...On the passenger door panel.

Took off the lens. Found the socket to be faulty. Cleaned with an electronic cleaning product. Still intermittant.

Now being just stubborn enough not to let a simple socket have the victory, I removed the plate holding it to the door panel and eventually wound up pulling each of the blade fittings out of the rubber socket to find the cause of the intermittant fault.

Aha! The ground lead's crimp had severely corroded owing to electrolysis. I broke it off easily, and soldered the black wire to the fitting.

Replaced socket. Lamp now fully inoperational.

Got out DVM and determined the ground lead had somehow come loose. It was time to remove the door panel.

Removed door panel. Found black lead connector had come loose; easy fix. But door panel would NOT go back on.

Discovered a previous mechanic had not secured the top panel clip to the door, but had mashed it in and bent it. An argument with some pliers ensued, the offending clip re-bent properly, and door panel re-secured better than ever.

Buoyed with newfound confidence in mastery of door panel fitment, I decided the time was ripe to dive into the troubleshooting of the inoperative door locks. For some time, it has been impossible to lock the car with the key. This ain't good, especially in California, so apart came the driver's door.

That's when I began to go down the path with the sign that says, "Abandon all hope ye who enter here". Instead of easy access to what MUST be a logical and transparent mechanical system, I eventually felt like I had my hand stuck inside the Terminator's quadricep. Rods and linkages at right angles, a deftly hidden solenoid in the center of the door, threaded adjustments in the bowels of the door that would not turn unless the mechanism was completely dismantled--so deeper I ventured in dismantling until I removed the entire assembly.

I made some adjustments, lubricated everything after a thoughtful analysis of what type of substance was being smoked by the engineers who envisaged this medusa, and sat on the garage floor for three hours with my 14 year old son assisting in attempts to fit all the rods back to their places and clips for the rods.

I had given up all hope, when my son's superior (younger) vision and dexterity finally triumphed and he got the rods secured with satisfying clicks.

Another two hours was spent on adjusting the lock mechanism, interior and exterior door release handles, and buttoning the whole affair back together.

It was one of those priceless Jaguar days when you reflect several times on how the car will be forever beached inside the garage, owing to your own stupidity of trying to fix something you don't really understand or have the manual for...But then again, I think I'm in good company with its designers.

Victory over accursed door locking mechanism. Works perfectly, both doors, inside and out.

 

Enjoyable post, Lou :-)

These old jags are a little weird but part of the fun and satisfaction is "becoming one" with the car's quirky aspects. I can see that you are philosophical about things....a real advantage....a requirement, really....when reparing old Jags. That, and patience. No job can be rushed on an XJS. The more you rush, the more the car will fight back. Repairs should be undertaken with a medatative, pensive, and relaxed frame of mind where every turn of the screw is relished.

There are no engineering flaws in an old Jag. Anything that looks like an engineering flaw is actually an "interesting design feature" . That's what I always tell myself, at least. If I get jammed up on a project and set it aside and look around for another interesting design feature to admire and wonder about for a bit, then return to the problem.

A couple bits of un-asked-for advice that you've touched on but I'll emphasize:

Whenever you are working on the car, take a peek around the immediate area for any electricals grounds or connectors and take a few minutes to clean them "while you're at it". Or, make a day of it and do 'em all at one, bumper -to-bumper. Also, take out all the fuses and clean the end caps and the cradle clips until you see shiny metal again. These small steps will pay dividends in the form of circuits that won't give you trouble in the future :-)

Second, don't assume any inoperative mechanical component or system requires replacement. In many, many case a disassemble-clean-lubricate routine will restore life for another 25 years.....as your own sucess with the door locks proves.

A sorted out XJS is a joy to own and drive. Keep at it !

Cheers
DD

 

Now think how much more satisfied you would be if your locks worked by remote, like a "modern" car...... c'mon, you know you want to... quick trip down to PEP boys to buy the kit.....

 

Couldn't have said it better, Doug. My son paraphrased some of these thoughts yesterday, after the job was completed: "Y'know, you can have a boring, reliable car...but why have that when the Jaguar is always working up interesting things for us to do and problems to solve.."

I get it. "Interesting Design Feature". IDF, for short. As in,
IDF'n know how this thing ever worked!"

Key FOB? Perish the thought!! We're "purists" here.

 

I just assumed they disabled the door locks so that theives wouldn't cut the convertible top.