I left my 2009 XJ8 L in a buddy's driveway while on Vacation, and came back to a dead battery. Unfortunately this means I'm unable to access my trunk (or glovebox) as it's tied in to the electrical system. I'd be most appreciative if anyone had advice on how to access the trunk in order to jump/charge the battery. My Owner's Manual is in the glovebox, so I can't look to see if there's any sort of under hood charge point or hidden key spot on/around the trunk itself and don't want to drill as some of the videos I saw suggested. The hood latch still allows access, and I believe there are also under hood charge points but I did not see my model/model year in any of the posts or videos I found. As those other posts showed the charge points in various locations (the most common being to the side of the fuse box on the passenger side), I'm uncertain as to where to connect and I wouldn't want to screw anything up by running juice through a the wrong area. It may well be obvious once I open the hood again to look (the fuse box may be in the very same location, with an obvious/similar layout as in the videos), but I hadn't seen the photos and videos before returning from my buddy's place and he's not just down the block so I can't stop out to have a quick look. Any advice or guidance, especially with photos, would be greatly appreciated.

 

Look under the trunk plinth above the license plate to the right, there is a key slot for the trunk.

There are no underhood battery contacts designed on this vehicle. You *might* be able to connect 12v to the stud of the maxi fuse in the underhood fuse block (this is for the fan's power), and use that to electrically release the trunk. But only for that, not for jumping the entire vehicle.

 

Thank you for the quick response! I’ll stop by my buddy’s this afternoon, and hopefully gain quick access. I also appreciate the heads up (and warning) on the other potential option, which I’ll only try if absolutely necessary. [,QUOTE=Hamilton;2565390]Look under the trunk plinth above the license plate to the right, there is a key slot for the trunk.

There are no underhood battery contacts designed on this vehicle. You *might* be able to connect 12v to the stud of the maxi fuse in the underhood fuse block (this is for the fan's power), and use that to electrically release the trunk. But only for that, not for jumping the entire vehicle.[/QUOTE].

 

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...3/#post2436144

BUT - using the key is easier.

 

^^^ This is the maxi fuse I was thinking of (see diagram in post #11 linked above). Glad to know others have also used this method as a last-resort to open the trunk.

 

Be aware the hidden key slot above the number plate might be seized through no use at all, use some WD40 or similar and keep trying to turn the key carefully, it should eventually work, a memo to others on the forum to try this hidden key slot from time to time to make sure it works, a huge amount of people do not realise it is there .

 

Very true. A little bit of WDF-40 paired with the key and a decent amount of time and gentle pressure and playing around the key slot did the trick. As roviw suggests below in this thread, do yourself a favor and use the key to open the trunk every now and then rather than always using the fob or interior release or risk having it freeze-up.

 

Thank you. I followed your advice relative to using WD-40 and carefully playing with the key in the slot did the trick!