Jaguar XJ6 (X300) Radio Code
First find out whether your radio has a code at all. Cars supplied new in North America were, as a rule, not coded; UK and European radios are, and the code follows the radio, not the car. Don't guess — a wrong entry puts the radio into WAIT.
How bad is it · Safe to drive
Safe to drive — only the radio is locked
Nothing else is affected. Wrong guesses only make the WAIT longer.
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.
A European radio doing its job — get the code for this radio
UK and European radios lock when their permanent supply is lost. There's no backup battery in the radio, so a battery change or a radio swap brings back the request for the four-digit code.
CODE on the display after the battery was off or the radio was out; WAIT after a wrong entry.
Look in the handbook wallet first. If the radio came from another car, you need its serial number, from the label on the casing.
Ask the dealer that supplied the car new: with proof of ownership they can look it up from the car's details, some over the phone. A local dealer may not be able to. Then keep the code in several places.
A North American car — there may be no code to find
US and Canadian radios were, as a rule, not coded; the sound system handbook lists the security code for the UK and Europe only. A dealer searching for a code that doesn't exist finds nothing, which reads as a lost code.
A US or Canadian car, a dealer who can't find any code, no code card with the books.
Reconnect the battery: if the radio plays, you have your answer.
Nothing to enter. If a North American radio is dead after power loss, look for a fault — a fuse, a plug — rather than a code.
The code is written on the radio, or on the car
The code is often written down where it would be found again.
No code card, but the car has been through a dealer's hands.
Look for a slip on the back or side of the radio, and a sticker or marker under the bonnet. The radio comes out once the centre console slope is off.
Worth trying before anything else. Failing that, a code service can work from the radio's serial number within minutes.
It asks for the code every time the car stands — the permanent feed
The radio keeps its code only while its permanent supply is present. If that feed drops at switch-off, the radio locks again after a few minutes.
The code is accepted and presets survive; a short stop is fine, a longer one brings CODE back.
With the ignition off, measure for a constant 12 V at the radio's permanent-feed pins. The same fuse feeds the boot release and the aerial — if those work, suspect the radio plug or the radio.
No proven cure yet: restore the permanent feed, or repair the plug or radio.
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.
Where was the car supplied new?
North America — most likely no code. UK or Europe — the radio is coded.
freeHandbook wallet, radio casing, under the bonnet
The code is often written down somewhere on the car.
freeThe dealer that sold the car
With proof of ownership, from the car's details — only if the radio is the original.
free to cheapOtherwise, by the radio's serial number
From the label on the casing. Our free code generator works from the last five digits.
freeNext time, keep it powered
A small supply on the battery leads during a battery swap keeps the code; keep the bare positive lead away from the body.
freeThe fuses named above — where they sit
The highlighted position is the one the procedure talks about. Pulling a fuse is a stop-gap, never a repair: check what the circuit feeds before you pull it.
Circuit descriptions from the Jaguar fuse tables, 1995 edition. Drawing by jagaux.com from the factory electrical guide. Fuse layouts change between model years — read the legend on the lid of your own box before pulling anything.
What it usually isn't
Don't spend money here first:
On jagaux.com
- Jaguar radio code generatorFree. For the X300 factory radio: the last five digits of the serial number on the radio casing.
- XJ6 (X300) radio pinout and wire coloursWhich pin carries the permanent feed.
- XJ6 (X300) fuse boxes
- 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.