I have had an XJL Supercharged 2011 for one year without any problems whatsoever, but yesterday my wife closed the trunk manually (without pressing the button) and somehow it looks like some luggage got trapped with the closing mechanism. Now any attempt at opening the trunk by pressing the button on the key fob, dash or Trunk and the trunk appears to try to close further instead of "unlocking". The dash says the trunk is open and so it is impossible to lock the car, as the car thinks the trunk is open and so will not allow the car to lock.

Help to anyone!! Does anyone know how to manually unlock the trunk? I tried holding the unlock button for 10 seconds in case it would force a manual unlock but to no avail. The trunk is full of our christmas gifts and our luggage and we cannot access anything.

I tried the 1-800 number for Jaguar assistance and they have no clue. they do not seem to even know what a Jaguar XJ is. All they can do it tow the car but all car dealerships are closed...

 

Just so you get some kind of answer I looked in the manual and can find no other way to get into the trunk. I think you are going to have to take it to the dealer.

 

So there is no provision to use the ignition key like my X350 ? No physical ignition key at all ?

 

No there is no physical lock for the trunk, only the button... There is apparently a manual way of unlocking the trunk with a cable but that is when you are inside the trunk, so no use here as we cannot reach the trunk. It is really stupid not to have a physical lock for the trunk like in the XF or many other cars....

Anyway I am hoping that the dealer will be open for business tomorrow morning, I am going there first thing. It may be complicated for them to access the trunk, it is not possible from the rear seat (there is a metal frame behind the rear seat with no access), but maybe there is a way through the area behind the seats where the speakers are, or an easier way would be if there is a way to have the trunk unlock via their computer systems or to reset the car (the car does not reset when it is not locked and it is impossible to lock the car as it thinks the trunk is open).

 

Have you tried to get inside the trunk from rear sets? You go in , pull the what ever is holding the lock and you should be open the lead

 

There is no physical opening behind the back seat. Only wires and the fuse box. The steel frame of the car prevents access.

 

Just so everyone knows what happened. I took it to the dealer on Christmas eve, and they fixed it by physically forcing the trunk open using 4 different people at the same time. The mechanism worked fine after. I thought it would be broken but it did not and it is working fine. the lesson is never fill the trunk too much as if it gets stuck then there is no way inside the trunk. The mechanic told me that a possibility is through the emergency spare, so they lift the car remove the bolt holding the spare inside the trunk and that maybe then they can fit an arm and then reaching the emergency cable release inside the trunk. But this would not have worked for me as the trunk was completely full of stuff. I would have thought that maybe if they remove the rear bumper that they can access the locking mechanism, but when I told the mechanic about this idea he was very doubtful that it would work...

 

Thanks for the info. That makes sense, if there was pressure on the trunk lid and the locking mechanism due to the over packing, the electric release would not have enough power to unlock it.

Glad that it was an easy fix. I always worry about electrical or electronic glitches with no mechanical backup systems. I'd seen plenty of those as my job used to be for the solving of many of such glitches.

Albert

 

 

Just near the locking mechanism. This will work if the XJ thinks the trunk is open, so if it is not locked completely and the XJ still tries to lock it further but can't because there is something mixed with the locking mechanism (a bag for example). This was my case.
Otherwise if the trunk is completely locked and the mechanism is dead, and your trunk is not full, then through the spare tire is a possibility in order to reach the manual release, but there is not much space there and so the dealer would be best for that.

 

Yes, there is a way to open the Trunk!
What I did, I removed the license tag and removed the tapes that are covering the holes where you insert the bottom screws that hold the tag. They are holes about one inch wide, one on the right and one on the left side. Iluminate with a flashlight the mechanism inside thru the left hole. From the right hole, insert the flat screw driver and look for a metal plate about half way and press it forward and the trunk will release. Hey, play with it until you find it, it took me about 2 long minutes, but when it opened, I screamed for 5 minutes or more...Don't loose your patience.
Remember, removing the back seat from inside of vehicle won't work due to the metal panel that covers the 20 gallon gas tank.
Guys, I just cook and I made it happen...so stop wining and open that trunk!
I hope this helps someone out there, and save you from spending $$$.

After you open the trunk, have a cold one...you deserve it after all...Blame it on a Chef from Florida!!!

 

You can open the trunk by removing the rear seat bottom. There is a connector for doing just this. We have a sticky on it because it's not very well known.

unlock Trunk

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Opening the boot when it is empty is a pain, but as noted above is possible in a variety of ways up to brute force through the back seats. What gives me nightmares is the prospect of having the boot get stuck locked when it is full. I have been warned (in person and via forum anecdote) against trying to shut the boot if it doesn't lock by itself, but I was recently nearly presented with an interesting dilemma:

I was miles from home on holiday with the family, with a (very) full boot, and the boot didn't lock (press button, boot closes, whirr whirr, boot opens again). So I took everything out of the boot, but it still wouldn't lock. This was very close to a panic position. In a bit of a fluster I turned the engine on, off again and tried again and it worked (battery just not quite full enough maybe?) - I refilled the boot (taking more care!) and all was well, but for a few interminable minutes there I was in a cold sweat. What on earth do you do if your boot fails to do what it is supposed to? I couldn't drive with it open, but I couldn't force it shut, because I risked having to use a thermic lance to get in!

Much as I love my X351 I'm fairly sure that my next and subsequent cars will have a mechanical boot override, to save me from these occasional panics.

(Edit: for those on the left of the pond, replace "boot" by "trunk")

 

I just had picked up my car from the dealership for services, one of the interior lights kept coming on while I was driving so I decided to disconnect the battery to reset the lighting. I left the trunk open after I disconnected the battery and walked into the house, my son walked by the car thinking the old man left the trunk open so he closes it... WTF! Luckily, the car was open so I popped the hood and connected the jumper cables from my truck to the car and that gave it enough power to pop the trunk.

 

Isn't it great that the kids have such faith in their parents!

 

if you start a new thread, maybe put the link here?

 

I had the same problem. I wedged two snowbrushes under the trunk near the center. I eventually created a two inch gap. As I pull up I pressed the open trunk button on the bumper and it opened.

 

Hey Jez, why don't you offer a kit to address this problem? Something like a bicycle cable with a bracket to attach directly to the latch, and a T-handle on the other end. Would reside under the rear seat cushion, hopefully forever, unless one needed it.

ps You still owe me commissions on all those trunk lid closer kits I sold for you

 

It would be better yet if he wired a button/switch into the plug under the rear seat bottom cushion. Even better would be to wire it to the existing button in the dash as an added backup that would be totally seamless to the operator!
Should be pretty simple to do as the biggest pain would be running a set of wires from the back seat up to the dash button. Then if you have a dead or unhooked battery just use the under hood jumper point to open the trunk from the dash button.

Hey I was the one that pointed you to his kit!!
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I dunno, I think the cable release would be absolutely fail-safe, regardless of the electrical system. It would work under the conditions outlined in previous posts to this thread.

OK, I'll split the vig with you