I know this has been discussed before - I've searched the forums and haven't found an answer.

My X308 (2001 XJ8) likes to lock me in the car. First noticed the passenger door doing it; now the drivers door does it too.

Suspected frayed cable(s) - that seems to be the most common problem. Took the drivers door apart, cable looks just fine on both ends. The little rubber fitting at the latch end is a little torn, but the cable still fully pulls the lever; that's not my problem.

When I shift the car into park, the doors unlock. The locks pop up in the doors, and you can clearly hear the actuators working. Approximately 1 second later, there is a 2nd, quieter/softer "click" from inside the doors. If you pull the door handle during the ~1sec between the unlocking, and that 2nd click, the interior door handles work. Miss that window though and you can get stuck in the car. Once they work, they seem to keep working, until the car is locked again.

Maybe related; maybe not: I seem unable to lock the passenger door (so it can't be opened from the outside) using any method at all.

Ideas?

Thanks
Ryan.

 

the passenger door lock actuator sounds like the culprit, but it's wise to know the condition of your battery, funny things like this happen with a dying battery, if in doubt just fit a new one (12.5V minimum on these cars). Hope that helps.

 

Thanks for the idea Sean. Car has a new Interstate battery in it, and has good voltage.

As I mentioned, I - and my passenger - just have to be quick and make sure that we get the doors open quickly when turning off the car. Tonight it did something even stranger, I got the door half way open (past the first catch on the latch), but then it decided to disengage the handle (lock the door I guess), and it left me stranded inside again, with the door ajar, but not open.

Strange.

 

The biggest weak link and frustration on these Jags are door hardware integrity. This car has given me so much headaches regarding the door hardware compared to all the other cars I have owned in the past. I have opened up all four door panels and have done all sorts of repairs. The troublespots are as follows:

1. Door cable from interior door handle to the door latch. When the cable frays and snaps, you are stuck inside. (Try to get a senior citizen lady out when that happens! No fun when they climb over the center console and snap your cup holder in the process.) The breaks tends to be at the latch end. You will have to buy a new cable which comes with the interior handle which you may not need, but you have no choice. It will run > $200.

2. Door actuator failure. You will have to take apart the door to take out the door latch assembly. Then remove the black plastic box actuator. Carefully pop it open and usually, you will see a broken white T-shaped plastic part that snapped in half. That part reverses the motor and causes the actuator to go up or down. When that part is broken, it will only go in one direction, and the you are stuck inside. Super glue the part alone will work for a week, then you will have to take apart everything to get to it again. I made a steel splint with two holding screws to hold the two pieces together. It has been two years now and no problems since. It this is too much for you, you will have to buy a new door latch assembly (I am too scare to find out how much his will cost. If you want to be cheap, look for a replacement in a junk yard.)

3. Door micro switch failure. This failure will not lock you in, but you will notice the courtesy lights will not operate when the door is open. What is annoying is that your car alarm will go off in the middle of the night! This switch is attached to the door latch assembly and is on the same wire harness as the door actuator. It was stupid to locate this switch below the opening of the latch, allowing water to drip down onto it. I popped the failing switch open to see the insides were corroded and toast. The switch can be ordered from an internet electronic supply house for $5. At that point, replace all four of the switches at each door.

4. Funny door actuator behavior. If you did the door hardware work without disconnecting the battery, it will do funny things. You will need to do a hard reset to clear the computer module issues.

Please see attached photos below.

 

Good info there. Since I've verified that my cables are good, and I've gotten into the door control module with a good scanner - verifying that the microswitches seem to properly monitor door position (dome lights seem to work as they should too); that leads me back to the lock actuator mechanism. I suppose that's next. I'd be very interested to see a good picture of your "splint".

I have figured out more weirdness. I need to be sure to not try to open the door until the key is off. If I do that, and act quickly, I can get out every time. From habit, I still sometimes try to open the door first, before turning off the ignition, then I end up stuck in the car :-) Well, I just have to roll down the window, or go drive around the block and start over...

 

Lubrication of the locks is most important as the locks rely on the actuator being moved. This happens only indirectly by the cable acting on the door mechanism and some spring actuated levers. If the levers are stiff it does not respond to the cable pull and falls to move the actuator, keeping you locked inside. While you could liberally spray lubricant into the lock, it is hard to get the 3 pivots and sliding levers. Better to remove, which itself is a bear to remove around the glass slide rails.

 

I am having a bit of an issue with the door handle myself, came to this thread and wanted to verify one thing:

Is this proper? When I put my XJR into park, the doors do not unlock at that time. They all unlock when I pull the driver's side door handle to get out. Bad news?

 

That is the correct operation.