Jaguar S-Type Central Locking Problems
On the S-Type, locking that undoes itself a second later is usually the driver's door lock — a worn switch or solenoid inside it tells the system the door never locked, so it unlocks the lot. I'd rule out a weak battery first, then watch each lock while pressing the fob to find the one that doesn't move. A door that won't open at all is usually its latch, jammed or worn out.
How bad is it · Safe to drive
Safe to drive — but don't trust it to stay locked
The car can unlock itself after you walk away, or lock itself with the engine running and the key outside. A driver's door that won't open from inside is worth fixing soon — you may have to climb out through the other side.
Which one applies to yours depends on your symptoms, your model year and what has already been done to it.
Likely causes, most common first
Read the check cost before the odds: a free check that rules a cause out beats a likely guess that costs money.
The driver's door lock: a worn internal switch or solenoid
The driver's lock is the master on these cars and carries several small switches that report its position. If one stops making contact, the system decides the door didn't lock and unlocks every door. The early locks were later revised.
Lock with the fob, a clunk, then everything unlocks again — on leaving the car or a few mph into a drive. The driver's door sometimes refuses to open from the inside. Locking with the key often behaves better than the fob. It can also deadlock on drive-off: the driver's handle then won't release the door while the passenger's will. A rear door that sometimes won't unlock can be the driver's lock putting the system out of step.
Doors unlocked, sit inside and lock with the fob: watch which lock button doesn't go all the way down before the rest pop back up. Usually it's the driver's. Corroded plugs in the door are worth a look, but the lock itself is the usual part.
A new driver's door lock unit, ideally the revised type; a dealer may still help on a fault this common. If a new lock doesn't cure it, recheck the battery and the plugs before buying more parts. Order it by part number: deadlocking, non-deadlocking and left-hand-drive locks look identical. The lock is sealed, its switches under riveted covers, so WD-40 or carb cleaner frees it only until it dries. The glass and its regulator strut have to come out to get the lock out.
A silent door actuator — the microswitch inside it
Each door actuator has a tiny microswitch inside. When it fails, that door's actuator stops running while the others work, and the system gets the wrong picture of the locks.
Lock and unlock while listening at each door: one stays quiet.
With the door card off, the switch should move freely and click on and off; a multimeter across it confirms it.
Replace just the microswitch rather than the whole actuator: an Omron D2HW-BR201DR fits in place of the original Cherry switch. If gear teeth inside have broken off, that part rarely repairs well — replace the lock.
A latch jammed or stiff from cold and lack of use
An under-greased latch can jam without breaking anything — a hard pull on the handle in frost is enough. Locks that are rarely used go stiff and stop following the central locking.
The door won't latch on the striker, or one lock lags behind the others after the car has stood.
Work the key in the lock several times; lock from inside, then open each door by its handles from both sides.
Free the latch, grease it, and treat the other doors' latches while you're at it. A thin lubricant on a stiff lock is worth trying.
Locks then unlocks: a door, bonnet or boot switch reading open
The system won't stay locked, and the alarm will trip, if anything reports itself open. A bent boot-light switch bracket, a failed bonnet switch or a dirty status switch inside a door latch is enough.
'Boot Open' or a door-open message flickers over bumps, often in cold weather; the alarm sounds with nobody near; or the car locks and unlocks again at once.
Shut every door, the bonnet and the boot firmly and watch the message centre. The boot-lid light switch is held by a single bolt on a flexible bracket; check that and the bonnet switch. A door latch can be flipped closed with a screwdriver to see whether its warning clears; with the card off, unplugging one lock and trying again finds the door.
Bending the boot switch bracket back down cures that one. In a front latch the status microswitch can be replaced on its own with care, instead of a whole latch. A boot latch trim that has shifted stays put if its push-in pins are swapped for small bolts.
Boot buttons dead, fob still opens it: the valet switch
A valet button in the glovebox disables the boot releases so the boot can be kept shut when the car is handed over. Pushed in by mistake — a crammed glovebox is enough — it kills the dash, glovebox and lid buttons together, while the fob still works.
Only the fob opens the boot; the fuse is fine and disconnecting the battery changes nothing.
Open the glovebox and press the valet button so it pops back out.
Releasing it brings every boot button back at once. Look for it before touching the latch.
Boot lid won't pop on the button: seal or latch adjustment
A hard, sticky or over-compressed boot seal holds the lid down harder than the release solenoid can pull against the latch.
The boot opens only if you press the lid down first, or the button clicks and nothing happens; a leaking boot seal often goes with it.
Clean and lubricate the seal and the face it sits on; clean the hook and bar and give them light oil or silicone.
A new boot seal cured both the leak and the release. Moving the latch bar up slightly after loosening its bolts, so the lid closes a touch higher, is worth trying; a new latch is the last resort.
A weak battery or a loose battery lead
Low voltage makes the locks and the security system behave erratically. Check it before blaming any lock. A battery lead that has worked loose kills every lock at once.
Started after the car stood for weeks; the car unlocks itself some 30 seconds after locking, and may even lower the windows. Locking with the key works. Fob, boot button and key all dead together, soon after a new battery was fitted, points at a loose terminal. If it's the fob that gives up after the car has stood, change the fob battery first.
Battery voltage at rest and running — about 13 V resting and just under 15 V at 1,500 rpm is healthy. On an old wet battery, look at the electrolyte level too. The battery is in the boot: if the boot is locked with no power, there's an emergency key slot in the boot lid between the number-plate lamps, just under the U of JAGUAR and easy to miss.
Charge, top up or replace the battery first; it can clear the fault on its own. Tighten the lead; the radio will want its code afterwards.
The car locks itself with the engine running
On some cars the doors could lock with the engine running and nobody inside. With the engine running the remote won't unlock it — only the key will.
Out of the car to clear snow, or handing it over, and it locks you out with the engine on.
Carry the key blade, not just the fob. A dealer with WDS or IDS can change the drive-away locking settings.
A dealer modification to the locking cured it on a 2002 car; the behaviour still turned up on a later 2005 car.
A rear door stuck shut: the latch assembly has failed
The actuator can run while the latch behind it no longer releases. If you hear the lock move but the door stays shut, the latch is the part, not the wiring.
Neither handle opens the door, though both move; the door has often never answered the central locking.
Charge the battery fully and, with the charger on, thump the door near the lock while pressing unlock — that can free it enough to get the card off. If a door won't close onto the striker instead, look for the U-shaped foam pad around the lock having come adrift into the latch. If nothing opens it, the door can still be released from inside: interior handle cover, panel and bolt off, the exterior handle bolts and trim, the window's lower clamp, then unplug the actuator through an enlarged access hole and find the cam on the lock plate that releases the door. It's a nightmare job.
Replace the latch assembly — fiddly, but it cures it. A used one from a car being broken is a cheap source.
The order to check them in
The point of the order is money: each step either rules a cause out or makes the next one worth doing. Green is free, amber costs a little, red is the one to arrive at last.
The battery first
Charge it and measure it. A tired battery makes the locks act up, and it costs nothing to rule out.
freeBoot only? The glovebox valet button
If just the boot buttons are dead and the fob still opens it, press the valet button in the glovebox so it pops out.
freeClose everything and watch the message centre
Shut every door, the bonnet and the boot firmly. A door, bonnet or boot warning with everything shut means a switch reading open, and that alone makes the car unlock itself or trip the alarm.
freeFind the lock that doesn't move
Sit inside with the doors unlocked, lock with the fob and watch all four lock buttons. Then listen at each door while locking and unlocking: the quiet one, or the one that stops short, is your door.
freeKey and the other doors
Try locking with the key rather than the fob. If the driver's door won't open from inside, unlocking the passenger door first usually releases it. Leaving the passenger's manual lock lever closed can stop the lock-then-unlock loop meanwhile.
freeWork and grease stiff locks
Cycle the key in the lock several times, lock from inside and open every door by both handles, then grease the latches.
freeDoor card off and reseat the plugs
Screws sit under the small rubber mat behind the door pull and behind the cup at the release handle; the rest is plastic clips — look for one hidden screw. Unplug and refit the lock connector and the trim harness; a disturbed connection can cure it, or make it work for a day and fail again.
freeTest or replace the microswitch
The switch should move freely and click; check it with a multimeter. A failed one can be swapped on its own for an Omron D2HW-BR201DR.
a few dollarsReplace the lock or latch
On the driver's lock, release the yellow tab on one rod, the green clip on the other, the red tab on the wiring plug and the white plastic lever on top. The window has to come out of the way. Allow an hour or more.
about £130–160 newWhat it usually isn't
Don't spend money here first:
If none of this finds it:
On jagaux.com
- Jaguar S-Type Battery Drain, Battery Flat OvernightIf the remote won't lock because the car never goes to sleep, or the battery keeps going flat.
- Jaguar S-Type Won't Start, No CrankIf the locks play up and the car won't crank either.
- S-Type (X200) fuse boxes and fuse listIf no lock moves at all, the fuse and relay list by year.
- Jaguar S-Type Window Problems, Window RegulatorIf a window drops into the door, grinds or won't go back up.
- Jaguar VIN decoderConfirm your exact model year, engine and factory options before ordering parts — free.
Ratings, fuse numbers and torque figures vary by model year and market. Read the legend on your own car before pulling anything, and use the figures in the manual for your car, not the ones in a video.
Check your VIN: exactly which car you have and which bulletins apply to it.