XJS facelift 4.0l 1993 60K.
Car standing for couple of years doors apparently deadlocked.
AA gave up after half a day
Auto Locksmiths [two of] made new keys no joy gave up and went away [no bill to pay as unsuccessful].
Boot lock broke after much offort so access to boot , new battery..nothing happening.
Door mirrors off managed to move door lock 'paddles' both sides to 'unlock', nothing.
Suggested removal of front screen but how to access locks with removing door panel?
Drill out door handle seems drastic but feasible action.
Your thoughts suggestions ideas much welcome.
Regards Trio
I would suggest the most economical way to solve that one is to break the side window glass, drastic it may sound but its going to be much cheaper to replace the side window with a good used one from an XJ-S breaker of which there are now many in the u.k. than to try to replace no longer available new door locks and handles those are going to be much HARDER to source they are no longer available new from the manufacturer a single boot lid lock is an easier one to replace once you gain access to the car interior you still NEED electrical power from the battery to open dead locked doors as you are no doubt aware , the door paddles will not operate in a dead locked situation without electrical power from the battery, the ignition also needs to be swtiched ON, Really this is a job for an experienced old school trained Car Auto electrician rather than the modern day AA younger generation operative or a car locksmith, the locking system is electrically controlled and these cars are of a generation whereby an older long established experienced car auto electrician is going to understand the operating system much better, again complex electrics on these they are absolutely full of electrical relay boxs solonoids etc anyone of which can be controlling the central locking system which is where a GOOD car auto electrician comes into his own ,being able to test where the fault actually lies in the electrical system itself Regards
Thanks Glenn, next question where to find a good auto electrician? The car is in Nottingham.
When you say side window; are we talking door glass?
Yes indeed i would break the actual window glass itself to gain access to the interior of the car it may sound drastic but with an issue like this its whats going to cause the least amount of damage and replacement costs,? that in my opinion has to be the side window glass complete , there are in the u.k. today a lot of breakers and sellers of used parts that specialize in the XJ-S googling "XJS breakers" in the uk WWW today is going to see a lot of search results coming back from these very people many of which have dozens of examples of these cars on site they are breaking for spares a window glass is not expensive to replace as compared to trying to find replacement door locks and handles , that also is going to involve a "handfull" of different keys to operate the car with when changed, it avoids doing that by gaining access through the window glass trying to remove the main windscreen is too drastic an exercise on a facelifted more modern example of one of these cars its highly likely the windscreen glass is bonded into place with glue as is more common with later generation cars of which the facelift ones are a good example The side window glass is much simpler to replace acess is gained to the inner door workings simply by removing driver or passenger side door cards the window itself sits in a metal runner operated by the window winder motor its an easier replacement job for a broken side window there is no glueing involved, the glass simply sits in a runner and the top part of the door frame can if required? be removed thats screwed and bolted into position it is not a part of an actual door thats just the lower section i would think a door glass can be replaced with the entire door frame complete also in addition facelifted newer models also relay more on an electronic door locking system with the use of remote control manufacturer standard issue control fobs than earlier cars like my 1981 pre Facelift model in a modern computer controlled world people tend to forget sometimes services outside the "internet" i know several local men who have been car auto electricians all their lives in my own town these are the people you need for cars like these im quite sure in the area of your home town their will be similer men who work for themselves as car auto electricians . EXPERIENCE is the key with this one younger men armed with a laptop computer are NOT the people for working on cars from this era im afraid, many of them through no fault of their own were not even born when these cars were made new. dont forget the good old telephone book , yellow pages , thompson local etc we all still get through our doors you might also enquire with again long established local independant repair and servicing garages in your area? again with long experienced mechanics they may already know of a GOOD local car auto electrician?? most WILL because electrical faults are something most repair garages also see on cars and many will call in an expert auto electrician to sort them out for them you can spend FOREVER trying to sort issues like these at home a good auto electrician will be able to test the individual component items that make up the door locking system to find the fault with the car NOTHING is un fixable ! in this regard the two longest established u.k. part suppliers for these cars are David Manners , and SNG Barrett regarding any replacement electrical items you may need ?? to make the door locking serviceable again they both have a very good understanding of the individual parts that make up these cars .if you get stuck ? give me a call or text uk mobile 07703 443044 kind regards Glenn
@Glenn Reay thanks again Glenn. Half of it is probably just fear of the unknown. Neighbour down the road has restored a couple of much older cars and he was all for cutting a hole in the door panel...very frightening. I do know a proper 'glass man' who said much the same as you, we were talking windscreen glass and he was keen I didn't try and get auto windscreens or the like involved.
I've used David Manners and SNG for other Jag X308 series. already been having a look at replacement glass and indeed there seem to be a few reasonably priced.
I will heed your advice and just get on with it.
Regards Trio
@trio ONE final comment to make BEFORE breaking the side window glass do as you are doing and find out if you can get a replacement side window o.k.? make SURE its the SAME coloured tint as the existing glass in the car these CAN vary on some models smoke, green ,etc TWO TRY the "Tennis Ball " method on the door lock itself ?? take a Tennis ball , and saw / cut the very top off it around the size of a 50p coin same kind of cut you'd make in a boiled egg to dip bread soldiers into ! THEN place the tennis ball hole over the door lock so it seals over the lock itself hold the ball in place with one hand then with the PALM of your other hand BANG it against the base of the tennis ball the other end with no hole in it ! The "VACUMN " set up by this action can often "pop the lock open" an old motor trade trick , when people have locked keys inside cars and cant get in , works on some locks and worth a try ? last but not least find a good auto electrician FIRST ASK HIM IF HE KNOWS OF ANY OTHER WAY TO GET IN ? no definately DONT start sawing holes in metal or damaging metal doors, handles or locks that advice you DONT need ! thats using a sledgehammer to crack a walnut ! regards Glenn