I have two cars, a manual 2016 white Jag F-Type and a low-mile 2013 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The Jeep was throwing a CEL last March that became a need to replace the engine due to a faulty #3 piston creating an air gap. I relied on the F-Type as a daily driver until the Jeep engine repair became complete (6 months, too ridiculous to explain). Once completed, August 2022, I was so delighted with having the Jeep back in my life that the Jag was parked at home as engine/car/unicorn preservation, at which time the battery charge subsequently depleted. I addressed this re-charge attempt with a trickle charger over 5 weeks, beginning December 2022.

After becoming frustrated with the time needed for the slow re-charge, I acquiesced with what I didn't want to do, and bought and installed today a new battery for the Jag. Install went well, I closed the hatch and then realized, after the fact, that I failed to re-connect the small red 2.5 mm male plug into the battery as the last step. No auxiliary power anywhere.

My question to the forum is---Is there any way to access the hatch manually.at this point, or do I need to tow it to the dealer to reconnect the red plug?

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Welcome to the forums hcoop,

I've moved your question from General Tech Help to F-Type forum. Members here with the same model will be able to help.

Please read the guidance for new members ( https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/n...ned-up-241802/ ) which answers many of the most frequent questions about getting started on the forum.

Graham

 

This problem has come up a few times on the F-Type sub-forum.
From memory there is no easy solution, but there are two things you can try.
Firstly, if the car is locked, use the emergency key in the key fob (see your Owner Manual) to open the door, in a slot under the door handle (I forget which side/door on a LHD US car).
1. Then pop the hood to access the charging posts in the engine bay, on the RHS, again see your Owner Manual.
Hook a battery charger/tender/maintainer up to those posts, this might just work to power up the hatch lock enough to unlock it, but if the battery is truly disconnected it probably won't work.
2. If that doesn't work you need to figure out a way/tool to hook and pull the emergency hatch release lever which is immediately below the hatch lock, by reaching through to the back, again see your Owner Manual.

 

Oz is right, but easiest to jump from another car, or use a 12V dumb charger. A maintainer won’t work, as it needs to detect a battery to work.

 

The small male plug is just a vent for gases if I read you correctly. Do what is suggested before but it still means you have a flat battery or not connected it back properly.Given it is new it should have more than enough power for the boot release so it will be interesting to see what real underlying cause is