Motoring Discussion > Jaguar S-Type - Poltergeist locks me out! Miscellaneous
Thread Author: hawkeye Replies: 14
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 Wed 29 Apr 20 13:18 
 Jaguar S-Type - Poltergeist locks me out! - hawkeye
Yesterday I was instructed to take Mrs H to the next village so she could do some food shopping and post a parcel. We arrived at the shop and, out of idleness, and knowing that I would be staying with the car, I parked up halfway across someone's gate.

Mrs H then opened the car door into the path of the only pedestrian for miles, and exited arkwardly to make an apology. She also took the seat belt with her, trapping it and the buckle as she shut the door. Leaving the keys in the ignition and muttering under my breath, I got out to walk round to the passenger side to see if there was any damage. As my door closed I heard the car lock itself. Curses! As Mrs H is yet to drive the Jaguar, the spare key was at home, 1½ miles away.

A mate lives in the same village and Mrs H's car is in the garage, also in the same village but, to preserve social distance, we decided to walk home and retrieve the spare key.

That's it. Feel free to chastise me for parking across someone's gate, for leaving my keys in the ignition and anything else you can think of. But I would like anyone to speculate how the car locked itself. It has no history of electrical gremlins and the battery has been on maintenance charge for a couple of weeks.
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 Wed 29 Apr 20 13:46 
 Jaguar S-Type - Poltergeist locks me out! - No FM2R
Is it an automatic, and if so did you leave it in drive?
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 Wed 29 Apr 20 14:15 
 Jaguar S-Type - Poltergeist locks me out! - bathtub tom
I had a rear seat passenger exit the n/s door and manage to slam the belt buckle in the door latch. I forced the door open to release the buckle and managed to shut it again, but the door wouldn't now open from either side. Both rear passengers had to then enter from the o/s door. At the next stop the same passenger managed to slam the belt buckle in the other rear door latch.................................................................
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 Wed 29 Apr 20 14:28 
 Jaguar S-Type - Poltergeist locks me out! - Bromptonaut
Did the act of closing the driver's door cause the keys to move about and by some fluke activate the door remote?
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 Tue 5 May 20 21:51 
 Jaguar S-Type - Poltergeist locks me out! - Dave_
>> but the door wouldn't now open from either side

One weekend night in my Mondeo estate taxi (which would have been twenty years ago now, sheesh!), I pulled up outside a pub with a group of four customers on board. One of their friends outside the pub spotted them and went to open the nearside rear door from the outside, just as the occupant enthusiastically tried the same thing from the inside. Cue the sound of something mechanical snapping.

"Here mate, this door won't open"... "Your car's s***"... etc

They'd managed to irretrievably deadlock the door. Taking the interior trim off a closed rear door on a Mondeo estate is neither easy, painless nor cheap, as I found out the following day. Being a licensed vehicle subject to spot checks, and with a week's worth of special school runs lined up, I couldn't leave it locked either.
Last edited by: Dave_ on Tue 5 May 20 at 21:53
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 Wed 29 Apr 20 17:51 
 Jaguar S-Type - Poltergeist locks me out! - hawkeye

NoFM2R;
Yes it's automatic. No I didn't leave it in drive. The dash beeps if you turn off when it's in gear.

Bromptonaut;
You may have something there. When I got back in I noticed the split ring was looped over the key fob. Hmmmm...
Last edited by: hawkeye on Wed 29 Apr 20 at 17:54
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 Wed 29 Apr 20 18:05 
 Jaguar S-Type - Poltergeist locks me out! - No FM2R
I used to have a PPOS Toyota which would lock it's doors even if you left it in Neutral. Only Park was safe.
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 Thu 30 Apr 20 10:50 
 Jaguar S-Type - Poltergeist locks me out! - Zero
Sell it on Ebay right now, clearly its a portent of a shed load of Agro to come, you cant trust it and I would be right pee'd off with it.

In the current climate, the value of used second hand wives is right down, but I'm sure you would get a few quid for her, or even a good trade to a younger model.
Last edited by: Zero on Thu 30 Apr 20 at 10:50
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 Fri 1 May 20 10:48 
 Jaguar S-Type - Poltergeist locks me out! - hawkeye
Thanks for your input, good people.

NoFM2R; the selector was in Park, no question.

Mr Z; thank you for your inspired and thoughtful suggestion, but Mrs H won't be making her debut on Ebay anytime soon; the fees would negate any percieved advantage.
Younger model? Not a chance. My dad did that in the '60s: the learning experience has stayed with me.

As far as the car is concerned; I'll just chalk it up to experience and wait for the next time.
:)
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 Fri 1 May 20 14:25 
 Jaguar S-Type - Poltergeist locks me out! - No FM2R
>>As far as the car is concerned; I'll just chalk it up to experience and wait for the next time.

I would not be able to let it go. I'd have to try to recreate it otherwise I'd spend my whole life waiting for the second shoe to drop.
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 Sun 3 May 20 17:27 
 Jaguar S-Type - Poltergeist locks me out! - hawkeye
>> >>As far as the car is concerned; I'll just chalk it up to experience and
>> wait for the next time.
>>
>> I would not be able to let it go. I'd have to try to recreate
>> it otherwise I'd spend my whole life waiting for the second shoe to drop.
>>

20 years ago I would have been just the same but I have become more tolerant as time has passed. I have talked myself into believing that the split ring looped over the fob, in contact with the buttons, might have been the cause. Leaving the car could have set the keys swinging enough to fire the lock button.
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 Mon 4 May 20 08:24 
 Jaguar S-Type - Poltergeist locks me out! - Falkirk Bairn
A son's car locked itself with the keys in the ignition at the golf club.
He called out the breakdown service & he got back in.
Completely unexplained.

3/4 months later he won a new golf bag in a work tournament.
He got home & dutifully cleaned out the old bag of clubs & balls etc only to find a car remote a the bottom of the bag.

Putting the clubs in the boot 3/4 months earlier - auto boot lid closing, clubs move in the bag & touch lock on the remote.
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 Mon 4 May 20 09:05 
 Jaguar S-Type - Poltergeist locks me out! - Duncan
My granny always to say that you should either be touching the ignition keys, or be able to reach out and touch them. In other words, when you get out of the car, the keys go with you.

Very irritating woman, my grandmother.
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 Mon 4 May 20 09:52 
 Jaguar S-Type - Poltergeist locks me out! - hawkeye
>> ... In other words, when you get out
>> of the car, the keys go with you.
>>

A point made a few dozen times by Mrs H on the walk home. Saying I wouldn't have got out of the car unless she'd shut the door on the safety belt was ignored.

>> Very irritating woman, my grandmother.
>>

IKWYM.
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 Mon 4 May 20 14:55 
 Jaguar S-Type - Poltergeist locks me out! - Robin O'Reliant
My Almera, long into the old banger stage of life has a problem along similar lines. The key is stuck in the ignition and won't budge. Luckily I have a second key so I can still lock it and I'm parked on the drive in a quiet cul de sac, and I only use the car for work where it is securely parked and in view.

Mind you, anyone who wanted to nick it would want their brains tested, though I love the old heap which has been utterly reliable in the three years I've had it.
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