve the jigsaw, and complete my 'How To . . . R&R of Centre Console and Transmission Selector' if anyone is interested, including some features that are not revealed in the manuals (and thus, took me days of hair pulling to discover)!

Cheers,

Ken

 

I used to rebuild them when I worked at the dealer. Many cars came in after purchase at an auction.
It is not that the people that break them (usually lot jockeys at auction houses) don't know to step on the brake peddle, it's that they don't want to go get a battery charger to get the lock solenoid energized.

When the battery dies, it is easier to grab the selector lever and 'YANK' the lever HARD to break the housing and the car rolls free!!!!!
It can be pushed in to a better location to work on it.

I used to just go the parts dept and get a new housing. Put all the parts back in and send the car on it's way.
Be aware that the lever itself can be BENT and NOT line up correctly with the slots for the 4,3,2, 'J' Gate.

In that case a new or replacement lever assy is requires. (been there, done that)

 

Thanks Bob,
.
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Yep; first thing I checked . . . R, N, and D line up perfectly, no start other than at N . . .
. . . all suggest lever not bent backwards down gate from P.
Of course, it could be bent sideways, but unlikely coming down P > D side in gate, and looks straight.
When in D, up and down shifts silky smooth; great also in R but car travels backwards; doesn't do much at all in N . . .

Plan is to reassemble with repaired D > 4 disc, but not PARK interlock, and road test all functions.
I am still fairly good st chess and Sudoko, but this jigsaw puzzle of bits has me beat!
Rebuilding the D > 4 disc was a worthwhile step. but the other may be beyond 'a giant leap for mankind'!
I will leave console out, then replace entire unit when one becomes available.

I will post updates as work progresses

 

Well . . . that didn't go as planned!

After tracking replacement J-Gates across the world (those for our 98-03 X308s being far fewer than those for 6-speed as in S-Type, XK, X358), then practicing my Hollywood inspired Texas drawl, and even dusting off my schoolboy French and Italian, up popped one in downtown Melbourne, some 1300Km away!

Lovely chap (well, all VDP owners are, eh?) we negotiated a fair price for complete J-Gate assembly, including pristine upper illumination module and unscathed brake interlock. Moreover, seller turns up having family in my home town here! Selector is now winging its way to me via Australia's famous Kangaroo Mail. Ok; OK; I accept that it was inspired by The US Pony Express, but we have far more kangaroos than ponies!

Do I sound happy? Yeeharr! Sole fly in ointment is the $450 I had just invested in SuperGlue to mend my unsolved jigsaw puzzle of broken bits in post #1.

On a more serious note, I may still do a write-up on both the R&R of Centre Console as well as the Transmission Selector, acknowledging prior threads, but because I found so many steps that will baffle the newcomer . . . either because they are poorly explained, or not at all, or (for my car anyway), they are either wrong or misleading. Like most jobs, these are easily doable - if and after you know how!

Cheers,

 

Good work, that swap is fiddly. I had to swap a broken one out on an XJ40 but I wasn't brave enough to try gluing it and saving it first. I was lucky and found an intact used one for about $50 if I recall.

 

Update is warranted, and Noah, your comment of 'fiddly' is an understatement . . . doable but frustrating!

Replacement checked and proved in excellent condition except for some scratched, white line printing around the 'D' area . . . and that prompted me to swap in my original upper illumination unit. I then fitted the combination of replacement selector box, including solenoid and all micro-switches, interlocks, and with the undamaged, replacement D > 4 disk under the original illumination unit. Care taken to refix box to tunnel in original position and cable refitted, having previously kept the forward nut undisturbed and only loosening, now tightening, the rear nut.

Results were as follows . . .

• still in N, key in, car started normally, turned off, chiming correctly;
• no start in 2, 3, 4, D, or R, all of which showed correct interlocking;
• restart in N, shifts to R, D, 4, 3, 2, all provoked correct, positive car motion;
• no start fractionally either side of N confirmed perfect cable adjustment;
• I noted that positions 2, 4, D, R, and P all illuminated correctly, but not 3 nor N . . . (follow-up task #1);
• now selector was in P, start was OK, but even with foot-brake, lever was locked . . . (follow-up task #2);
• remember, I bought car with only R, N, D so I was unable to fully check illuminations;
• released P interlock using key in star-plug, then removed key and moved lever to N.

Task #1 . . . will swap in the illumination PCB from replacement and recheck positional marker lights. If all good, I am done on that fix. If not, its out with my soldering iron to swap known good marker lights to replace bad. They look like LEDs, which calls for a little more care not to overheat. I will update on this later . . .

Task #2 . . . cannot hear P solenoid engage, and it is now dark enough to confirm that brake lights are not working. As the foot-brake switch is a critical link in the solenoid release of the P interlock, this is an obvious go-to point. My bet is that, as soon as I get this switch working (or replaced, because they are known to fail), my P interlock will start releasing correctly also.

Notwithstanding the comments of motorcarman, this latter may also explain an alternate sequence of why the selector was 'mashed' in the first place. If so, I worry somewhat at the 600Km drive home with no brake lights . . . never thought to check!

Further update to follow. As I said . . . doable but frustrating!
Cheers,

Ken

 

Update . . .

Three pics here show my rebuilt J-Gate selector unit with upper illumination module. It was made up from the combined best of my original and replacement components. The 3 pics each show a few stories not revealed in the Workshop Manual. All interlocks based on internal micro-switches now work as new, all positional red LED lights and soft blue background lights all work . . .


Front view

The first pic (Front view) shows the open slotted central fixing point (black) that allows the hex nut to remain on the floor mounted stud when removing and refitting. The cable curling around to terminate in smaller white plug partly hidden by solenoid is the Park switch. The cable of many multi-coloured wires joins the illumination module in another, but larger white connector. Between the two, the nose of the solenoid accepts another latched connector.



LHS view

The second pic (LHS view) shows the slotted rear floor fixture point, but the nut here is far easier to fix than the front. Note the star plug is removed because, until refitted to car, this is the access hole to release gear lever from Park. Note also, the LHS plate onto which the connectors are mounted . . . top lug is for white Park connector, which slides on from back to front; bottom lug is for larger white Illumination connector; middle lug is for pass through blue connector; with both the latter connectors sliding on from front to back. Reason for highlighting these lugs is that they are easier to slide off, then unlatch, rather than the opposite.



RHS view

The third pic (RHS view) shows the cad plated side plate with remaining two floor fixing points, gear change cable retentions (self locking nut in situ below grey connector). Of the 3 micro-switch connectors, and contrary to pic in Workshop Manual, the front-most lug remains free because the Park switch connector id mounted on LHS, as noted previously. The middle grey connector is for the Neutral connector and the rear-most yellow connector is for the Drive > 4 micro-switch. Plugs for all are colour matched.

The unit is now back in the car, tested in all gears, cable re-adjusted for precise P and N starts, then tested again to confirm start is inhibited when lever is neither in P or N. All good, but before refitting console, it's off to remove footbrake switch so that I have both stoplights and Park interlock release..

Further update to follow . . .

Cheers,

Ken