For the last year I have had this random issue where I get out of the car and the central locking won’t work. Every time I have this issue the little red light on the transmission shifter for the central locking/alarm system has been flashing red. When I say random, it might happen once or twice a week, or not at all.

This weekend I was way off the beaten track on a road so rough I was plodding along at walking pace, then suddenly all the headlights lights went out and the wipers froze. Of course it was dark and raining at the time. I stopped the car and put it into park while I fiddled with all the switches trying to get things working again with no success. Figured at this stage my best option was to limp back to a main road and find some street lighting to troubleshoot but it wouldn’t come out of park. Ok then, I’m an I.T. guy so let’s try the troubleshooting rule number one, turn it off and on again. Nope, won’t start now.

At this point I just laughed out loud as the only way this could have got any worse would be to lock myself out of the car. Which gave me an idea, lock the car, then unlock it again and see if that resets it but the central locking wasn’t working. …..then I noticed that pesky little red light blinking away, i wonder.

My fix for that blinkin red light for the last year? Open the glovebox, then slam it shut! Like magic everything burst back into life and I drove the two plus hours home. The glovebox trick works every time the central locking plays up, but now this issue is causing the car to shutdown I have to fix it.

Question is, what is causing this issue? Open to any suggestions?

Thanks,

Mark

 

I believe that is your tow sensor which triggers when, well...picked up on a tow truck. First thing, bookmark this if you don't already have it... JagRepair.com - Jaguar Repair Information Resource
This is from that, it may not answer you but it will give you a starting point so please review it... http://www.jagrepair.com/images/TSB/...rd%20Start.pdf

 

Ive been through this. The central electronics module is a board that is suspended in a case and then grounded to the frame of the car. The board is suspended by four grounding tabs which micro crack. reheat or re-solder and you should be good. You may be able to wiggle the large connector (behind the glove box) with ignition on and get your symptoms to appear.

 

I think you nailed it, just had a read through the service manual and everything that stopped working is on the list as being controlled by the BPM. I will pull it apart and inspect for any dry joints..

Do you know if they are interchangeable, or are they coded specifically for each car. i.e. immobilizers etc? I do have a spare one from another XJR i parted out, wondering if i can just plug it in.

 

I believe it will require a CATS number but I am not certain. Personally I would pull it and re-solder. It was very simple once I figured out what the problem was.

 

I assume these are the earthing points you are talking about as they were badly cracked. Its all back together now so time will tell if that cures it.. so far so good.

Thanks again,

Mark

 

Those are the ones. Great job. Hope it all works out.

 

I thought I'd resurrect this 7.5 year old thread

Just out of curiosity, I've seen people refer to a red flashing light on the J-gate and various problems, but I've also seen posts that state that the light should flash red (slowly, at regular intervals) when the car is locked.

What is the difference here? Are problems associated with the red flashing light when the car is not locked [yet]?

 

When you double lock the car, the indicator says that if someone tries forced entry into the car it will disable the interior handles from unlocking a door (including the boot button) and initiate the immobilizer. Such in the case a window is broken.
I believe it explains this in the handbook... I'm out of town or I'd have looked myself.

 

I understand this, but that wasn't my question, I probably wasn't very clear (or I'm just confused). I'll try again.

The below was stated by the original poster that suggested the flashing red light was indicating there was a problem with the security system.
In other posts, people have said that when you lock the car, the flashing red light indicates the security system is working correctly (and armed).

My question: Is the red light flashing in situations when the there is a problem with the security system or there isn't a problem with the security system?

I'm curious about this because when I lock my car with the key the light flashes. I don't double lock the car, ie. just turning my key right, rather than double lock by turning key left, then right.