Drat!.........any ideas on fixing or troubleshooting this?

 

My left side button stopped working recently, pull to unlock works fine but only the right side button works now. I reckon it’s the button in the handle’s worn contacts.

 

Guys.......when my door handle lock buttons stopped working they both stopped working. Today they decided to work. An intermittent problem like this suggests slight corrosion on some wiring plug/socket. I could clean that if I knew where it was........anyone?

 

How's your battery? The majority of the times when you have an issue like you describe it is due to an old, weak, tired battery. If your battery is 4+ years old or doesn't show a charge of 12.5 volts+ when your XK is shutdown it is time to replace the battery. If you are going to replace the battery make sure it is fully charged before it is installed. For more info on batteries use the search box in the upper right corner of this page to get it. Good luck

 

The connections are all on the door reinforcement which is attached to the top of the door latch:




Pulling the handle rotates the vertical aluminium section. The arm on this operates the microswitch (circled in blue). The connector to the outer door handle harness is arrowed in red. The connector to the door latch is arrowed in green.

Good news is the door reinforcement is low cost. Bad news is it's a lot of work to replace it.

Graham

 

Thanks Guys!

I'll check the battery. It seems to crank OK but they tend to fail suddenly in this region, the heat........

 

Guys.......measured 12.44 dc volts at cigarette lighter socket, so looks like battery is beginning to fade huh?

 

Well you certainly got that right!
You basically have to disaasemble the entire door.
No fun.

 

use a voltmeter to check voltage at the battery terminals, not the cigarette lighter. Check it in the morning without having a maintainer on it overnight. 12.6 volts is the minimum voltage on a battery. ANYTHING less is a bad battery. If you don't have tools, just take it to an auto parts store and they will load test the battery at no cost. If it needs replacing, make the purchase and have them charge it for you overnight, so you are assured you have a fully charged battery.
As is mentioned here ad nauseam (for good reason), a new battery doesn't mean it's fully charged. They sit on a shelf in the store. An auto parts store will load test, voltage test at no cost. They will put a newly purchased battery on a charger for you overnight at no cost and they will also install it at no cost and carry away the old one.

 

Enlighten me. Why not measure the battery at the lighter socket?

 

Because you are measuring voltage filtered through the vehicle electrics. Measuring voltage at the battery is obviously the most accurate.

 

I am visiting a battery store on Tuesday. I will measure both. I would be surprised if ten feet of wire and a fuse make much difference LOL

 

The lighter is not wired directly to the battery. Likely there won’t be a massive difference, the point is the TRUE voltage is at the source, the battery.

 

I'd agree it won't likely be significant but these cars have electronic gremlins that can often be attributed to the battery. The fact that both locks are now acting up makes a case for the battery check first as Ralph suggested and an easier first option than removing the handles to clean contacts as you can ascertain from Graham's post above. Not a fun job. If your battery were to read the 12.44 volts as it does at the lighter, it's toast. Looking forward to what you find.

 

I run a couple of vehicles with voltmeters connected to a 12V dash source (like a cigarette socket) while also watching what the computer is seeing for voltage. There’s almost always 3/10 of a volt less at the socket than what the ecu is seeing. The ECU reading is usually much closer to what I read at the battery. After seeing that difference, I never rely on the dash socket for anything more than a vague “guestimate”.

While I’ve never seen the socket higher than the battery’s actual voltage, I don’t trust it to not ever possibly be higher than battery voltage.

 

Kudos to Ralph

I had Interstate install a new MTP-49/H8 for $222 out the door and all is good!!!!!!!! They had the right tester and the MTP and I was rolling in forty minutes. Funny, they had to ask me where the battery was.......it is detailed in the owner's manual.

 

Glad it was sorted out.