XJ8 gear stick sticking

[Euro5stars]

Just got the car back after a water pump being fitted. Started her up, but couldn't engage Drive. The stick just won't budge out of park. After about 3 or 4 mins a slight click can be heard and the gears can be selected. Parked up for an hour and the same thing happened before gear could be selected. The car has been sat for about 3-4 weeks and feels very damp in the cabin.
So, the questions are.....what inhibits gear stick movement from park and what is the 'click' that can be heard just before gear selection? Any simple cure?
Cheers

[Jaguar steve]

There is a lock mechanism that prevents the gear selector from being moved out of Park without the brake pedal being pressed. It's possible either the brake light switch has failed, even though the brake lights might still work, or the solenoid has got stuck. The click you can hear is probably the solenoid eventually moving and releasing the selector lever

You can bypass the solenoid by unscrewing the star drive plug on the J gate surround and poking a pencil or thin rod into the hole to manually disengage the lock and move the selector. Take care doing this as the mechanism is fragile so if it really is stuck don't force anything.

Once freed off try a shot of WD40 into the plug hole and work the mechanism a few times.

It's possible the selector cable from the J gate to the gearbox has partially seized but try the pencil trick first.

[Euro5stars]

Will try that. Pushed the pedal many times and can see the brake lights coming on. Thinking its inactivity has caused the fault, although it's had the odd time when it won't come off 'lock' since I got it 18 months ago.
Cheers for the advice.

[Euro5stars]

Will try that. Pushed the pedal many times and can see the brake lights coming on. Thinking its inactivity has caused the fault, although it's had the odd time when it won't come off 'lock' since I got it 18 months ago.
Cheers for the advice.