I have had a few situations where I can’t move the automatic shift
lever when the car is sitting in near Zero F. weather. This
happened once last year. Warming up the car eventually allowed me
to move the lever into gear with very heavy effort. I ordered a new
shift cable from Jaguar and installed it in the warmer weather.
Upon inspection during disassembly, the transmission shift lever
and the console shift lever move freely independantly.
The cable even when new is very stiff and tight. The old and new
cables were similar in force required to move cable through the
casing. Anyway, not having any alternatives I installed the new
cable routing the cable very carefully and taking advantage of its
natural shape and wanting to minimize any internal friction between
the cable case and the cable. No provisions or opportunities
existed to lube the cable without compromising the sealing features
of the casing ends. Well the warmer weather was not a good test for
the new cable since it worked fine with both the old cable and new
cable. Now, the cold weather is back. I barely was able to move the
shift lever into reverse. Couldn’t move it into drive until the car
warmed up and idled for another 20 or more minutes while it was
stuck in reverse. Am I missing something? Has anyone had this
situation with a fix? I believe it is the cable and whatever
lubricant is in there is sensitive to the ambient temperature and
affecting the cable internal slide. I believe that the simple
warming up of the cable casing from the exhaust
system/engine/transmision makes a difference. My next step would be
to disconnect from the transmission lever and let the car soak in
the cold and try to move the console shift lever with the
transmission lever disconnected. This can prove my belief, but what
is the fix? These cables are expensive and not very easy to
replace. Has anyone found this to be something else?
By the way the interlock solenoid is not interferring from my
observation.–
Joseph1
–Posted using Jag-lovers JagFORUM [forums.jag-lovers.org]–
In reply to a message from Joseph1 sent Fri 4 Jan 2008:
Mine was acting like that, very stiff and hard to move on both ends
ie Park and Drive, as well as the other part of the ‘‘J’’ gate being
inaccessable. I removed the cover to access the shifting mechanism
in the console and sprayed it with a light oil, then greased with
white grease. It immediately freed up and moved the way it was
supposed to, the way it had before the problem started. I will say
it is a little harder to move at low temps but still relatively
easy compared to before I oiled/greased it. In my case the cable
was not the problem it was fine.
Lee Murray–
The original message included these comments:
I have had a few situations where I can’t move the automatic shift
lever when the car is sitting in near Zero F. weather. This
happened once last year. Warming up the car eventually allowed me
to move the lever into gear with very heavy effort. I ordered a new
replace. Has anyone found this to be something else?
–
Lee Murray '95 XJS 4.0 Convertible '96 XJ6
Sherburne, NY, United States
–Posted using Jag-lovers JagFORUM [forums.jag-lovers.org]–
–Support Jag-lovers - Donate at http://www.jag-lovers.org/donate04.php –
In reply to a message from Joseph1 sent Fri 4 Jan 2008:
Lee, thanks for your reply. You headed me in the right direction. I
took the sky slope off and the shifter gate. I cleaned the round
bolt-like slide that the shifter mechanism moves along and lubed it
lightly with Lubriplate. What a difference. The slide had a film of
lube on it already, but I wiped it off anyway and applied the lube.
The ultimate test will be the extreme cold we have, but the
difference is significant already.
Thanks again.–
The original message included these comments:
I have had a few situations where I can’t move the automatic shift
lever when the car is sitting in near Zero F. weather. This
–
Joseph1
–Posted using Jag-lovers JagFORUM [forums.jag-lovers.org]–
–Support Jag-lovers - Donate at http://www.jag-lovers.org/donate04.php –