Flat battery, battery in boot, boot lock broken....

[S1 Roly]

Here's an almost comic set of circumstances.

My dad, having not had a chance to use his 97 Jag XJ for five weeks, tried to start it this morning.

Firstly, getting to the car, only the drivers door would open via the central locking, then the engine wouldn't even turn over. So concluding a dead battery, he pressed the interior button to open the boot and get to the battery to jump start the car. Except when trying to release the boot, nothing happened.

Now at this stage, you could use the key to manually open the boot and get to the battery, but no, for this car, the manual lock is actually broken and has disappeared into the recesses of the wheel well or somewhere....

So to recapitulate: The battery appears to be dead and there's no way of getting to it to jump start the car.

Anybody have any ideas as to where an external source of power could be plugged in to at least provide enough power to open the sodding boot, or ideally, actually start the car?

Any suggestions gratefully received!

[jamoor]

Call the RAC?

[ZOLLAR]

Do the back seats come down? just reach through most cars i presume your able to open from inside in case umm your locked in a boot????

[kambites]

Straight onto the starter motor is just about your only option. Most of the wiring loom wont even get close to the current needed to start it.

Alternatively, you could trickle charge the battery through the cigarette lighter socket.

[Andehh]

Is there anyway to get the rear seats down to get into the boot that way?

[Oldandslow]

I have a jump start device that plugs into the cigarette lighter. See if you can find one of those. Vector Easy Start

[S1 Roly]

Cheers guys

Unfortunately the seats don't come down, which is a pain.

Going to give trickle charging the battery through the cigarette lighter a try.

Thanks again

[thinfourth2]

I don't know about jags but some BMWs have a jump starting lug under the bonnet while the battery is in the boot

[Oldandslow]

Here's a similar thing, £18.99

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/...

[jamiebae]

Yeah, trickle charge via cig lighter (may need ignition on to do this if the cig lighter only works when ign is on) which should give you enough power to pop the boot and get at the battery to jump start it.

[sniff diesel]

Oldandslow said:

Here's a similar thing, £18.99

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/...

They aren't big enough to jump start a dead battery, just enough to trickle charge it a bit.

[Ricky_M]

Not trying to insult your intelligence, but have you checked under the bonnet for a charge point? I've seen a few cars with batteries in the boot having these points in the engine bay.

[S1 Roly]

Thanks for all the suggestions - I'll tell him to try the trickle charger, and also look for a point under the bonnet, too.

Cheers guys.

[groomi]

S1 Roly said:

Thanks for all the suggestions - I'll tell him to try the trickle charger, and also look for a point under the bonnet, too.

Cheers guys.

I've had to do this before. It won't be enough to start the engine, but after a while it will be enough for the boot release button to work.

A related story:
I hadn't driven my Jag for a few weeks and the battery was dead. I opened the drivers door and the boot with the key. Jump started it from the Wifes car and left it running while I disconnected the leads, closed the boot and then go for a drive...

...but I had inadvertantly let the drivers door close onto the catch. As the battery had been dead when I got into the car, the central locking hadn't released. So now all the doors were locked with the keys in the ignition and the engine running...

Eventually a wire coathanger did the trick, but I've no idea what I'd have done if the drivers door had closed fully!

[kambites]

You can fully recharge a batter through the lighter socket, but it'll take a day or so. Half an hour probably ought to be enough to get the boot release to work.

[scotty_d]

Should be able to jump the XJ from under the bonnet there is a main possitve and just use the earth bolt on the wing IIRC depends on what year?

[scotty_d]

Ok i now see its a 97 xj300 should be same as my old xj40 here are the points to jump it at should be pretty close to a x300