I just went to get out of my 1999 XK8 convertible and the drivers door only opened half way. It closed correctly but from outside handle or inside pull handle the door would not open all the way. I tried many times with my son but I don't want to break it. Anyone have the same problem with a fix? I had to climb over the center console to get out the passengers side. I am 64 with a bum back. Help!
Thanks
Jack
1999 XK8 Convertible

 

[QUOTE=xkeots;1525829]I just went to get out of my 1999 XK8 convertible and the drivers door only opened half way. It closed correctly but from outside handle or inside pull handle the door would not open all the way. I tried many times with my son but I don't want to break it. Anyone have the same problem with a fix? I had to climb over the center console to get out the passengers side. I am 64 with a bum back. Help! The passengers door is fine.
Thanks
Jack
1999 XK8 Convertible

 

try blasting the hinge and door stop with some lubricant. Let it sit, repeat and try moving the door a little at a time.

 

Not the hinge. It is the locking mechanism. It gets stuck halfway open. I can push it back closed but the door strike lock will not fully release.
Thanks
Jack

 

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Jack,, can you please define what you mean by halfway ? Most of us, myself included will take that literally. But you mentioned locks and that doesn't seem to have anything to do with a door in mid travel.

Thanks John

 

I'm guessing like closing the door but the door latch not locking completely and now it's stuck partially open? :/

(ugh the more I read on this board the more scared I get of this car lol)

 

Matthew. Keep I mind that you have one of the cars that has the least number of known problems. No tensioners, no plastic thermostat covers, and the 6 speed transmission. There are an average of 500 people on this board at any time. We see an average of 1 or 2 new or weird problems a week. If yours breaks, there is a great chance that the problem has already been seen, diagnosed, and fixed. You want scary, go to a Mercedes site and look at the problems they have with their 10 year old cars.

 

Thanks Rick yeah.. I've read some users who have written reviews on car sites before my purchase that loved the car and are lifetime Jaguar owners.. zero problems and then I surf this site because I'm into my car so much and HOLY :O

anyway I have to keep telling myself.. preventative maintenance preventative maintenance.. but thanks I'll try to relax!

(and sorry to hijack the thread! Hopefully you figure out the door locking actuator/striker issue)

 

Ok, you ever close your door and it is still ajar that you can wiggle it in and out on handle side? Then you have to push it in a 1/2 inch and it's closed? This is what it is doing but opposite. I pull inside or out side handle and it opens (I call) first click. Partially ajar. I can push it or pull it closed but it will not open. The door pin latch doesn't release all the way.
Jack
1999 XK8

 

Thanks Jack, much better description. A few more questions to help get you an answer.

Can you get it all the way open at all ? I'm sure you will need access to either the lock mechanism or inside door.

Do the door locks cycle at all (on off on off) ?

Does alarm work normally ?

Does it matter which handle you use inside or outside ?

First let's clear up if you have a door that can not be opened are all or not.

If it can be opened, please describe what you have to go through to get there.

John

Let us know

 

Weird thing is this. After 2 days of climbing over center console the door opened. I blasted locking mechanism with wd40 and lithium grease. Now it's like normal. I wish I knew what caused it so I can take door panel off since door opens and check mechanism.
Thanks all and any other thoughts are gladly accepted
Jack
1999 XK8

 

[QUOTE=xkeots;1526890]Weird thing is this. After 2 days of climbing over center console the door opened. I blasted locking mechanism with wd40 and lithium grease. Now it's like normal. I wish I knew what caused it so I can take door panel off since door opens and check mechanism.
Thanks all and any other thoughts are gladly accepted
Jack
1999 XK8

PS: It feels good having oldest daily car in area (that I have seen)

 

From what you are describing, it sounds like how my door behaves when I forget to drop the door glass before removing the battery clamps to do work, and the window glass is in the fully up position. This is also what happens when the door latch micro-switch goes bad, or starts to go bad with intermittent function, it stops automatically dropping the door glass the necessary ~1.5"'s to clear the frame.

Is the glass in the Driver's Door Auto-Dropping the ~1.5"'s, or so needed to clear the Convertible Top Frame? If not, the door's glass will be stuck up in the frame it retracts into when fully closed and sealed and prevent the door from opening or closing completely. I had to find out the hard way how to thread the window back into the top seal of the door frame with no power, and a fully rolled up window, to be able to close the door. It can be done, it just looks and feels like you are going to break the window off when opening the door; closing the door, for me anyway, is much easier than opening the door, when this occurs.

If it is the Door Latch Micro-Switch starting to fail, you can expect to see more of this until the window will no longer drop at all, and the door lock may start to malfunction as well cycling off and on, leading to problems setting the vehicle alarm and locking or unlocking the door. The cure for now, is what you have already done, by spraying the WD-40 into the door latch, and lubricating the latch mechanism.

 

The same thing happened to me but it was both doors. I have a 99 xk8 covertible also. What i did was start it up (i know this sounds weird)....and put the convertible top all the way down and up again and it seemed to fix the whole door issue. It was like my xoors werent lining up with tbe body. It was weird. Just a thought....

 

I have been doing body off restorations since 1965. I am not used to these newer cars with electronics that are new to me. Door partially ajar and closing fully and opening to first click has nothing to do with window not closing. I wrote that it is only drivers door and I was crawling over console to passengers side to get out. I reset the car with my obd2 reader, took battery cables off and did a battery reset too. Started car and dropped top and windows at same time and door started opening normally. I am back in New York and car is now in my garage on Battery tender till I go back to Florida again. As of now it's good. I used lubrication in locking mech and all was well for two days.
Will see next trip. I am going to see my friend who is a tech manager at a local Jaguar dealership about this issue.
Thanks
Jack
1999 XK8

 

Just read,that you resolved the issue. I'm so glad my suggestion worked for. I know it sounded strange but these cars are strange (in my opinion anyways). Good luck. More tricky things might pop up. This forum is a great tool for info and resolutions. 😎