Hey all, I'm new to the forum site, I've recently found out that these are pretty helpful when it comes to doing things on your own versus running to the shop or dealer every time you have a problem. Anyway my battery is dead, and the trunk can't open, my key won't turn when I tried manually. I've tried a couple other options far as giving the car a little juice, so that I can open the trunk from the inside, but they haven't worked.Suggestions I got from other forums on XJ's but newer models i.e. using the positive terminal under the hood (looks like a bold with a red ring on it) and grounding with the chassis, fail! or using the fuse panel under the back seat with the black wire as the positive,and grounding with the brackets, fail! I was wondering would buying one of those 12 volt battery chargers help? Just for enough juice to power the inside of the car? Without messing anything up electronically. Feedback would be greatly appreciated!

 

Sure, use a battey charger, "+" cable to one of the "+" posts under the hood and "-" cable to ground. That really oughta work.

If you have "X300" XJ6 you find a "+" post at each of the small fuse boxes on the left and right inner fender panles. The posts will have a rubber cap.

Cheers
DD

 

I used a battery charger and placed the positive cable on the large bolt under the hood by the brake booster, then grounded the negative cable to the block. This worked great. I dont remember but I think there is a pic on this site showing the exact location, this problem happens to all of us.

 

+1

This is the safe way. Do NOT attempt to start the vehicle with a charger connected like this. Only use it to get power to open the luggage compartment lid. (cap arrowed in red):



When you get a minute, please follow this link New Member Area - Intro a MUST - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum to the New Member Area - Intro a MUST section and post some info about yourself and your vehicle for all members to see. In return you'll get a proper welcome and some useful advice about posting to the forum.

Graham

 

maybe a dumb question, but why does the x300 have such a bloody big battery?
It is twice the size as that in my 4 litre Ford, and looks fit to start a Sherman tank...

 

Just to possibly complicate matters, if you have tripped the valet switch inside the armrest centre console, then the boot/trunk won't open with the key, if it's the green headed valet key that you happen to be using. You must use the regular black headed key or the fob. This will be the case, regardless of power or no power.

 

I suspect that your x300 has a lot more electrical ancilliaries and extras than your Ford does. The alternator feeds all of these gizmos, but has to keep the battery topped up also, but you can still easily run your battery down when working on the car. Attempted starts with long cranking, seats and sunroof operations etc. etc. You can't really have too much power!

Also size isn't alays directly relate to battery output as some batteries are physically smaller than others with the same grunt. Battery technology has moved on a bit since the mid 1990's.

 

Wow, I really appreciate all the quick response and feed back from everyone. To Doug I tried what you suggested and that worked very well, within a minute, and SoGood I'm definitely going to check that out I believe that could be the problem I have with the trunk not opening with the key. To GGG i'll get right on that now, Thanks to all once again!