I’m having multiple electrical issues with my XJR. I may only have multiple symptoms, but still...
The car thinks one of the passenger doors is open. As a result the seat belt light is on and dings every minute that I drive. The airbag light is also on. More specifically, the window in the left rear door no longer works, either from the door or from the drivers door controls. The car won’t lock, because it thinks the door is open. There is also a batter drain. I drove the car Saturday, and when I went to start it Monday afternoon it wouldn’t turn over. I was able to jump start it this morning. It charges fine, 14.5 V while running, 12.5V immediately after switching off, which is what it usually is, but after two hours it’s down to 12.1V.
I removed the door card from the left rear door on Sunday and removed the door latch/lock mechanism to see if I could find the problem. There are two plugs, I believe one controls the door lock and the other controls the door sensor. My understanding is that the sensor works by closing a circuit when the door is open. I tried running the car with the plugs unplugged, but I still got all the errors.
Where else should I look? Looking back on it maybe the window not working is an indication that the problem is somewhere other than the door latch, but where? Thanks for you help!

 

A weak battery can cause very bizarre symptoms

 

You can get rid of the chime-latch and unlatch a seat belt ?nine times.




Possible wiring or connector fault on wiring to left rear door.




I suggest you have the battery load tested in case it is failing.




You are correct that one of the plugs in the door (triangular) is for a proximity sensor.

 

Not sure if it even would apply here but this sounds similar to a problem I had with my wifes X Type a few years ago. Couldnt lock door with fob, chimimg etc.. I dont remember if it ended up being outer or inner, but one of the door handles had broken internally. Check to see if you can open and close doors from inside and outside. May not solve whole issue but worth checking. What I do remember is saying " a door handle costs how much?"

 

The battery was replaced last summer, when tracing another electrical fault. I suppose it could be the issue, but I doubt it. I think a connector/wire problem is the most likely.
None of the connectors I’ve found are triangular. One is oval with two pins, the other is big and rectangular with four pins but only two wires.

 

Yes the one with two pins is for the proximity sensor.

" with four pins but only two wires".

Normally 4 pins but only 3 wires

You could also try rebooting the whole car-disconnect battery and touch leads together.

 

Hi garethashenden,

You can download the wiring diagrams for you car at this link:

Jaguar X350 Electrical Guide 2004

According to pdf page 132, the Rear Door Ajar switches each connect to one 2-way/Black connector and one 3-way/Black connector. I'm not sure how that works, because according to the schematic on pdf page 133, the switches have only two wires, a Black/Pink wire that connects to ground under the front seat, and a Green/White wire that connects to the Rear Electronic Module (REM). The schematic shows the switches as discreet components, but they may actually be built into the door latch and these wires may connect at the latch connectors. The schematics do show the switches as normally open, so if you can identify the correct wires, you might be able to test for a problem with the switch by shorting across the wires to see if your chime terminates.

One thought that occurs to me is that problems are known with pinched wires in the harness that passes from behind the rear seat into the trunk near the right trunk lid hinge, and some of these wires connect to the REM. I wonder if damaged wires in that area could account for some or all of your problems?

If you have a good independent shop in your area that can scan for proprietary Jaguar diagnostic trouble codes, they may help speed up your diagnostic process. It's very likely you'll have stored Body (B-prefix) and Network (U-prefix) DTCs, but to read those requires a scan tool with that capability.

Please keep us informed.

Cheers,

Don

 

"The schematic shows the switches as discreet components, but they may actually be built into the door latch and these wires may connect at the latch connectors."

They are in fact built into the door latch as you say.

 

Just a thought,

If the door is registered as open all the time, then its possible that the puddle light is on when the door is closed and draining the battery.
Similar with the interior lights, do they go work as the should? on when the door is open and off a few seconds after the door is closed.?

Could be a break in the wiring loom in the flexi bit between the door and the body.

 

An update! Had a busy weekend so the work done on Friday is only being reported now. I took the car into the local independent shop I use, they’re mostly a BMW specialist, but very competent. We scanned the car and found a number of error codes. Lots resulting from a flat battery, but these are the ones I think are relevant. B1838, B2534, P0231, U3FF6, U1262, and B2691. I had been assuming that the error was with the back left door because that window stopped working at the same time as the other problems started. However, the scanner found a door ajar fault with the right rear door. We couldn’t find any way of getting it to change. We followed the wires and there was a change when the latch was latched, but the car didn’t pick up on it. As in, with a multimeter we were able to confirm that the switch in the latch mechanism is functional. We traced the wires from the door to the Rear Electronics Module and they are fine, no loss of continuity. We were not able to investigate the ground however. The wiring diagram lists it as G13BL, but it doesn’t give any indication of where that is. So that could be the fault, or it could be something wrong it’s the REM. I’ve ordered a used one from eBay described as being from a fully functional totalled car, so I’ll give that a shot and see what happens.

The puddle lights and dome lights are working as expected. The battery drain may actually have gone away, or gotten better. I was away all weekend, but the car started right up this morning after sitting for more than 48 hours.

 

From Jaguar Tech Tips April 2003

Models – 2004 XJ
Control Module Replacement / Programming
Information: Before attempting to reconfigure and/or replace any control modules, it is recommended to perform a VID Block Data Read and save to disc. This will ensure that if the VID block becomes corrupt, the original VID block can be uploaded back into vehicle and correct any configuration errors which may occur from choosing incorrect options and/or features when programming CMs.

The replacement REM will need to be configured to the car.

bob

 

Is that something I can do? Can a shop do it? Or does it need to be done by a dealer?

 

garethashenden;
The MY04 Electrical Manual shows G13 to be in the cabin below the front (right hand side) seat.

Best Regards, William

 

Hi garethashenden,

Pdf page 27 of the Electrical Guide I linked to in post #7 shows the locations of the ground points, and the ground locations are also given on the page prior to each wiring diagram. Ground G13 is under the front right seat. On a couple of X350s I service I have found that a ground stud under a front seat has actually snapped off the floorpan, so it's worth checking yours and if it is still intact, clean the threaded stud, nut and wire eyelet terminals with a brass-bristle brush and zero-residue electronic cleaner and reassemble. The torque spec for the nut is just 6.5 ft. lb., or just over hand tight, so take care not to overtighten it and snap the stud off the floor pan.

To answer your question about Bob's post, to record the VID block data and to program a replacement REM require a dealer-level system such as IDS or SDD. Many independent Jaguar shops have such a system, so you don't necessarily need to go to a dealer.

Cheers,

Don

 

While waiting for the new REM I decided to check the grounds under the seats. I had to get a set of inverse Torx sockets, but I’ve just done this. The passenger seat was easy. Move it back, remove front bolts, move it forward, unplug the battery, remove back bolts, lift seat. The ground connection looked perfect. I undid it and cleaned it, nothing came off. I put everything back together and went to do the drivers seat. It won’t move. Now I really am thinking this may be a ground problem. The seat won’t move in any direction and I can’t get to the front bolts.

Does anyone have any suggestions for how to get the seat to move? The ground is under the front of the seat, maybe a 1/3 of the way back from its current position and totally inaccessible. Earlier in the summer I had a blocked sunroof drain that resulted in water pooling behind the drivers seat. I fixed that but this may be a byproduct of that.

 

Eventually I was able to the ground under the seat. I undid the rear bolts and put a couple of pieces of wood under the mounts so that there was just room for a hand under the seat. I felt around at the joint between the two carpet pieces and felt the nut on top of the ground. It came away in my hand along with quite a bit of white powder that had once been part of the stud. I was able to pull the wires into view, then I jumped them to a nearby screw in the door sill. I was now able to move the seat back and remove the front bolts. With the seat out of the way I was able to clean the connections and run a new wire to a different ground. With everything put back together the seat moves and the airbag and seatbelt lights are now out. However the passenger door open error remains.

 

'However the passenger door open error remains."


maybe try replacing door latch (with used which are not expensive)

 

Garethashenden;

I may have missed it in your troubleshooting: have you bypassed the passenger door open switch, at the door handle connector, to verify it resolves the error?

Best Regards, William

 

We bypassed the switch and it did not resolve the error.

 

Garethashenden;
The DTC list in post #10 listed errors for multiple control modules (FEM, REM, Audio, RCM, etc). Were any of these resolves with the G13 ground problem correction? I see now (post #10) where you verified the door switch was working correctly. You also verified continuity back to the REM. Don B. mentioned the possibility of continuity issues with pinched wires. Were you able to verify continuity to the REM with the door both open and closed? There looks to be a 16 way connector between the door ajar switch and the REM (electrical diagram Fig. 12.2).

Seems like either (1) the signal isn't making it to the REM, (2) the REM isn't processing the signal correctly, or (3) something else is flagging the error.

Best Regards, William