Jaguar X-Type Radio Code
The X-Type radio code belongs to the radio's serial number, and the radio will show you that serial: hold EJECT and PTY together. I'd get the code from it first. On units built before about 2005 a button combination in lockout often brings the radio back without a code, but treat it as a stopgap.
How bad is it · Safe to drive
Safe to drive — only the radio is locked
The radio is locked, not broken. It plays again as soon as it gets the right code.
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.
Earlier units: a button combination in lockout skips the code
On the earlier head units — radio-cassette and CD alike — the override only works once the radio is in lockout, showing PLEASE WAIT. Then pressing >>, A.MEM and PTY brings up WELCOME and the radio plays. A dealer can do the same override.
CODE on the display and no code to hand, on a unit built before about 2005–2006. Pressed at the plain CODE prompt, the same buttons may only show the serial.
Enter any code two or three times until PLEASE WAIT appears, then press all three buttons together for two to three seconds. If that does nothing, try them one after another in the order >>, A.MEM, PTY.
Worth trying first, as it costs nothing. Units from the later board change, around 2005–2006 and on facelift cars, ignore it, and on some cars CODE returns at the next ignition-off. The lasting fix is the real code.
PLEASE WAIT after wrong codes: the lockout only counts down with the ignition on
Too many wrong entries put the radio into an anti-theft lockout. Its timer only runs while the radio has ignition power, so a car left parked overnight comes back to the same frozen display.
PLEASE WAIT on the display, every button dead, still the same after an hour and a restart.
Leave the ignition on, or simply drive: after about 30 minutes the radio clicks and goes back to CODE.
Wait out the timer with the ignition on, then enter the correct code once, carefully.
The radio needs the code for its own serial number
The code is tied to the radio, not to the car. Press EJECT and PTY together and the serial number appears on the display — the radio doesn't have to come out.
CODE on the display after the battery was off. A used radio from another car always needs the code for its own serial.
Read the serial from the display, or from the label on the radio's body; some units carry a code sticker there too. If the serial won't show, it is also engraved on the underside of the unit. Before paying anyone, look through every booklet in the owner's pack: the code is sometimes written on one of the pages.
Enter the code that matches the serial: from our free generator, or from a dealer for a fee. A Jaguar main dealer will often give the code free, from the VIN or the registration document, once ownership is shown — sometimes over the phone. That only works for the radio fitted at the factory; if the unit was ever changed, the dealer's code won't match and the serial is the only route.
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.
Get the code from the serial number
Hold EJECT and PTY together to show the serial, then put it into our free generator at https://jagaux.com/radio-code/.
freeCheck the paperwork and the radio body
A code card in the owner's pack, or a code sticker on the radio itself.
freeTry the button combination
Enter any code until PLEASE WAIT shows, then A.MEM, PTY and >> together. Earlier units only; expect CODE to come back later.
freeStuck on PLEASE WAIT
Leave the ignition on about 30 minutes until CODE returns, then enter the right code once.
freeAsk a dealer
Give them the radio's serial number. North American cars leave the factory with the code switched off; if a dealer turned it on with WDS, they should hold the code against the VIN. UK dealers usually give it free with the VIN or the registration document.
dealer feeNext time, write it down
Keep the code in the handbook before any battery work. Presets survive a disconnect for about 72 hours; bass, treble and balance reset at once.
freeWhat it usually isn't
Don't spend money here first:
If none of this finds it:
On jagaux.com
- Jaguar radio code generatorFree. Works for the X-Type factory radio from its serial number.
- X-Type radio pinout and wire colours
- 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.