Okay, here is the latest. I did the "hard reset" suggested by Gus. I did a fuse check. I rechecked my connections. Result? Nothing changed. Did not check the cable adjustment. Not enough time. Also tried the old J-gate plate.
I only have one switch on the right side versus two in a photo I was shown. Not sure why but it appears there never was a second one.
Anyone know what the metal piece is for next to my finger in the photo I hope to attach?

 

Okay, here is the photo right side up. The metal piece is in the upper left hand corner under the J-gate assembly

 

I would say it is a stop. Move the shifter around and see what takes place.

 

Now that i looked at my photo it looks like the shifter lock linkage.

 

John,

What most people don't realize is, that the shifter should NEVER be moved if the illumination module [what you call the J-Plate] is off the shifter assembly. The illumination module also is the GUIDE for the shift lever. The first danger is when moving the lever unguided, you risk wiping the small metal lever right off the microswitch. [see the circle in Gus' picture] The second is getting the two ball shaped levers out of the correct position to move the white switch block. [arrows in the picture] The upper ball should be engaged in the white block as you see. The shift lever then has to be properly GUIDED across the J-Gate to the manual side, to engage the lower ball in the BOTTOM of the white switch block. If the lever is moved over to the left when not in the proper position [guided by the illumination module] it won't engage properly, and may not even go to the manual side. I suspect that is what's happened to you.

I know that's long winded, but it's a bit difficult to describe. You need to be sure the microswitch has not been damaged, [you have one, Gus has two] and see if the upper ball is correctly engaged in the white block.

Good luck!

 

That is the lever to override the shifter interlock, for instance if you have a dead battery. The star plug in the illumination module is unscrewed and a probe inserted to press that lever and allow moving the shifter from Park so the car can be moved.

 

Steve
First of all, thanks for taking the time out to help. The mystery just gets stranger though.
A couple of questions. What is the upper arrow slightly to the left pointing at?
My shifter only has the one switch as mentioned and the one on the J gate is undamaged and it appears to only come into play when the shifter is in the manual shifting mode on the left side of the gate. Does that sound correct?

Now the strange part. I had everything loosely put together so that I could access it quickly. I looked at the shift arm and it is in the white fork or the two bar shaped levers as I believe you called them. All looked fine. I believe that the shift arm disengages from these when it is on the left side in manual shift mode. Well, I started playing around with it and suddenly was able to shift into the left side without the J gate on. Well I carefully moved it back over to the right side and into park. The light was still flashing so I disconnected the battery to reset everything. The light stopped flashing. The shift goes into all positions. I put the J gate back on and all is working! I noted that when I go over to the left side, the red light on the J gate stays in the D position. Is that normal? When shifting on the right side,via follows the shifter arm correctly. Sorry for the long post

 

Okay, car is possessed! I put everything back together and now the red light follows the shifter arm on both sides of the gate and it is not blinking. This is starting to remind me of the old Jagusr antics of years past when I actually worked on Jags for a living. Back in the early 80s. I thought Ford would have gotten all those magic tricks removed.

 

Well, I took the car for a drive. It seems to drive fine. All lights on the shifter working correctly. Shifting fine. I did notice that at times, I hear a low squeak or chirp around shift changes when accelerating. I think usually 2nd to 3rd. It seems to come from the rear of the car and it may have existed before and I failed to notice it. Any ideas? Thanks to all for your help thus far.

 

Regarding your shift change noise, search the forum using "ZF 6HP26 squawk" as your key phrase. A very common issue impacting these 6-speed ZF transmissions. The cure is essentially fresh ATF. You'll need to decide which ATF to use....

 

Sounds like you got it back together, or at least closer to what it should be. The gear position lights should still follow the lever though. There must still be something not right either with the linear switch, or with the shift lever and its engagement with the white block when on the manual side. Here's a description:

The J-Gate comprising the linear switch and Illumination module as a sub-assembled component is a fully transmitting and receiving node on the 2003 MY XK. The dual linear switch provides electronic control for the ZF 6HP26 six-speed automatic transmission in the manual selection position 5,4,3 and 2. The switch has no mechanical link to the transmission from the manual side of the J-Gate. All interface on the manual side is by electronic code generated within the linear switch and then transmitted via the CAN link. The switch also provides an output signal NEUTRAL, when the gear position neutral is selected. It monitors the mode switch status and provides an output to switch the mode switch status LED in accordance with the mode switch operation strategy. Gear position selected is indicated by illuminating the corresponding graphic on the illumination module, controlled via a CAN message on the CAN BUS. The illumination of the gear position is sequential, illuminating individually each position. There is no visible lag between the lever and state illumination while moving between all positions on the J-Gate. Each position is illuminated by one red LED - 50mA maximum. Dimming is not applied to state illumination. NOTE: only one of these LED's is illuminated at any one time. Gear positions P, R, N and D are illuminated via a CAN message transmitted by the TCM however the code for these positions is generated by the gear position switch located within the transmission. When the gear lever is moved to the manual side, gear positions 5, 4, 3, 2 as selected are illuminated via a CAN message, but the code for this gear positions is generated by the dual linear switch fitted to the J-Gate assembly.

Jon has you covered on the squawk.

Cheers,

 

I used what ZF called for. That way I have peace of mind.

 

I found the disconnet strategy to work, but what actually is the red flasher?