hello all,

I've had a weird problem crop up on my late model XJ6 series III regarding the wiring, more specifically the passenger door and the radio antennae motor power lines coming from the radio deck and run through the passenger sides of the car.

I installed an aftermarket radio and connected the appropriate wires in order to operate the radio antennae and all was operating successfully and the lights only illuminated when the doors were open or lights were otherwise appropriately activated - the usual.

after a day up in Kansas in the cold, all of the sudden a problem had developed. not only did my antennae cease retracting and deploying (it is now stuck in the lowered position fully and does not reappear upon turning on the radio). However, doing anything on the stereo which would have previously turned on the antennae motor, now activates the passenger door light (and ONLY this light). The light turns off if the power is turned off to the radio (but after a few seconds delay)

I strongly suspect that there is some kind of wiring anomaly but I was looking for some input as to any trouble spots that seem likely to cause this problem

 

Fuse # 3 operates the interior lights and the antenna; Series III electrical anomalies are generally traced to the fuses or connectors - even when the liklihood of this seems nil. Since your antenna will not rise now I would first suspect the gree relay on the trunk floor or its connections (under the panel nearest the bumper), next the fuse or the fuse cradle If I had the energy to type it, I could tell you a whole litany of stories about fuses and fuse cradle connections being the cause of all sorts of anomalies in these cars - I have restored 21 of them).

 

Back in the day Jaguar released a service bulletin about blown antenna fuses and door lights staying on. The antennas would freeze, the circuit would overload, the fuse would blow...and then some sort of weird back-feed would keep some of the door lights on.

The fix was adding a diode in the door light wiring so that a blown fuse wouldn't cause the door light weirdness

The interior and door lights are actually split into two circuits....that's why not all of them stay on.

So....

As Gregory says...check the fuse

Cheers
DD

 

Thanks - resolved and now I feel silly - Fuse #3 was obviously burned. I didn't look there first because that one passenger door light was still operating and made me think it was crossed wiring or something far more complex. Popped in the spare, turned on the car and up came the antennae and now no more passenger light staying on.

 

No need to feel silly, many of us have been there.

That's why Lucas is called the Prince of Darkness.
(';')

 

John: with regard to electrical issues in the Series XJ cars, the main electrical components are rarely to blame; almost always it is the fuses or the connectors - even when these do not seem directly responsible - even when it seems impossible that they could be at fault - for example, one item controlled by a fuse working and another item controlled by the same fuse NOT working. FUSES, FUSES, FUSES - it is the Series III mantra.

 

This is a classic example of how good this board is......... OP reports something that sounds completely bizarre........ within 1 day there are 2 excellent posts which nail the problem first time. OP changes fuse and all is well in the world.

I have sinned and recently bought something "non-Jaguar, but still British" and I can tell you their forums are nothing like as good as this one