Hi,
The cable (and more?) broke on my front driver's side door. I got a replacement cable and it looked simple enough to put on (at least in theory, especially if you have small hands like me). I ran into two problems, one on each end of the cable (thankfully it did not have more ends). The end with the hook is easy enough to install if the green little clip that it goes into was not in bad shape (I tried to find it online (and probably did) but I do not know what the part is called or the part number. If someone can supply me with this information for that clip, that would be great. Also, I checked a couple of auto parts store and they did not have them. Should I try some more or will that be a waste of my time?
The other end of the cable, the one closer to the rear of the car, is giving me some (OK, alot of) trouble. It seems that there are two connections to snap that end into. But here is my problem, there are no moving parts where it seems to be connected to so even if I pull on the other end of the cable nothing happens. There must be something missing in that door panel! Maybe someone has a clear picture of where that cable goes which shows what is supposed to happen when the door release is pulled (that is shows what the other end of the cable does when the door released is pulled). Please help! Did I mention that I love my Jaguar (especially my XJS!)
Jomo

 

Today looked like a beautiful day in NY so I decided to fight with my door lock some more. This time I disassembled the whole locking mechanism and had the lock in my hand. I now see why the original cable broke in the first place. Days ago when I thought that I clearly saw where the cable goes I tried to move the part that the cable was to be attached to but it would not move. So I thought that I had the wrong location for the cable or that possibly that part was stuck. With the part in my hand I saw that it was stuck. With some lubricant I got it freed up and put everything back together. The best part is that the door opens from the inside! That is so cool.

 

Hey Jomo,
Glad you got it fixed. I just did mine last week. I had a new cable ready to install, took off the panel, and then realized the cable was fine. It was that little green piece of plastic that snaps into the interior door handle that was busted.

Just an FYI for anybody else looking for that part, I found it at the dealer, but it doesn't look quite the same. They've now combined the green plastic thing with the metal clip that holds the wire, so that it's all one little piece of plastic that snaps into the door handle AND clips onto the wire.

This is all sounds more complicated than it really is. If you see it, it's really very simple. Anyway, got it at the dealer for about $4. It was part #2 on the door diagram for front driver's side.

 

Furley,
Thanks for the information. Based on what you said I can tell that this green plastic thing has been changed in the past as it had the metal clip attached to it.
I am glad that you got your door release to work again.
Jomo