Getting into the trunk when the battery is disconnected
 

The procedure for opening the trunk when the battery is dead is well known and documented in the owner's manual. (Apply +12VDC to the marked points at the engine fuse box and press the trunk open button.)

Occasionally people ask how to get into the trunk when that method fails to work, for example if the battery is removed from the vehicle or if there has been water damage, an accident, of the CJB fuse box is dead. In those cases we have resorted to removing the rear seats, removing the rear bulkhead harness grommet, pushing down the rear carpet and fishing for the emergency release cord with cable rods. That works, but the workshop manual on TOPIx (https://topix.jaguar.jlrext.com/topix/vehicle/index) has been updated with the following for all vehicles from 2010 onwards (i.e. all X351s):

As the CJB controls the latch release, from the photo provided it appears to be an inline connector in the latch release control wire to allow it to be manually triggered. Ground would presumable be connected to the body of the car (there is a ground stud to the lower right of the fuse box).
It was always possible to do power the latch from the CJB by removing the big connector and powering it, but this way is easier.

[ edited to add ]

The white plastic thing you see on the left of the photo is where the body harness comes through the rear bulkhead, and is what I referred to as a "grommet" above. There is a matching one on the right hand side for the telematics harness which is the one you pry out to gain access to the emergency release handle with a hooked cable rod. (The carpet panel behind it can be pushed out of the way from the top down.)

The Moderator should make this a "sticky".

Done

Dumb question, but the internet is ambiguous on the topic: Is the squab the bit that you sit on or the bit that you rest your back on?

The squab is the bit you sit on. Jag's instruction is a bit confusing because that connector is behind the seat back, not the base, but the base needs to be removed to remove the back. The connector is directly behind where the small of your back would be if you sat in the rear right seat.

Xdave wrote: To remove the seat backs just remove the base using the four latching clips along the front and you will see two straps at either end of the seat back in line with the outer headrests. Pull them straight down and it disengages the latch on the back of the seats. You need to do both and then the seat hinges forward from the base and lifts out after disconnecting the wiring.

It is worth adding that on three out of my four XJs with these style seats I have had one of the seat back straps not release the latch from the bracket behind the seat. It is normally just catching on the bottom edge of the bracket (which is sharp) and preventing it hinging forward. If that happens don't panic - you can still remove the seat backs by removing the four nuts (two per side) that hold the base black steel bracket and seat belt clips in place. Then you need to wiggle the base away from the back of the car very slightly while pulling on the strap and it should then release after a few goes. Don't just pull harder on the strap as you'll just start bending the thick wire and actually making it harder to release. You can't just drop the seat back off the brackets because there is a piece of folded metal blocking the top - you need to wiggle, pull, and swear loudly.

I've cut the bottom mm off of the pointy/sharp part of the brackets fixed to the rear bulkhead on all mine now to prevent them catching. I also removed the plastic covers, and wrapped tesa cloth harnessing tape around the top part where the wire rests when locked back to prevent any rattles. I did the because the plastic covers can be moved down and make it harder to remove the seat backs.

XJL is completely dead, now what? :-/
 

Hi all, I'm new here and could definitely use some advice. My 2011 XJL is completely dead. With that, we can't access the battery in the truck, so we tried to jump it accessing the fuse box under the hood. We got nothing - no lights, no action at all. I can't open the glove box to get to my manual. https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/i...lies/frown.gif Is there any other way to gain access to the battery? What's my next step? Thanks in advance! Juliet Marie

Hi Juliet,

You can download your manual for free from https://www.jaguar.com/owners_intern...des/index.html

As you were able to open the hood/bonnet to get to the engine fuse box, I am assuming you were able to get into the cabin. For completeness, and in case you haven't, use a flat screwdriver to gently pry the fixed part of the front LH door handle away from the door and there is a key barrel underneath it which works with your emergency key.

Then you should be able to follow the instructions in this thread to get access to that little connector with the arrow pointing to it in the photo above. Apply +12V DC to the pin in the connector and GND from the same source to any nearby ground stud. That should release the trunk/boot latch.

If that does not work you may need to resort to physically pulling the emergency release cable in the trunk/boot. To get access to that you still need to remove the rear seats then carefully release the clips from the RH white plastic cable trunking where it goes through the hole in the rear bulkhead. About 2"/50mm behind the bulkhead will be a vertical carpet lining that is retained at the sides by the side carpet and needs to be pushed down out of the way to get access to the boot area. When I last did this I was able to push it down from the top as close to the middle as I could get and then get access to the boot area with a cable rod through the speaker holes to hook the handle and pull it.

xdave,
Thank you for the link to the manuals; however, my XJL is a 2011 and the oldest manual they offer for download is a 2016. Yes, we have access to the cabin and under the hood/bonnet... just no access to the glovebox and the trunk/boot. We looked at the fuse box following another posters recommendation which included a picture with the arrow to a switch, but my fuse box does not look like the picture shown. I will attempt the recommendation about the door handle later today when I have time to spend. Thanks again! Juliet

Are you able to post a photo of the fuse box area behind your rear seats so we can look to see if the connector is tucked away? The instruction photo at the top of this thread is being offered up in the 2011 XJ workshop manual so it should be there... somewhere.

The diagram showing the engine compartment location is below. This is probably what you have already tried though. I note you mention the glove box won't open. There are two logical causes for this:
1) the battery is so flat that applying 12VDC to the engine compartment stud is not enough to bring the voltage up for the CJB and KVM (keyless vehicle module) to function, in which case leaving it connected to a charger for a few hours may help, or
2) the battery still has charge but the CJB (fuse box behind the seats) has crashed, in which case removing the connectors to reboot it may help.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.jag...70d151f388.jpg
For the owner's manual, you should be able to access this link without a login:
https://topix.landrover.jlrext.com/t...4&groupId=1655
That is for a 2011 X351 LHD NAS market.

OK, I understand all of this, and have gotten to that marked cable.

Now how do I "send 12V" to that cable?

OK I ran 12 V from another car battery, clamped a wire to the positive end of the jumper cable and rattled it around the connector until the trunk opened. Probably not the safest thing but it did the job with what I had on hand. Never again with this mistake for sure.

Hi Everyone,
My battery on my 2013 XJ is dead, I tried the method in the manual, it did not work. I did press the "start" button like an idiot, so maybe I blew a fuse but at the same time the method in the manual where it says not to press the start button is the same as the method in the manual to jumpstart the car, so I am not sure if I really did make a mistake. Anyhow, if someone who has experience with this could kindly let me know:
1) Is there any manual way other than going through the rear seats to access the CBJ and apply 12V to the latch release to get the trunk open?
2) Couldn't I just try to jumpstart the car from the pins in the engine bay using my battery pack? It seems not to be charging the car and I am not sure why.

Thanks in advance and sorry for the redundant questions, in a bit of a panic...

Hi nikohl,

Check very 1st post on this threat. There is an emergency wire connection behind the rear seat. (Black arrow on picture) Just add +12 volt on this (and -12V on chassis) and trunk will open.
To remove botton part on rear seat, there are 4 lugs to push by hand and for backreat are released by pulling strings. (check service and repair manual on Sticky section)
On engine bay points the circuits are not mentioned for high loads, so if you have totalled flat your battery and or you try to start = You propably blow some fuses.
1st, get in your boot. 2nd, remove and charge (or renew if dead) your battery. 3rd, try if everything works again with full battery.

Thank you Vasara, much appreciated. I will try this and get back to you.

Having read all these complex methods of getting the trunk/boot lid open in the case of a dead battery, it does seem absolutely stupid of JLR not to provide a skeleton key lock on the trunk lid to use in an emergency, just as they do on the driver's door. I know the bean counters try to save money be eliminating things but this is surely taking cost saving too far.
It seems that all XEs, XFs and XJs have this issue and I cannot understand why JLR made such an elementary design error for a car with the battery in the trunk.

Could it be possible they wish to supply new trunk lids and hinges to those frustrated enough to resort to a 'cut-off wheel' ?

(just kidding) ..... but still sharing in the level of frustration and angst which accompanies this )-;}

What a palaver this is - all to get the trunk/boot lid open. It would have been much better if Jaguar had added a simple mechanical key lock to the outside of the trunk lid - just as they have done for emergency opening of the driver's door using the skeleton key in the fob. For ANY car with the battery in the trunk this is surely a must-have.
I guess the only reason for this unacceptable omission is the bean counters wanting to save a few cents/pence per car.

I think it would be a wise thing to do to already connect a permanent wire to this "connector with the arrow" at the first photo, if and when, for any (other) reason, you have to remove the backseatrests anyway.
And let it be accessible (and covered) underneath the rear seats, just in case.