Hi all been a while since posting but am in a conundrum
my 05 XJ350 XJ8 has been in long term storage since 2016 after my divorce

Today I went to get the tyres pumped up and ready to get it on a flatbed to my mechanic

While there I realised that the battery is flat and no keyhole to unlock the car so no way to open the doors,trunk/boot to change the battery

Has anyone had this issue?
If so how do i open the car I have a power pack amd multi stage charger

​​​​​​How do I unlock the car to open the bonnet/hood ?

Is here a way to open the bonnet/hood from the outside without damaging the car any tips pointer's anything I'm stumped the car has no keyholes

 

There certainly is a keyhole, it's on the handle of the driver's door (but not the others), well there is on mine (I just went and looked); it's where you would naturally put your thumb when pulling the handle.

There is also a hidden keyhole for opening the trunk if the electric release doesn't work. It's hidden 'up and under' behind the letter 'U' of 'J A G U A R' on the trunk lid; you have to feel for it. It's VERY stiff to operate as it moves a different part of the lock from the electric release (and so is hardly if ever used) and you have to lean down heavily on the trunk lid while turning the key (and don't be fooled by the initial free 'slack' movement of the key when you start to turn it; that isn't operating the lock, it's just slack).

 

Thanks for the info I've had a restless sleep thinking about it all sorts of crazy idea's on how to fix this

Truthfully after seeing her with the suspension fully lowerd sitting on the stops and 3 mm of dust all over her I felt ashamed of how I let this happen I'm determined to get her back to operational again ASAP

 

Well got it up to Bris euro at Clontarf.
Nials used to work for my previous guy

I cranked it off and on to pump up the oil then a continuous crank till it fired

No rattle from the top end I was pretty impressed she immediately started to pump up the suspension a worry overcome but so many lights on the dashboard and warnings

I let it idle for half an hour then drove it outside and rinsed it off

Nials got it on Thursday and I checked it out on Friday I bought a autell maxiAP AP200 to to do code reading as I lost my clone Jaguar vcm in my divorce so far looks like I can't clear park brake DSC and couple others

I bought a new battery got it for 209$ so happy about that I noticed the sound system did not fire up

​​​​​​So next week RWC then registration and hopefully the driving it will stabilise the codes fingers crossed

Sorry for the writing style I'm doing this on a pad a 1 am in bed lol Scotch in hand

First view after 4 years storage

First view after 4 years in storage

 

Nice revival, congrats!
I am impressed about the suspension system not being damaged after no use for such a long term!
There are no leaks in the air springs and/or compressor because of dry seals?

 

I hope not !

The suspension has a couple or codes that won't clear it also sits lower than i remember although it looks cool its not right

The park brake has a code that won't clear either plus the sound system does not switch on either but that's another thing on the list

I'm putting out a call for anyone in south east qld with a clone or genuine jaguar vcm diagnostic tool mine got lost in my divorce as it was on my ex,s laptop my guy has a basic reader and I bought a basic reader I think I need a bit more than a reader by the looks of it
Regards and thanks in advance
​​

 

Back over to Nials today he has traced a majority of the codes to the ABS module although we are hoping its done a fuse

The company that towed it 4 years ago and put into storage and moved it again must have used a jump pack even after being told not too either way its moving under its own steam and ready for registration by the end of the week

 

Turns out 6 fuses fried including my ABS module thought about hitting up the towing company decided I'm just going to move on and get her back on the road and enjoy her

i found a place in Canada that can recondition the module with lifetime warranty
I normally use a place in the states but for the life of me cant remember their name and Google is protecting Australian busineses as whatever I look for its always Aussie shops that come up

Maybe things have changed and it can be done here I'm still researching it

The Aussie $ is so week against the U.S.$ better exchange with Canada who would have thought

couple pics after her first bath with soap and water in 4 years

First bath with soap and water

First soap and water bath 4 years

Freshly bathed and showing of her nice rear end

 

Today I decided to put the car on the C-tek charger to fully charge the battery even though the battery is 2 weeks old just thought it couldn't hurt

Also thought I'd go over the whole car with a quick polish so 2 hours later its polished first time in 4 years

The thing about polishing you get to see the problems with the exterior and I noticed a few of them

The chrome has a lot of little green speckles on it

I think because she's always lived near the sea first owner lived in coastal South Australia second owner Coogee NSW then third owner Me first Gold Coast 5 years then up at coastal Newport Queensland poor girl only time not near the ocean was storage and that was stapylton not far from Moreton Bay


First Polish in 4 years she's smilling again

It's actually easy to use

 

Looking very good......Well done.