It is nice to be able to contribute for a change.

I was looking for other information and came across this post. Here may be a simple but much belated response.

When I had the same problem a year back I could not believe that Jaguar would design a system that would lock you out of access to the battery when it failed. Even for Jaguar this was a bit incomprehensible. After some research I found the following simple and some what eloquent solution.

On my 2004 XKR their is a small round opening, barley noticeable, as part of and on the left side of the rear XKR logo. If you insert the key into this hole the trunk lid will pop open when the battery is dead.

I hope this may help someone who reads this post in the future.

 

I'll Post some pictures of what happened to my '97 when I find them.

The original emblem was incorrectly placed over the key hole. My car is original paint with no bodywork, ever.

A member of the forum posted a picture of his emblem placement and I overlaid it over a picture of mine in photoshop. From this I determined my key hole was likely under the "K".

I heat gunned the emblem off (not recommended, because they melt) and underneath was a key hole that had zero evidence of ever having a key inside.

 

I need a diagram for the xj8

 

I know we're commenting on an old post but this got me wondering... could I hook up a battery tender connection to these two connections in the engine bay so I could just plug it in the winter instead of having a battery tender cables going through the trunk?

 

What about for a XJ8

 

Mathew, yes you can. I charge my battery using this terminal all the time. Your battery tender puts out much less than 250 amps. John

 

Sorry slow response - busy weekend doing a brake flush but thanks for replying! That's awesome.. that'll give me options instead of having a cord going into the trunk with the trunk open..

 

Perhaps someone in the XJ8 section will know?

 

Been using that hook up with my Battery Maintainer over a year now. Just added a small black wire pigtail to one of the 3 shock bolts for the charger clamps. Could run a pair of wires w/fuse + back to base of W/S and use polarized connector and not have to raise hood (bonnet).

 

Anyone use the under hood terminals for routine tender charging?
I just bought a Battery Tender Plus, and charging from under the hood eliminates the need for dragging an extension cord across the garage floor to the trunk area.
The tender/charger comes with a connectorized pigtail with ring terminals at one end (as well as one with alligator clips). The pigtail comes with it's own in-line 7.5A fuse and the ring terminals fit the under-hood posts. So I was thinking of attaching the pigtail to the posts permanently so I can just plug and unplug the tender at will. There's a space between the strut tower and the fuse box into which into which I could tuck the pigtail when not in use, or maybe use a velcro strap to contain the pigtail more securely. Any reason not to do this?

 

What you have in mind is perfectly OK. I have several vehicles set up in pretty much the same way.

 

Here's one I haven't seen told on here, used the remote to open the trunk alone, dropped the remote in my jacket pocket then dropped the jacket in the trunk....closed the trunk...the car was still secured!!!

LOTS of cursing later, a call to AAA for a locksmith, he told me he could get me in the car but not into the trunk... I didn't even know about the lock in the logo... as soon as the door opened the "security system triggered and wouldn't release the trunk!

Mines a coupe.... I pulled the subwoofer, reached into the trunk and grabbed my jacket!

This was a few years ago.... won't make that mistake again!