Hi all just some general information for you 1988 XJ6 owners out there.
WARNING:: This post is not for the jaguar purist! If you ARE a Jaguar purist and have a weak heart DO NOT read this post!!!
For some time, both of my front door lock actuators have been inoperable. At $180.00 a pop, they were staying that way. Although the wife really started nagging me about it, and eventually to stay in her good graces I had to break down and fix them. I was searching the internet for cheap actuators, and stumbled upon an aftermarket company, that makes remote starters and keyless enry systems. I found that they also have a kit for hot rods, and the such, for converting cars from non- power, to power door lock systems, and it's only $30.00 for 4 actuators!
I figured for $30.00 what do I have to loose?
As it would turn out, the actuators are close to the same physical dimensions of the jaguar factory actuators, and bolted right in!
There is only one draw back that I have found, using these aftermarket actuators. The factory actuators have an internal switch, so that when you pull up on your interior lock knob it sends a signal to the lock module, unlocking all of the doors at once. Since the aftermarket actuator does not have an internal switch, this feature does not work.
That is the ONLY draw back! The central security lock button on the dash still works fine, you can still lock and unlock all doors using the key, and if you have keyless entry this also works without a hitch!
The part # is 742 and I found it at www.bulldogsecurity.com I am in no way affilliated with this company nor am I receiving any monies for advertising their product to all of you, but I had to let you all know, because it's an easy fix, and it only cost me $30.00 to replace both front door actuators! I saved $340.00!!!!!! And I still have two actuators left over, incase another one goes bad!!!!!!
Installation::
As stated above installation is a snap. Remove the door panel, and disconnect the door lock actuator connector ( a large yellow connector with 5 wires).
Unbolt the old actuator and remove the linkage hoop, than insert the hoop into the new actuator, making sure that the solenoid part of the actuator is facing the front of the car and bolt it on! The mounting holes are the same so it bolts right up!
Cut the wires from the old actuator giving yourself about 6 inches of wire. The new actuator only uses two wires, so you will need to remove the unused wires from the connector.
To do this disasemble the yellow connector. there are two groups of wires,1) is a group of 2 wires, and 2) is a group of 3 wires. In the group of three wires is a purple with orange tracer, and a purple with pink tracer, these are the wires you will use to connect the new actuator.
The other three wires I used a wire removal tool to remove the pins from the yellow connector which gives you a much cleaner job, if you don't have one of these tools ...get one. If your too cheap to get one just cap the remaining wires and use electrical tape to tie them to the harness so they do not hit any metal and ground out on you.
Now hook the green wire from the new actuator to the purple with orange tracer, and the blue wire from the new actuator to the ourple with pink tracer, solder your connections, use shrink wrap, or electrical tape to insulate your connections.
Thats it! I couldn't beleive how lucky a find that was, I hope it helps out the rest of you.