Well, I did something stupid. I disconnected the neg battery terminal, to try to get the TPMS to reset, and then I closed the hatch. Now, of course, the hatch release is dead. Doh!

I'm assuming that the usual fix for opening the hatch with a dead battery, hooking up a real charger, won't work since the battery is disconnected. And not being an auto electrics expert I'm afraid to experiment with using my charger on the posts under the hood with a disconnected battery for fear of frying something. Anyone have knowledge to share about this idea? I did try my CTEK with no luck.

Next I thought I could reach back under the parcel tray to the emergency pull release. But, I have not been able to figure out how to lift up the leading edge of the parcel tray out of the hinge or support or whatever it rests on just behind the seats. If someone with a coupe could look at theirs and see how fits into whatever supports the leading edge and post pics or a description that would be great.

I have easily removed the tray with the hatch open when I could raise the tray up, but I just don't recall how that leading edge fit when I put it back. I'm afraid I'll have to cut the parcel tray if it can't be snapped out somehow while in the lowered position.

Thanks!

 

I know this has happened before and the group reasoned through it. I'll look for the thread.

 

Here it is:

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/f...e-help-246122/

 

Sorry couldn't resist:

 

Open the hood and you'll find charging terminals. They should be apparent, but you can look in the manual or do a search. Connect power to them and you'll be able to open the hatch.

 

My issue is that the neg terminal of the main battery in the rear is disconnected. Given that I'm leery of putting a full 12v load with a jump or fast charger on the under hood terminals I use with my CTEK. Not being that knowledgeable about auto electronics I'm worried about frying something.

And I'm wondering how that would work in any case since there is no ground available to circuit that drives the hatch release. At least I know that won't damage any electronics.

I'm actually going to try to lift the parcel shelf from behind the seeks and snake something under it to pull the manual release. Low tech, but no risk to the electronics.

 

you wont fry anything, you are only trying to power the rear latch release. A disconnected neg cable is the same as a flat battery . Ground only applies to power coming from the battery in that it needs to complete the circuit for electron to flow.Given your power is coming from outside of the car now it is irrelevant that your battery is disconnected

 

Well, I jumper the Jag from my truck, and got a big spark when I connected to the neg terminal, which of course triggered my worst fears, but the hatch opened and the car started and idled fine for 30 minutes, so thanks for that tip. I'm sure many had the knowledge to be sure that would do no harm, but I was not one of them, so I'm grateful that a lot of folks weighed in on the safety of doing that. Thank you.

I also took a look at the way the parcel shelf attaches to the posts it rests on right behind the seats. I'd been thinking that another solution was to get it loose and use a coat hanger or whatever to pull the emergency release. It looks like you should be able to pull up on the front edge of the shelf while pushing the shelf towards the rear and get it to come loose. But it did not come free easily so I didn't push my luck since I already a solution.

The other good news is that after sitting with no battery connected for 2 days the TPMS healed it self sometime during the 30 minutes the car idled in the garage. No driving required. All 4 sensors reporting correct pressure. The one thing I did that MIGHT have affected this is that I changed the pressure display setting back to PSI. I'd set it to BAR before to see if changing back to the Canadian std would fix the problem, which it didn't. So, 30 minutes of idling and a change to the display and it works again.

 

Was the large spark when you connected to the negative terminal on the F-Type or the truck? A ground point on the truck should have been the last connection. Always good to avoid sparks around batteries (boom), so using a ground point vs the battery terminal is best.

 

I read it that he'd connected to the Jag's underhood terminals, so well away from the battery.

 

Last connection was to the neg post under the hood of the Jag, so well away from the battery.