Hello all,
This thread raises some good pointers to understanding, and thereby avoiding, many of these common pitfalls . . .

First, not all battery tenders are created equal - aim for the truly intelligent ones that can ramp down to a trickle, or even shut down when the car battery is fully charged . . . but which WAKE and ramp up a day or week later when sensing that battery needs a top-up;

Second, the "emergency parachute" of the boot/trunk key release to get to the battery will wake the car from the deepest slumber . . . and after checking or waiting until the battery is fully charged, the electrical driver's door keylock release will work. If not, you have a separate doorlock or keyfob problem, as previously stated. Compared to the "stand on your head" posture to find the boot/trunk key release on the S-Type (but it is there . . . and unknown to many owners), XK8 owners cannot be excused for not knowing or maintaining this great feature.

A couple of good resources from the S-Type forum equally apply to the XK8/XKR - "Battery 101 . . ." and "Quiescent Current Drain . . ."

Cheers,

Ken

 

I tried that and the alarm goes off and none of the release buttons will work! That was the first thing I tried. It looks very difficult to get to the terminals on the button to energize it.
NOW WHAT? HELP!!!

 

Tried what? My suggestion or something from Ken's post?

 

Your post , BLADERUNNER! It just starts the alarm up and then nothing works. It's immediate, the alarm going of.

 

Was the car locked when you closed the keys in the boot?

 

No, the door was open as was the boot. My car is a 2000 XKR Convertible, can I get to the trunk by removing the rear seat and the rear cover? Remember that the battery is disconnected. I tried both fuse panels and both set off the alarm. If I can get to the trunk release button under the dash I, in theory could energize it, and open it that way bladerunner919. I am looking through the manuals and wiring diagrams!

 

No you cannot access the trunk that way. The Security Sounder has a battery backup so the alarm will still work if the battery is unplugged. The location of the Sounder is in the Passenger Front Fender Wheel Well, under the HeadLight Assembly. Unplug the Security Sounder to keep the contained battery backup from setting the alarm off and blocking the switches. There is a rather long thread a few down the is titled 'Security Sounder'. Once you disconnect the sounder you should be able to open the trunk with the dash switch.

Since you stated the alarm was not set, are you sure it is not the 'Valet' button that has been pressed and blocking the switches? Also, the alarm can be set by the dealer to set the alarm passively after a specified amount of time when exiting the car.

 

1) Open Bonnet.
2) Connect 12v Battery (NOT a Battery Charger) to Underbonnet Terminals.
3) Enter car.
4) Press Boot Release Button.

 

I found this link which may have information in it to help you. The drilling a hole just below the trunk lid through to the latch levers is an interesting method.

'Locked Out' Emergency Boot Access

For weeks I thought I only had one key until I finally found a valet key in the little compartment next to the valet button. Prior to that I took photos of the key barrel of the one key I had, so I could at least order a mechanical key if I got in a bind.

 

That was what I suggested, but seems to be causing the alarm to go off.

 

Why so confused? Or, is it me?
I suggest you disconnect temporarily, the alarm sounder under the guard as recommended by [03XKR] in post#27. Then, even if alarm is triggered, it won't be blasting you or your neighbours. Next, investigate the under-bonnet jump and console switch fix recommended by [Paul] in post#28.

However, if an alarm trigger locks out the boot/trunk release switch, then use your Wiring Diagrams to work out how and where the lockout occurs. Look for the release switch and solenoid - both the power feeds and ground return paths. Now, determine which method is required to bypass the lockout. I feel sure you will be able to do so at either the disconnected sounder (unlikely) or boot/trunk release switch (likely), by either . . .

• employing a separate +12V feed (most unlikely) or,
• employing a separate ground/earth return (far more likely),

Reason? Interrupts and lockouts in modern control systems are far easier/cheaper to employ if at or near ground potential. Not always the case . . . so do check carefully . . . but generally so. Once lockout is bypassed, use switch.

Cheers,

Ken

 

The Alarm Sounder contains a battery backup power supply and I believe it is continuing to lock out the switches, as the Alarm System is being powered by the Sounders Emergency Battery Backup. This battery backup system prevents someone from trying to steal the car, and silence the alarm by disconnecting the main battery in the trunk. The Sounder retains the alarm state and will continue to alarm depending on how it was set up by the dealer, it can be programmed to automatically passively activate after a predetermined period of time, or remain silent until, and start blaring again, the moment it is reconnected to the main battery as it 'remembers' the alarm state at the point of main battery disconnection.

Unplug the sounder to disconnect the Sounder's Alarm Battery Backup Pack, it is all one unit, to disable the Alarm System. Do not hook up power to the points under the hood until AFTER you have disconnected the Sounder. The Alarm's State, of being in alarm, will be carried over and continue to alarm, if main power is re-established while the Sounder's Battery Backup Pack is still powering the Alarm System.

 

There is another tactic you can try. Are you a member of the AA etc? Car Club etc whatever they call it in the states? They must be used to guys locking themselves out of their own cars.

Just a thought

 

Here is a link to the post about the Security Sounder with pictures of the unit and location details, it is what is still powering the alarm system.

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...ounder-149781/

 

Sure it does . . . that's the problem . . . so, my suggested strategy, as stated is . . . with car battery already disconnected, now disconnect alarm sounder . . . use Wiring Diagrams to find where and how you can disconnect either boot/trunk release switch, or the release solenoid itself to isolate the lockout. . . and finally, apply an independent power source to fire the release solenoid to open boot/trunk.

Grab keys . . . remove external power . . . re-connect car battery . . . and, even though alarm sounder is still disconnected, use keys to disarm security alarm . . . then finally, re-connect alarm sounder.

Gotta be easier than drilling holes . . . or big crowbar?

Best wishes,

Ken

 

The wiring diagrams show that the dash trunk release switch grounds an input pin on the Body Control Module (BCM). The valet switch grounds another input on the BCM. Then the Security Locking Control Module (SLCM) takes inputs from the BCM, and also from the trunk key switch and the trunk light switch and it is the SLCM (with power applied to it) that operates the trunk release solenoid and latch. Of course, the SLCM is in the trunk along with the solenoid/latch. These two modules enable and disable locking and unlocking of the trunk (as well as other security functions) based on certain conditions and states. For example, in valet mode the BCM inhibits operation of the dash trunk release button. I also read that he SLCM will not allow operation of some trunk release functions if the trunk light switch is in the on state because this switch indicates that the trunk is already open.

Anyhow, the point is it's highly unlikely that disconnecting the sounder, whichoperates from an output from the BCM, affects any of these locking/unlocking processes or takes the car out of an alarm mode. And furthermore, it's pretty likely that alarm on/armed modes also inhibit the dash trunk release button like valet mode does. I don't know this for a fact, but it would make sense to avoid the alarm being easily silenced in a convertible top-down theft scenario simply by pressing the dash trunk release button and getting access to the battery (as well as any valuables in there).

Read the Security section of the driver's manual. It states that the car, on re-connection of the battery, always starts up in the alarm state it was in when last disconnected. They really only want use of the black key in the door or ignition, or use of the fob remote buttons as the only ways to be able to disarm the system and get access to the car functions. Incidentally, the security section also describes "passive arming" (a dealer setting) in which the alarm gets automatically armed 30 seconds after the last door or trunk closure after an ignition key removal. Perhaps this explains how your car ended up armed unexpectedly.

Now, there is a curious note in the top left of the door Central Door Locking wiring diagram (FIG.13-1) which states:

NOTE: Ignition switched ground via Inertia Switch
activates emergency unlock.

Maybe that holds a clue if we could decipher what it means.

Failing that, and I hate to say it, maybe the hole drilling will end up being the solution that works (short of towing to the dealer).

Best of luck.

 

It means that if the car is in a crash the inertia switch will unlock the doors. I imagine the car has to be running for that to work.

Surely the answer to this problem is just to order a new key from the dealer and use that to enter the car. The op clearly needs a new key anyway, and this seems like a kill-two-birds-with-one-stone opportunity.

 

Hey [bladerunner919] . . . my first reaction was . . . GREAT post! . . . and it may yet prove to be so . . . using a new key to manually unlock boot/trunk, whereupon alarm will start screeching unless sounder has been disconnected as advised. Quickly reconnect car battery and disarm.

Yep, sounds a smart plan . . . and in any event, car is only half a car without all 3 keys, manuals etc . . . and your solution redresses that also.

Cheers,

Ken

 

believe the inertia switch is in the left side body fuse location behind the fuses

 

Hi Ken,

Read your post dated Nov 2013, #21 in this thread. I have a 1998 XK8 convertible. The key is in Valet mode and the owner's key does not want to work in the trunk lock (even after several applications of WD40 and Liquid Graphite). Since I did not have a FOB, I purchased one from EBay. Tried a million ways of programming it but the car does not want to go into "learn" mode. Do you know of any way of bypassing the Valet mode and opening the trunk under the circumstances I have described?

Yesterday I ordered two new owner's keys to be cut and programmed (from the Jaguar dealer). The current owner's key hangs up often in the driver's door luck. Hoping this will work.

Many thanks for your thoughts.