Just bought my second jag, a 2001 vdp, and the j-gate is very sticky at the bottom of the J, moving the stick from D to 4. It almost seems like the stick is hitting the sides of the plastic/metal, making it really hard to pull across. Has anyone seen this before and can offer any suggestions on how to make the shifter move smoothly?

 

Two likely things to look at are the selector cable adjustment and the lever itself might be bent. I have replaced dozens of levers, plastic housings and park locks after the cars have been to the auctions. The auction lot employees figured out that a quick HARD pull on the lever will get the car out of PARK when the battery is flat. It breaks the plastic housing where the park lock solenoid is attached and sometimes the levers get bent backwards so the lever hits the rear of the selector illumination module before the peg for the 4,3,2 plastic block is aligned. You will force the ball end of the peg into the plastic block but it will feel stiff as it is not lined up!!
If you can move the selector out of PARK without applying the brake, then the housing is broken (and maybe the lever is bent). The plastic housing may have been repaired but the bent lever may have been reused or it could just be the cable out of adjusment. You need to remove the console trim and 'J'-Gate illumination module to see what is wrong.

bob gauff

 

Hey @motorcarman, thanks for the quick reply. I'll look at that soon and make sure to report back to this thread on what I found.

 

Well, I got in there and looked around. The plastic piece is not broken, and I must use the brake to move the car out of park. My guess is that the stick is bent slightly, but I can't tell from looking at it. I fastened down the J-Gate illumination module tightly at the bottom, making it sit at a more preferred angle, and the friction moving the stick across the bottom of the J is much better. I also added some needed grease to the mechanism, which helped all around. Thanks for the ideas.