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New to posting on the forum but longtime reader and i thank you all for the advice you’ve given me indirectly as it’s helped me solve countless problems in a troubling x type of mine so back to my debacle.
I just bought a 2001 XJR third jaguar to enter my possession sort of a dream car however im fully aware of all the usual gearbox troubles i bought this knowing what happened to it and with a full understanding that it ran great before hand during the beginning of the winter season in MN the shifter was apparently very stiff and he forced it it’s possible the shift lock was engaged and he was unaware however it is appearing to be stuck in either first or second gear with the expected p0705 accompanied by the reduced performance i have sourced a new gearbox for $300 as im pretty broke after spending $2k on the car i figured id try to repair the current linear switch myself as the saying goes you cant break whats already broken so as i have it apart in front of me im looking at the label on the motherboard and its labeled as x300 it is my understanding this is an X308 could this be part of why its not working right? It was very stiff trying to shift around the gears but the linear switch seems to move freely even before i cleaned it green stuff came off the contacts assumming it’s oxidation i moved forward but what would cause a stiff shifter? Will replacing the gearbox with one confirmed to work solve the issue or am i going deeper then this any help would be appreciated i am limited on testing tools aside from a $500 innova code reader speaking of which i cant clear the codes only sending a request to clear them? I again assume its due to the issue clearly not being corrected i intend to make this a car i keep for a lifetime.
-Jon proud new owner
The W5A580 (722.6 Mercedes) gearbox does not have a history of problems like the ZF5HP24 does.
fully understood one of the many reasons i love this beauty! However im referring to the J gate shifter assembly itself i do apologize for my miscommunication on that
Slight update: crawled under the car and sprayed some loctite rust de-atomizer ionizer stuff something ive been using to help prevent rust from growing in this frozen salt covered state with great success and a little professional grade WD-40 lube on the connection to the transmission housing and it moves much more freely now i did also manage to swing some money and scored a nice replacement J gate assembly $300 plus tax we will see when it comes the old one was clearly very worn out the linear switch didnt even have the stickers on it anymore it was obvious i was not the first one in there the long gold contact points inside the linear switch were definitely worn not sure how bad as im not a great judge of electrical connections it was still relatively gold but appeared slightly transparent but gave it a good cleaning anyway no results same issue checked and tightened all grounds surrounding the J gate i used WD- specialist contact cleaner by far the best contact cleaner ive ever used and havent used anything else since a little rubbing alcohol on a Q tip and i went over it with that using the other end as a sort of drying side to pick up any loose gunk/debris the solder points looked matte grey they didnt look like they went cold or anything negative like that one side of the resistor looked a bit worse then the other side and the area surrounding the gold trail for D-Drive looked relatively clean no scorching on any of the board what exactly inside these linear switches goes bad? That would be great to know for potential future Jgate issues just in case and maybe i can refurbish my original one now i did notice the motherboard inside the linear switch said x300 on it i can post a picture if needed is it possible the guy before me decided to replace the shifter with one from say a 1996 or similar? If I remember correctly correct me if im wrong thats the X300 right? and a common misconception for an appropriate J gate for a tempting price? Sorry for the drawn out reply i hope my information was enough to clear any confusion thanks again
I forget what my DLSS board said when I had it apart for cleaning, I wouldn't be surprised if it said x300 though, there's a decent bit of carryover parts from x300 to x308. Actually now that I think of it, it may have said "x100" instead since it was shared with the XKR's.
Do you have the X308 workshop manual? It goes thru a series of tests to perform when you have code P0705. If you had green corrosion crap on the DLSS exposed PCB traces that could definitely cause your P0705, I'd clean that very thoroughly. Mine didn't have any corrosion and still resulted in a P0705, I ended up cleaning with deoxit cleaner a couple times, then 91% isopropyl, then burnishing with steel wool, then a final cleaning with 91% isopropyl, and finally a very light coating of dielectric grease if I remember right.
Stiff shifting can be caused by corrosion in the shifter cable. You can disconnect it at the transmission's selector lever (on the transmission body itself, not the shifter) and then try moving the shifter around and see how it feels. If there's still a lot of friction you know it's the shift cable. You may be able to salvage it by working in some tri-flow lubricant (or similar) into the cable housing, or you may need a replacement if there's bad corrosion.
$300 for a transmission is a steal, and $2k for an XJR is also probably very reasonable (depending on its condition of course)... but you may want to budget a bit more into initial repairs/fixing PO's mistakes on top of that purchase cost...
For P0705 causes (listed in the order of priority that you should verify), see this crop from X308 workshop manual:
I did crawl underneath the car earlier to spray some lubricant around the shifter linkage on the transmission end of it this made it move much more freely it appears it was fairly dirty and given its location that wouldnt surprise me i use loc tite rust ionizer its a pretty expensive can but its helped keep rust from growing further on my x type for 3 years even killing some of it off or at least put it put the rust in “remission” making it seem dormant (i dont use a little) LOL and the new box i got was the J gate not an entire trans lol although 300 for a trans would definitely be a fantastic steal if it worked 😅 as for the XJR a little rust nothing chaotic engine was fully rebuilt by jaguar Minneapolis under 3 year ago looks very clean outside of the car and the engine bay reflects that same clean look and trans shows no trouble and aside from the J Gate assembly the only codes that came up were that gearbox fault range sensor and and that funny little P1000 code there are some stored codes but nothing more then a fuel rich condition which im aware it does need new plugs potentially coil packs but i wont jinx myself lol the CCM drive cycle is not set and thank you for clarifying that for me motorman it was certainly a selling point i did end up buying the new to me j gate assembly will arrive around 2-4 business days fingers crossed 🤞 to the workshop manual i do not have it i did search for a book copy of it call me old fashioned but i also dont have a computer to utilize such a tool be it as invaluable as it is Is there any chance youve got a mobile download version? Something that can be saved over a cell? And for what was done so far i disconnected the cable on the shifters end it wasnt easy to move in and out of its sheathing without the shifter assuming that’s normal as the car was off something i didnt mention above the shift selection is not illuminating either no reverse lights and stuck in the unchanging gear all classic range sensor issues you guys are the best!
I’d also suggest it’s likely to be a problem at the gearbox end rather than the J gate, the selector mechanism isn’t too complicated and there isn’t much to go wrong with it. Just be careful of the micro switches for the park and reverse sensors. Clean up the mechanism at the gearbox end and you’ll likely solve the problem.
You will find X300 stamped or printed on lots of things on these cars, lots were carried over and other bits are shared with the XK’s. There’s actually some bits shared with the XJ40 so I’m surprised I’m not seeing that stamped on some bits!
When I first bought my 01 XJR I had similar issues, being new to Jags I leaned heavily on this forum for advice and being cheap I was slow to jump in and purchase parts until I was confident in the part being bad (or at least out of other options). My journey is laid out in the thread below, might be of use to you. Cliff notes, I had a shifter gate that did not work smoothly, tried to use manual mode, trans went into failsafe and I eventually replaced the DL switch as well as the entire shifter assy with an ebay one out of an XKR which fully resolved my problem. The lack of reverse lights and no gear selector lights were among the clues that led me to the failed shifter/DL switch.
The original DL switch pcb board from my car says X300 on it, photo attached.
Ive been reading your journey for the last 2 years and i was eagerly awaiting your response mayhem so thank you for pitching in your journey is actually what made me confident in purchasing this vehicle who doesnt like a cheap XJR they can make work correctly? I know i sure do ill be reading your work tonight when i have a moment however you guys are all phenomenal top notch people so thank you for your guidance 😊🤞🙏
Sorry if my comments have been doubled up as i said before im new to posting on here so i didnt realize it actually posted the above comment section from myself thanks for your patience people LOL
You will find X300 stamped or printed on lots of things on these cars, lots were carried over and other bits are shared with the XK’s. There’s actually some bits shared with the XJ40 so I’m surprised I’m not seeing that stamped on some bits!
My first Jag was a late XJ40 & it had several bits stamped X300 despite being sold two years before they were released! One was a dashboard trim panel so I believe was there from new. I know the facelift XJ40 (rear battery) was basically a X300 with the older outer panels and a AJ6, so it's not a great surprise. Probably means no XJ40 stamps in a X308 though.
When I first bought my 01 XJR I had similar issues, being new to Jags I leaned heavily on this forum for advice and being cheap I was slow to jump in and purchase parts until I was confident in the part being bad (or at least out of other options). My journey is laid out in the thread below, might be of use to you. Cliff notes, I had a shifter gate that did not work smoothly, tried to use manual mode, trans went into failsafe and I eventually replaced the DL switch as well as the entire shifter assy with an ebay one out of an XKR which fully resolved my problem. The lack of reverse lights and no gear selector lights were among the clues that led me to the failed shifter/DL switch.
The original DL switch pcb board from my car says X300 on it, photo attached.
okay so i got the new shifter installed it same issue? When i put it in gear it shifts hard and stays in the one gear also no illumination to the PRND any help?
stored codes are
P1638 Can Link Ecm/instm circuit/network
P0705 transmission range sensor circuit PRNDL input
I also have stored codes for rich bank 1 and 2 and a small evap leak code P0175 P0172
as well as P0442 these seem unrelated but in the event they could prove useful i figured it’s important to add them im positive the evap leak is not actually there engine runs like a top and no codes pop up for engine even after having to rev to 3000rpm to get moving 30mph id like to note i suspect it needs a plug change and in the x type ive had a very similar issue with a bad plug/coil pack after messing around enough on that car with plugs and packs I eventually got it to go away permanently until another fails presumably maybe its not running as good as i think and i need a new coil pack? But just a thought it wouldnt explain the other issues but even that made my x type limp home with a gearbox fault and my code reader wont actually auto connect which means i cant fully access the cars computer i can get as far as reading codes but nothing more normally my reader lets me access each category like tcm ecm abs srs but it wont let me clear codes either id usually do that and see what pops up and tackle that fallowing the same path its all resolved but im at a brick wall it seems the wiring all appears A-Okay
Last edited by ForTheLoveOfCars; 12-08-2023 at 12:55 PM.
I’d also suggest it’s likely to be a problem at the gearbox end rather than the J gate, the selector mechanism isn’t too complicated and there isn’t much to go wrong with it. Just be careful of the micro switches for the park and reverse sensors. Clean up the mechanism at the gearbox end and you’ll likely solve the problem.
You will find X300 stamped or printed on lots of things on these cars, lots were carried over and other bits are shared with the XK’s. There’s actually some bits shared with the XJ40 so I’m surprised I’m not seeing that stamped on some bits!
so i cleaned up that end on the transmission it moves freely i ran it through the gears a few times on the j gate to try and free it up more that helped but didnt resolve the issue
12-02-2023, 08:40 AM
XJR linear switch motherboard labeled wrong?
