Hi everyone,

I’m having a bit of trouble with my 2006 Jaguar S-Type and could use some advice. The electronic boot opening isn’t working. I’ve already replaced the boot latch, but it didn’t fix the problem. The boot still opens manually, so it’s not a total loss, but I’d like to get the electronic part working again.

Just to note, my car doesn’t have a valet button in the glove box, so that wouldn’t be causing the issue.

Has anyone else had this issue? Any tips or tricks you can share would be really appreciated.

Thanks a lot!

 

Normally what happens is the wires going to the latch break from being bent over and over as the trunk is opened and closed.
Remove and inspect the harness that bends going into the trunk.
They will be internal breaks so you might not see any broken wires but check with a meter. A bit tedious but not bad for a DIY repair.
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Thanks for the suggestion about checking the wires going to the latch. It’s a good point about the wear and tear they can experience. I did take a look at the harness and used a meter to check for breaks. Interestingly, when I press the button, there is an electric current reaching the boot latch, as indicated by my volt meter.

This leads me to think that the issue might not be with the wiring after all. The weird part is, the replacement boot latch I bought was used. It’s starting to cross my mind that maybe this one was broken too. I guess I might have to try a new one to see if that solves the problem. Thanks again for your help!

 

Could be and those broken wires are doing a make and break so sometimes it works and sometimes not so much?
Volt meter should tell you. Seems unlikely to have 2 bad trunk latches? They do go bad but I don't see many postings about them. Usually they find wire problems.
New harness (It should unplug somewhere in the trunk) or attempt to repair the damage. It's up to you.
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I think I’ll follow your suggestion and get a new section of the wiring harness. Interestingly, last year when I was programming the key to the car, I held the boot button, and the boot randomly opened. It worked like this for about a month and then stopped. I’ve tried repeating the process, but it doesn’t seem to do the trick anymore. Seems like there might be more to it than just a wiring issue, but I’ll start with the harness replacement and see how it goes. Thanks again for your help

 

Fobs go bad due to wear / dirt - could it be that?

 

I don’t think it’s the fob in this case because both of them work fine for locking and unlocking the car

 

Different button for the boot, though.

You have 2 fobs & both don't work for the boot? That does tend to rule them out.

BTW the lack of a valet button - me too but it CAN cause this. I had the glove box off to fix a heater problem (DCCV module etc) and left a wire disconnected. It caused what you describe. (In effect the wire is the valet button bypass or such.)

 

I’ll send you a video to show you what’s happening. However, I’m still leaning towards it not being related to the valet button because I do get power to the connector when pressing the boot button

 

Take a look at the 2006 wiring diagram here, near the top of this page:

JagRepair.com - Jaguar Repair Information Resource

Scroll down to figure 12.1 or 12.2. I'm not sure of the difference between "double locking" and "non double locking", but since the valet switch is shown as optional in figure 12.1, I think that's the diagram you want.

Before you dig too deep, try the external button on the trunk lid. The doors have to be unlocked for this button to be active.

Next, open the trunk and look for the "boot open" message on the dashboard. The circuit for the position switch (called the trunk ajar switch in the wiring diagram) shares the same ground as the release solenoid. This ground is CA156 and is located in the trunk. This wire (and the others in the same harness) pass through the hinge area and are prone to damage from flexing. If this particular wire were to break, you'd also lose the "boot open" warning message when the trunk is open.

If still no smoking gun, disconnect the connector from the latch mechanism. Using fused jumpers, apply battery power to terminal CA26-4 and a ground to CA26-3. A good solenoid will make a satisfying clunk.

You had previously mentioned confirming voltage reaching the solenoid when the button is pressed. One important caveat: Repeat this test with a test light, so there's actually a normal load on the circuit. Consider a multi-stranded wire with only one strand intact, such as if damaged by flexing. A multimeter draws such a miniscule amount of current that a voltage reading will appear normal, so all seems good. But when you try to operate the circuit with a normal load, and the current drops off to practically nothing. This gotcha has tripped up many people, self included. So always remember with an unloaded circuit, a good voltage reading is NOT conclusive that the circuit will behave under normal conditions.

 

To add to above, when you checked the voltage you probably did this with trunk open. (= assumption...)
This might be position that broken wire is compressed to make contact where with closed book it is interrupted(?)

 

Is there any chance that this is your problem? :
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/s...n-gear-274805/
The link shows I solved my boot latch problem, which could not be opened electrically anymore, only by key.

 

Unfortunately, I can’t check this solution at the moment as my car is currently in another country. I plan to bring it back in December, and I’ll definitely look into your suggested fix then. I’ll let you know how it goes. Thanks for your help