I just bought a 91 XJS. It's my 4th Jag. It's a 5.3 I can't get the passenger door to unlock. The car sat for a few years in FL after the owner passed and his daughter drove it to CT and it sat in the driveway for three years. She was shocked by how much a dealer was going to charge her for a tune up, battery and a muffler so she parked it (3K+). It has no rust and runs great but the windows need maintenance to get them to work. The problem is I can't get the door to unlock even manually to access the door panel. Anybody know any tricks to get that lock to release? Even the door lock (key) is a bit sticky. Other than an exhaust upgrade and tune-up the car is immaculate. Thanks!

 

I presume you have squirted WD 40 or similar in the key hole ? Might be worth a try and leaving over night.

Does the key turn or does it just not move at all ?

I would then get a piece of soft wood and a mallet and try "shock" the lock to free up by gently !! Banging the lock a couple of times. Nothing too violent to crack or break anything but it may be enough to free it.

I would probably try the WD40 first :-)

Let us know how you get on.

 

If the shock therapy/WD40 treatment does not do it, then I think it would be best to remove the inner door trim. There is a bolt under the chrome trim on the front end of the armrest, and there may be a small screw under the door pocket front. The trim then pops out as it is held all round by poppers that go into holes in the door metal.

The courtesy lights have a chrome panel that may be hard to get at door - closed, but this will not matter too much as you just need to get into the trailing edge of the door. Push the seat right back and recline it, or right forward and release it forward, whatever seems to give the best access. A sharp upward push on the trim releases it from the door top and allows access to the inside of the door.

Once you get your hand in, there are two rods leading from the actual lock up to the handle. It will not be easy, but you can pull up or down on these and one of them unlocks and the other opens the door catch itself.

 

Another option would be to get a "slim jim" from your local auto parts store and manually open the door, bypassing the locks. If you know someone with an auto club like AAA you could tell them you locked your keys in the car and when the driver gets there just ask him to get in using the passenger door. You would be amazed at how easy it is to get into our cars!

 

Update! I'm a big fan of WD-40 too. The key lock would only turn counterclockwise and the interior lock actuator would not budge. The door handle was frozen in the open position. I flattened out the red plastic nozzle extender so it would fit into the key slot with the key partially inserted to deflect the lock guard and allow the WD to enter the lock. I also shot the door handle mechanism as well as I could manage. I let it sit for a few hours. Nothing.... I then sprayed WD in the interior lock tab as well as I could. Not much room for the oil to penetrate. I took a pair of locking needle nose vice grips and padded the jaws with a piece of inner tube. I locked the rubber padded pliers on the lock tab and gently tried to lock and unlock the door while I slowly pulled on the interior door handle. Similar to what you do with the exterior door handle when using a slim Jim to open a locked door. After about 20 minutes the lock started to free up and the tab range improved greatly. A few minutes later I heard a click and the door moved slightly. I had to re-close the door and start over. It worked! The door popped open and became functional. I just shook my head the first time I had to close the door after freeing it but the mechanism worked great. Door lock solved! Now.... I have to pull the door liners and do the same to both electric windows. They must be gummed up. There is power to them but they won't move. Well, nit completely. The passenger window went down very slowly and would not go up again. It finally went up as I pulled on the glass while depressing the switch. I'm not going to touch that button again until I pull the door liner. Just my luck.... Anybody have any experience with the windows? Thanks very much for all of the insight everyone.

 

If you look at the front of the windows, where they butt up against the small black triangular part above the window line of the door, is the seal in place ? On my car the seals were coming off and got in the way of the window when it was going up. I glued them back in and the windows have been fine since.

I still have issues occasionally with the windows just not working at all, but I know thats the switches that I new to take apart and clean

 

I'll have to take a look at that. Sometimes they don't move at all. I'll check that out later in the shop and get back to you. God awful day here in the northeast. Thanks, K

 

Took the door panels off and cleaned and lubed the components. Everything seems to be working well so far. The problem is the window seals. There is water pooled in both doors. No rust yet but the water is in there. I dried it out but after the next storm the water had returned. Not a cycle I want to get into. Any ideas on how to get the seals to work properly? They look fine but are not doing the job at all. I tried as best as I could to clean and lubricate the window mechanisms. They are very sticky and don't work all of the time. They seem to bind up on the leading edge. Anybody have any experience with the maintenance on these windows? So far I've just cleaned and lubricated the mechanisms and had marginal results.