I have just aquired a 1998 xj8 but when the car is parked up an intermittant fault occurs where as the rear wheels lock solid in both fwd and reverse,is this the handbrake mechanism at fault?

the most likeley cause is the rear pads siezed in the caliper frames, when you apply the electronic park brake it detects incorrect travel and disables the park brake.check that first.the park brake motor is also suspect. you should really get the fault codes out of the parkbrake module to help diagnose yhis issue.

Dont think they will be related but when you press the brake pedal with the ignition on can you here a solenoid click under the gear shift? These are common to fail and often don't release the shifter.

Hello
The engine and automatic transmission in this vehicles drive train are fully electronically controlled by a computer called the PCM (Power Train Control Module). Whenever a problem like this occurs the computer stores a record of the problem (there are of course some exceptions to this, like the fuel pump, engine coolant temperature sensor and MAF sensor for instance) in the form of a fault code in its memory, to read these fault codes you must have the systems memory scanned with a special tool. Once the fault code(s) are read you then must perform the appropriate diagnostic testing to find and resolve the problem(s) DO NOT REPLACE ANY PARTS UNTIL A TRAINED TECHNICAIN HAS DIAGNOSED THE PROBLEM TO AVOID SPEDING YOUR HARD EARNED MONEY ON PARTS THAT MAY NOT CORRECT THE PROBLEM

fwd i believe have worked on one in awhile but 98 99 were both fwd if i remember correctly

you may have a broken transfer box or a damaged locking hub on the wheels that arent used in 4x4 mode, i.e. if your car is FWD unless its in 4-low, check the rear locking hubs for failure. Other wise it sounds like a transmission fault in the aforementioned transfer box or differential.

Most likely the lock out switch at the brake pedal is at fault, because in order to put it in in to any gear you have to step on the brake first ! Their is a switch located which prevents you put it in gear with out stepping on the brake pedal, so check this switch first.

damaged break calipers on rear wheels doaaaaaahh

My car show error code PO171

rear wheel drive

try putting oil in ur rear axle