I assume the boot light works on some 'level' detecting when the boot is open. what are the common errors besides a bulb issue, that would have it not operating.

 

there is a spring switch located in one of the boot hinges, usually the right side hinge when standing behind the car, this switch has two black wires, follow them from the switch over the hinge to where they connect to another harness with bullet connectors.

 

Looooooong time between drinks on S2 for me.

Ours worked only when the parking lights were ON.

That was 3 S2 Jags, and 1 S2 Daimler.

No idea why it was that way, it just was.

Maybe that Mercury switch, part of the bulb holder was a Lucas part, and the reliablility was recognosed early in game.

 

ohh! the famous Mercury switch? did the Series 2 XJ have those? I thought the boot light in XJ was controlled by the switch at the hinge, which is the same switch as found in the door jambs for the interior lights when the door is opened.

 

the Mercury Switch, yes full of mercury inside, if you shake it good it normally comes back to life

 

When we got the Daimler, the boot light did not work.

I read all I could find, and that was pre computer days, so no Google.

All I could find was that switch on the hinge, but there was NO switch anywhere on that car. I looked at that bulb holder, had another drink, just to be sure, and decided it was waaaaay too long for just a bulb holder, then the Penny dropped, switched on the Parkers, we have light.

My 1964 S Type had that same set up, I just thought in 12 years technology would have moved on, not so.

 

AHA!!
That explains why I can't find the Mercury switch mentioned in the glove box manual!

Some "Person" in the distant past REMOVED the trunk light leaving a large hole. The lisence plate wires show evidence of being butchered, so I assumed it was originally connected to that circuit.

I've been toying with the idea of a toggle switch to activate a light of my own back there. Now that I know for sure there's No Mercury switch, I'll continue planning that.
(';')

 

A Mercury switch. Very clever. I like the idea in theory. But, not so much in practice.
Mercury out of containment is bad stuff.


1. The news is running a story of little shiny bubbles on a street in a nearby town. Id'd as Mercury. But, the source remains unknown. I have a theory. Mercury mines exist here and there. Leftovers from the Gold Rush era. It was used to extract gold from ore. So, way back when that street was paved, the aggregate in either the base or black top came from old mine tailings.


2. Decades ago, I replaced the thermostat for the then new furnace we had installed. Programable. 70F for cold days, 68F for night. I relegated the old one to my shop wall. Merely for the temperature guage. It has Mercury. A local HVAC contractor extracts the Mercury from the old units he replaces to "play with"!!


3. Elinor: Toggle on the console or on the boot lid? Reminder feature???


4. Google up an alternate level triggered switch?


5. Add a door switch and lamp in the boot. The originals are puny. OK to inquire...


Carl

 

Elinor, do you have a Series 2 or 3 trunk/boot Lid ?

have a picture of the inside?

 

Francis,

yes, in my 1965 S type the parking lights must be in the ON position for the boot light to work,

same principle in the XJ, where the parking lights must be in the ON position for the Glovebox light to come on when you open the glovebox door. In Jaguar logic, you only need boot and glovebox light at night !

 

My '71 XJ works the same way, lights must be on.. light is almost useless - but it works. Picture before the painting and without the trunk lid cover that is on there now...

 

Series 2, Jose, I know this because the Series 3 latch is too big in its curve, and therefore doesn't hug the trailing edge correctly.

It has enough rubber padding between the latch and the trailing curve to operate without trouble, but one can wiggle it. There's also not enough room for the S3 latching solenoid.

Most of the inside has carpet screwed to the framework but I have got pictures of the inside of the back:



My plan was to install B-Pillar foot light light from a Ford Windstar, one on each side of center, in those rectangular holes.




They have 50w Zenon "bulbs," behind which I thought of mounting a mirror to reflect light out into the cargo space rather than half the output being wasted in the lid cavity.

I thought it would be relatively easy to mount a small toggle switch back there somewhere out of the way, or maybe a rotary switch would be better. I haven't decided yet.

Connecting them to the plate wires should be easy as they're just Right There (with one of Jaguar's notorious in-line fuses), but I haven't got around to it yet.

Only Once since I got the car would it have been handy to have light in the trunk. Maybe I'll get it done before the next time! LOL
(';')

 

Several hundred mercurial moments later...
I don't have the original boot light, an LED lamp in it's place. Cant see any switch at the right hinge where the cable cluster exits the boot lid and makes it way down to a junction of (post-market..I guess) connectors against the right (facing car end) boot wall. The lead from the boot lid has five wires out of it, three red, one black and one green/red. All the green/red and red show as having voltage when park lights on.
I can get the brake lights (left/right) on boot lid ON and one (right) plate light ON but the left plate light and the inside the boot lid LED are silent. Guess I was expecting some sort of switch that activated upon being tilted off centre, so I might have to go looking for this mercury switch or it's successor. I know it ll used to work.

 

Reminds me too to ask whether this era of car had a boot latch/lock suitable to be affixed with a unlocker servo thingee connected to main central locking or was boot lock not set up for such a thing?

 

ok stop the bus:

Elinor,
what I see in your picture is a trunk / boot Lid identical to the Series 3 Lid, so you can fit Series 3 boot light assemblies (plural), one on each side, or even 4 assemblies if you want, in series.

I will post pictures later gater.

There are, on each side, (left and right of the center), and above of the semi-squared cutouts seen in your picture, 1" inch round factory holes where you can push-in a Round Toggle Switch as you will see in my pictures when I post them.

so essentially, what I did in my car, was to:

1) added a second light assembly, removing it complete with the two-wires wiring harness from a salvage XJ Series 3,

2) added the round switch, with a home-made harness / connectors,

3) connected the whole enchilada, so the switch turns ON and OFF those two lights, and automatically bypassing the Hinge Switch,

4) so I can leave the boot Lid open all day long without the lights draining the battery, (which in the Series 3 XJ come ON automatically when you open and raise the boot Lid), by just turning the new switch to OFF. Once you get used by "feel" to where the switch is located, it's blueberry pancakes.

Aden,
you can do the same, and just connect one Hot wire from the lights, to the PARKING lights wire connector on either tail lamp assembly, so they will only have power when the lights switch at the Dash is in any of the ON positions.

Its very simple, one of the most simple if not absolutely basic things we can do to light up the trunk / boot when needed.

In addition, you can replace the festoon bulbs with LEDs to get more light.

I will add pictures of my modification later today.

And also, I have used the mirror trick in my S type Map light, "borrowing" a ladies makeup mirror from my ex, (maybe that's why she left me, when I showed her the modification she asked, "where did you get the mirror?" errrr, ehrm, cough cough....)

But I had no lady to borrow the makeup mirror from when I did the XJ trunk lights, so I used reflective aluminum tape, almost the same thing but without having to choke with explanations.

 

All very ingenious ways of lighting up the boot!!! Kudos.


Back a bit, I checked to see if my S3 had a boot light and if it lit up. Affirmative, well that is an overstatement. It glowed is closer to it. I guess I could vamp around and enhance it.


I chose my age old practice, not long after getting the car, 2001!!! A flashlight, aka torch in the boot. My Jeep has a pair. One in it's trouble box and one in a corner.


Carl

 

ok here's what I did with mine;

First, installing TWO lights in the XJ trunk is a common mod, what I did was to add a SWITCH to keep them OFF when I needed to, because in the Series 3 XJ, they come ON whether the parking lights are OFF or On, so keeping the trunk lid open drains the battery.

The pictures below show most of what and how I did it, it can be retroed to the Series 2 or 1, no big deal. David can get you the Boot Light assemblies, or just pull them from any salvage yard that has Series 3 XJ rotting carcasses.

And when you get the Second light assembly, get the wiring harness too, you need it to connect one assembly to the other. It's very simple, the Hot wire goes to the Switch FIRST, and then to one of the lamps so you can interrupt the Edison electrons. Hey I just found out that Thomas Edison was a Mexican? Is this true?

 

I am in the process of changing all my dome lights and boot lights (on all cars cars old and modern) over to LEDS. Some boofhead (who looks a lot like me) flattened a battery recently. Hopefully this will give that person time to realise the error in future.

 

Okay, so I looked in the boot lid, left plate light was just a bad connection LED boot lamp connected via this plug and not going, so assume this is the issues. Sounds like wiring to the park lights is the best idea.
back to the dash .. after finally figuring that darn indicator and its pilot light out with new wire I now find that indicator activates all dash light in left position... didnt do that last Monday....

 

that is the Mercury-activated lamp, in theory it should not fail, since mercury does not evaporate, or does it?