Pushed the button to get into the trunk. Did not open.


Did a search on the site... I am not in valet mode.


The button on the dash opens the trunk.


Turn the key in the hole in the back or the car opens the trunk.


I think I can hear a faint click when I press the button. Not sure what that would mean.


Any ideas regarding why the button all of a sudden will not open the trunk???


Thank you,


Jack

 

A very common potentially related problem is that the wire inside the loom at the right trunk hinge fails due to years of bending fatigue. Had that problem on the first car and pulled the wire out of the loom and spliced it back together invisibly. Second car failed in the same place and the Jaguar dealer technician cut the loom open and taped it closed with a little 'flag' of loose tape waving at me every time I open the trunk.

 

Thank you. But if it is the wire, how could the trunk open with the button in the cabin. Wouldn't it be the same wire?


Jack

 

The button you are pressing is on the trunk lid is that correct?

 

Gus,


Yes, the button that is inoperative is on the trunk lid.


All the other methods of getting into the trunk work...


The button on the dash.
The button on the remote control.
The key inserted into the rear of the car.


Thanks,


Jack

 

I think EZd has it, the release and solenoid is in the body above license plate, so the dash trunk button shows the solenoid is ok. The wire goes from the button on the trunk lid down the harness (read above) to this mechanism, so there is where the open is along that path.

 

So, if I understand... the problem is either the button on the back of the car, or a wire that comes off the button.


I am not very good with electricity, so please bear with me.


Thank you,


Jack

 

Never heard of a button failing . . . must be the wire through the loom at the hinge.

 

I have seen something on a trunk button but I am unable to find it for you, however, I did find this. It is not for an xk8 but I do believe it will give you direction. Toms suggestion about the wiring is a good suggestion. Remember that the trunk lid button sends a signal to the security module that in turn opens the latch for the trunk.

Link http://www.jagrepair.com/images/TSB/...e%20Button.pdf

Link http://www.jagrepair.com/images/Auto.../jagxk2003.pdf Fig 13.1

 

OK... I looked at that loom. A previous owner (I am not the first) has done some work on this loom and it does not look pretty. I see electrical tape in four places. One wire is exposed. I will get some pictures here later.


Could one of the wires in the loom be responsible for the symptoms noted in post 1? If so, which wire?


How do you properly fix a problem like this?


Thank you,


Jack

 

I removed the loom, removed the wires, spliced the broken one, reran the wires in the loom, reinstalled the loom for an invisible repair .

Your PO has already cut the loom open so all you have to do is splice the one that is broken.

Yes, one wire would cause this problem. Fix the one that is broke.

 

Here are some pictures of the wire loom in the trunk. It does not look good. There is electrical tape in four places. Highlighted in red. Never noticed it before. One of the wires is actually out of the loom in places. I do not see a break in that wire so it may not be the problem. If this is the problem I will have to find the break. I wonder who did this. I think the maintenance work on the car done by the previous owner was done by dealerships. I can not imagine either Jaguar shipped the car like this or that a dealership would do this. Bit of a mystery. How many wires are in the loom. What do they control? Thanks. Jack

 

See here how to fix your problem.


https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...-button-74403/

 

Excellent!! Thank you!!!


Not sure, but this may be beyond my mechanical abilities. Thinking about it.


Jack

 

The external trunk release button on my XJ8 2005 was inop. Having spent way too much time and money to NOT fix the ABS, I decided to tackle something I might actually be able to repair.

The remote and dash release worked, so the solenoid was OK. That left the switch, wiring from the switch to the rear computer, or the computer, which has an independent signal line input for the rear external switch.

Per the other postings, I checked the wires running from the trunk to the lid and they looked OK.

I removed the trunk liner to get access to the switch wiring harness. I pulled the plug in the harness and checked the switch operation at the plug; there was not continuity when the button was pushed. The switch is just 'signal to ground' so there is essentially no current; you just need an electrically clean switch. I was prepared to find and install a substitute switch but didn't need to.

The switch is installed in the rear deck jag emblem; six nuts and also both ends of the emblem were glued on with double sided foam nameplate adhesive. The switch is installed to the emblem with two screws.

The switch assembly is a standard microswitch actuated by the button. I used a very small screwdriver to depress the microswitch, and it seemed to work fine. Looking closer there was absolutely no actuator pin or connection from the button to the microswitch lever; pushing the button did nothing as there was no post or actuator between the button and the switch. There were no broken parts floating around, so I have no idea what was supposed to be there. I fabricated a 7mm long post that fit into a recess on the back side of the button and glued it in place using filler to create a fillet around the new post. It's now working fine.

I need to find a source for the push in panel retainers to put the trunk liner back in (many of them snapped when I removed them), but everything is working.

While I had the button off, I wet sanded it with 1000 grit wet-or-dry paper and then a plastic restoring rubbing compound. It has a slightly matte finish still, but the Jag features are now clearly visible.

I doubt if anyone else has this same problem; it seems like a one-off to me, but just in case, this is something else to check.

I didn't think to take any photos....

 

^^

I have the dead switch problem.

It's not always the loom. There was cracked
wire insulation when the loom was opened,
but no actual breakage.

I'm ignoring it for now since the finisher is a
painted piece on mine.

Nice loud microswitch click on pressing the button,
but circuit stays open at the connector.

 

These type of microswitches do not often fail, especially when used in a signal load.
Can you connect a wire pair to the down stream connector, run the wires out the trunk, close the trunk so the 'trunk is closed' signal is OK, then short the test wires? If it opens you have just confirmed all wiring downstream from the connector is OK.

BTW, I ordered a bag of grey panel fasteners for the trunk liner from Uxcell on Amazon, if they are good replacements I'll have plenty of spares when they get here next week. The head is 19 mm and the hole size spec'd as 5 mm but the stems may be a tad too long. We'll see. I'll report back.

Jim

 

I had a Fluke on the switch connector itself. Using both resistance and diode modes
I got nothing operating the switch.

Shorting the signal wire to ground got a loud pop as the actuator got power
from the SLM. The ground wire of the switch harness showed a perfect path.

I figure it's just under used resulting in corrosion at the switch contacts since
the click is really healthy and sounds just like a microswitch should.

I have always used diagonal cutters on those panel fasteners. Work the sharp
edges under the head, don't squeeze more than just to get a grip on the head
and the tool acts as a perfect fulcrum to lever it out. Never any damage.

They have to be hammered back in with the butt end of a screwdriver.

 

I had an inoperative trunk on my 2001 XJ8 with the button in the car and also with the remote. So I figured I'd give it a shot and at least to try to isolate the problem as a previous post in this thread described and started with the r/h trunk hinge loom.

I opened the trunk with the key and did a simple "wiggle" test on the loom by the right hand trunk hinge and the trunk. Nothing happened so I grabbed the loom a second time and the trunk opened with the remote. Yes!!

I jumped in the trunk, made my self comfortable with a nice pillow, (I'm 6 foot) ,removed the plastic hinge cover and carefully opened up the loom with an X-acto knife. Before I was even done unwrapping it, the broken wire(s) (black) appeared. I cleaned off some insulation on each end and put the wires together and the trunk worked again.

Now that I found the problem, I cleaned up the wire ends, slid 1/8 shrink tube over one section tinned them with electronic solder and soldered them together. I then slid the shrink tubing over,heated it up and carefully wrapped it all up and sealed the loom with electrical tape. ( I also put a small piece of shrink tubing over the red and white wire which looked like it had a nick but was solid). I checked the plastic cover and it a sharp ragged opening and cleaned that up with a small file before reinstalling.

Next, I repositioned the loom for more freedom when opening and closing the trunk. The way it was installed before was way too tight and I believe was a contributing factor to the wire failure. Hope this helps someone else. That previous post helped me! See photo of splice.