I've been investigating why my power locks/mirrors aren't working - the RH mirror controls don't work at all & the power locks seem to instantly blow the 7.5A fuse when used.

Took the RH drivers door apart today & I think the solenoid has had it. It is a 5 wire type with the following colours:

black
orange-red
orange-blue
orange-white
orange-green

Does anyone know what these correspond to? I have a repair manual but can't make sense of it at all - it reads like there should only be 2 wires.

Here is the standard 5 wire replacement I have, mounted in the frame. The one on the left is the original one:

imgurl

Not sure if it's relevant, but my car is a 1989 & looks like it originally came with the Jaguar OEM 'CATS' remote central locking/immobiliser system, although there is a spare plug in the LH engine compartment where the control module should be.

 

At the top of this section go to the "How-To" sticky thread, then

-tech guide
-S60 XJS 1989MY updates

The update guide has a good diagram of the lock system

However....

It won't show which original Jaguar wiring colors correspond to the different colors on your new replacement part. Presumably no instructions came with the new part?

Plus....

The new part you have 'appears' to be a door lock *solenoid*. The original Jaguar/Kiekert part is a door lock *motor*. The two designs work under a different principle (the to-fro thrust of a solenoid plunger versus the steady movement of a gear driven shaft). This might be a problem. Not sure...just throwing it out there as a possibility

Others will chime in, hopefully

Cheers
DD

 

My car doesn't have remote locking, but I'll take a stab.

You probably have a alarm/horn wire for lock and unlock. You then probably have a wire for lock and for unlock and perhaps the additional wire is ground?

All you need to do is check continuity on the existing wiring to confirm ground and then set a meter on it to see what each wire is doing. Shouldn't you get voltage at a the "unlock" wire when you press the unlock button?

Anyway, it could all obviously be different, but it seems the only discrepancy is brown and red. I would just try brown where red was.

At the end of the day, you need to change the adapter, right? So put bullet connectors on the in-car wiring instead of putting an adapter on the new actuator, then you can move them around all you want, so you can easily get it correct. You can simply plug it in and hit the key fob to make sure it is popping and unpopping, as well as confirming that the alarm is turned on or off properly.

 

Thanks Doug, that technical update is exactly what I was looking for.

My replacement is a geared down 'motor' type - you can hear the motor whirring when you push the plunger.
The Jaguar one I removed from the door has no resistance on the plunger when it is removed, so is either a solenoid, or a mechanically broken motor. Sounds like the latter form what you've said?
Must admit i'd prefer solenoid plunger types - a clonk is much more satisfying

Interestingly when I was testing it, the one in the passenger door did make a motor whirr type noise when locking, so perhaps it has already been replaced.

Sidescrollin, sorry I explained it badly. I don't have remote locking - i'm just trying to get the central locking which works off of the key to function on both doors. But I do think the car originally came with an alarm/fob etc.
I've run out of 7.5A fuses & it's hard to do any testing when it blows the fuse each time you try!
I'm going to reuse the OEM connector - surprisingly it was completely corrosion free which in a damp door cavity on an XJS I find impressive.

 

This is my guess.

The Brown, Black and white wires are the switches inside the actuator. These wires tell the control module where the actuator is, so when you open the door with a key or slide the lock the other door will also open.

The Blue and Green wires drive the actuator up and down, connecting 12v and ground to these wires will operate the actuator, reverse the polarity to drive the actuator in the opposite direction.

 

If you have a soldering iron (as every XJS owner should) solder an Incandescent globe across one of the blown the fuses, a 100watt is needed. This will help with fault finding as the globe will light when excess current is drawn.

If the fuse is popping immediately and the glass is black from the blow, you have a 12v wire shorted to ground. To find this disconnect both ends of the wiring harness insert a good fuse (any rating will do for this test) and meter the wires to ground all should the open circuit.

 

Hi Warrjon, can you explain your last point a little better regarding finding shorts in the wiring to ground? I don't really understand. The fuse is a wedge type.

I tested both the OEM door actuators on the bench today, and both appear to work fine, including continuity between the switch positions, so I think they're ok... They obviously use a different principal to the replacement I bought, as the actuator remains 'loose' before suddenly moving one way or the other when power is applied.

 

Sorry I had a bad brain day. I know most of the fuses in the XJS are automotive (wedge type).

Lets try and explain it a little better. To fault find a blowing fuse, (it is more than likely a short/pinched wire). Disconnect the harness at both ends and meter each wire to ground. You will most likely find one or more bad.