Jaguar XJ40 Radio Code, CODE or WAIT on Display
After the battery has been off the radio shows CODE and wants four digits. Look under the bonnet first — on many cars the code is on a paper label there. Many 1987–90 radios have no code at all and the earliest take two frequencies; WAIT clears by itself if the radio is left powered.
How bad is it · Safe to drive
Safe to drive — only the radio is locked
Guessing wastes hours: each run of wrong entries adds a lockout, so find the real code before trying numbers.
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 code is on the car — a label under the bonnet
The code came on a card in the owner's pack, and many cars also carry it on a paper label under the bonnet near the rear edge, sometimes with the VIN, sometimes written on by a dealer.
CODE on the display and a red SECURITY light flashing; no code came with the car.
Bonnet up: the underside along the rear edge and round the latches, then the document wallet for a plastic card. The paper fades — photograph it before you wipe it.
Enter the four digits from the label, a bar-code sticker there, or the radio's own casing.
WAIT — a lockout that runs out on its own
After about three wrong entries, and sometimes after a battery disturbance with none, the radio refuses input and shows WAIT — for half an hour to a few hours.
WAIT instead of CODE, with or without wrong attempts. Each further wrong code lengthens the wait: roughly 15 minutes, then an hour, then 6 hours, then 12 to 24 hours, and finally a full lock that only a radio specialist can clear.
Leave the radio on with the ignition, or drive for about an hour, until CODE returns. Disconnecting the battery doesn't shorten it; the timer counts only while the radio has power.
Then enter the right code once.
The right code ignored — a sticking preset button
The code is typed on the six preset buttons. A button that sticks never sends its digit, so a correct code fails with no beep and no asterisk.
A known code that worked before; presses get no response on the display; stations recall wrongly too.
Press each preset and watch the display. Only 1 to 6 exist: a code with 7, 8, 9 or 0 has been copied wrong — a handwritten 8 is often a 3. Press each digit's button once; a wrong code shows ERROR. If one digit never registers, that button's contacts are the suspect. Turn the volume down first, as the radio can come on loud once it unlocks.
Free the sticking buttons, then enter the code.
An early radio that has no code at all
Anti-theft radios arrived on this car around 1991. Many 1987–90 radios were never coded, which is why a dealer finds nothing for them.
A 1987–90 car, no SECURITY light or word on the radio face, only the presets lost; or an empty dealer lookup.
Reconnect the battery, switch on and see if it simply plays. Early Australian cars often had a local radio fitted on arrival, with its own coding; a dealer can give the code and the entry method with proof of ownership.
Nothing to enter — retune the presets.
The earliest radios take two frequencies, not four digits
Some 1987–88 radios, including Australian units, store the code as one AM and one FM frequency; typing digits does nothing.
An early car with no digit prompt, and a code that looks like frequencies.
Radio on, tune to the AM code frequency and press PROG; wait a few seconds; switch band, tune to the FM code frequency and press PROG again.
The right pair is accepted at once — check you copied the frequencies correctly.
No record anywhere — the code is set inside the radio
On the Alpine-made units of 1991–94 the code is set by six small solder links inside the case, so a used or unrecorded radio can be re-set there.
The dealer can't find the serial number, or the radio came from a scrapped car. On the AJ9100 and AJ9200 the code is set by six solder links, visible through a small window or under a label inside the cover; there are only 64 possible codes.
This is soldering on a circuit board, and shorting anything else destroys the unit — a radio repairer is the safe route.
Re-set the links, and the radio works with the new code. A decoding service can turn the link pattern into the code, and tell whether the radio has been re-coded before; putting the links back to the original makes the original code work.
Every code refused and no sound — a long power-off resets it
The radio's memory can lock up in a state a short battery disconnect doesn't clear. Left without power for many hours, it starts afresh and takes the code again.
Display and lights work, there's no sound at all, and the right code is refused however often it's entered, with no WAIT.
Disconnect the battery overnight, about 12 hours, rather than for a minute.
Reconnect, switch on and enter the code once; the radio plays normally.
Code lost — the dealer reads it from the radio, not the car
The code belongs to the radio's serial number, not the car. A replaced radio has its own code, and a VIN alone often gets nothing.
No label, no card, and a dealer who took the VIN and came back empty-handed.
Take the radio out — about ten minutes, behind the console trim — and copy the serial from its underside or back. The serial is stamped into the bottom of the metal case; copy it with its letter prefix, since a lookup without it can come back empty.
Take the serial and proof of ownership to a Jaguar parts desk; they usually look it up in minutes, some charge. On some 1993–94 cars the VIN alone is enough. If the first call fails, try again or another dealer. A radio from a scrapped car brings its own code, so the lookup needs that radio's serial, not your car's details.
CODE keeps coming back — the radio's permanent feed
The radio holds its code on a permanent battery feed, separate from the ignition feed. If CODE appears while driving or every other start, that feed or an earth is dropping out.
No battery work, yet CODE shows up by itself.
Watch for lights dimming hard when cranking; run a temporary lead from engine to battery negative. Then trace the radio's permanent supply and earth. The radio has two feeds: memory straight from the battery, the rest through the ignition relay. The earliest cars had an in-line memory fuse, possibly under the ski-slope trim.
No proven cure yet: find and fix the dropping feed or earth.
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.
Look under the bonnet and in the document wallet
Underside near the rear edge and latches; a plastic code card with the handbook.
freeWork out which radio you have
A red SECURITY light or 'security' on the face means coded. Many 1987–90 radios have no code; the earliest take two frequencies with PROG.
freeIf it says WAIT, leave it powered
Ignition on, or a drive of about an hour, until CODE returns. Don't keep guessing.
freeEnter the code once, and watch the buttons
Digits 1 to 6 only. A press with no response means a sticking button.
freeCode lost: radio out, serial number to a dealer
Serial on the underside or back, plus proof of ownership. If one dealer wants to charge for reprogramming, try another.
free to a small feeBefore the next battery change
Write the code somewhere durable under the bonnet, or keep the radio powered from a second battery on the jump posts.
freeWhat it usually isn't
Don't spend money here first:
If none of this finds it:
On jagaux.com
- XJ6 (XJ40) 1993–94 radio pinout and wire coloursThe permanent and ignition feeds at the radio plug.
- XJ6 (XJ40) 1991 radio pinout
- Jaguar XJ40 Radio Not Working or Cutting OutIf the radio shows nothing at all rather than CODE.
- 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.