The parking brake pawl assembly prevents the car from moving when the selector is in the P (Park) position. According to the manual, the process is controlled by the “Parking Brake Pawl Assembly which engages the external teeth formed by the ring gear.” There is a drawing of the Pawl Assembly on page FFA.29 in the factory service manual. I wonder if this device malfunctioned and caused the 71 XJ6 to act like the selector is in Park, when it is not. Where is thi
Hi Lou - it’s inside the transmission. You’d have to pull the pan to see it. Before you do all that you can operate the selector by hand if you disconnect the cable.
Also I’ve read some of your thread about not being able to move the rear wheels… Before you go straight for the parking pawl (they rarely give any trouble) I’d make sure your parking brake mechanism is free. On one of my S1’s a return spring fork on one side came out of the holes and jammed it on. I couldn’t push the car at all until I figured out the issue. Had to remove the offending assembly and readjust. It’s not fun without a lift but can be done fairly easily.
Also it’s not unheard of for the rear calipers to lock up with disuse. I got my S3 cheap because of that.
But have you lifted both rear wheels to test each wheel’s braking separately to detect eventual sticking? And if not - and the parking pawl is engaged, the wheels will counterrotate.
Powr-Lok will rotate both wheels in the same direction - unless parking pawl locks up gearbox - or there is some other blocking problem…
But as Mike says; the parking pawl rarely cause trouble, unless seriously misused - or parking on a slope without the handbrake holding…
Lou - here is a pic I just took of a very dirty BW Model 12 from a 72 XJ6 I have in my garage. Inside the Blue circle is the shift lever - it’s shown in Park position. For orientation, this is the left (Driver’s side for US cars) side of the transmission. Engine is to the left in the pic. Cable is attached through the hole.
You’ll find that it’s easy to move the lever by hand but Park takes a little more oomph to get into. Park is rotation clockwise til it stops.
If you’re convinced the brake system isn’t the culprit, It’s not inconceivable that the cable is damaged or disconnected and when you move the lever it doesn’t move anything - although that would probably be obvious by when you move the shifter. You’ve got alot of things to check but once you get under there you should figure it out pretty quick.
Hey Lou - one other thing. If the bolt circled in the pic below is not there you may not be able to push it out of park but it may feel like something is happening… another thing to check.
Thanks for your thoughtful response. I am not anxious get into the transmission. I’ll address your suggestions one at a time.
I too wonder if disuse and subsequent lockup of the calipers is the source of the problem. The car has not been moved in at least a year, maybe more, time flies when you are having fun. So if the calipers locked up from disuse, do you have any suggestions on how to free them?
Thanks for your response. I ran out of time and energy this afternoon so no, I did not lift both wheels yet. I may do that tomorrow. But if not, I will in the next few days.
If they’re locked up there’s a slim chance you could pry them back in the bore and loosen them up but more than likely it means rebuilding/replacing unfortunately. Brake fluid takes on moisture from the air and with pretty much all British cars of this vintage the fluid reservoir is vented directly to the atmosphere - so more moisture. More moisture means more rust in those calipers gunking them up.
Really this is all speculation however… check the easy things first to confirm what route you’ll have to travel. Once you lift the car and perform some of the easy checks other have mentioned you’ll know what the problem is.
Its not unusual for brake pads to lock on the the discs after a long period of disuse, they can be hard to budge. (is the cars engine going to move forward and back) ?
It is possible the pistons are seized in the cylinders, which although requiring a rebuild to rectify, if they can be freed up enough to not be locked on the discs, you can get by without them for a bit.
My 420G rear pistons were frozen in the bore when I rebuilt them (so had been inactive), vehicle still braked satisfactory enough to pass brake test!
there may be a ring of rust (or blued metal) where the brake pad should wipe the disc, if they have been seized for a while
I, like the others, doubt your brake pawl will be a problem internally, it may be the external cable adjustment is out, or jammed
lifting the rear wheels should relieve some residual stress on the pawl
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Which means that, A;brakes on both wheels are stuck, or B;you have Powr-Lok and the parking pawl is stuck. Or C;something else is preventing diff/wheels/box from turning.
If brakes are stuck on one wheel, turning the ‘free’ wheel will turn the propeller shaft via the plain diff - unless the pawl/box is stuck…
Disconnecting the propeller shaft as Carl suggest, will effectively isolate the problem to the diff itself and the rear brakes. And if neither wheel then cannot be moved; brakes is the likely cause - or some combination of unknown factors…
Incidentally, any sign of rust on the exposed parts of the discs…?
While brute force may solve sticking brakes; it would be potentially catastrophic with a stuck parking pawl…
Do you think the easiest way to eliminate pawl issue would be to disconnect one nut as circled in blue in pic, then manually click actuator to each setting ?
(I have done this, might be stiff enough to need multigrips)
I would be surprised if it was a jammed pawl, even more so if damaged
