XJ8 3.2 1998
Just bought this car as a returning Jaguar fan years ago, drove her 100 miles home fine, parked behind my missus who had followed me home turned the jag off and thought why has she still got her engine running ? as I got out I realised.key in hand that it was the jag still running dash lights all on ticking over, i tried wiggling the ignition and taking key out again stil the same......after quickly operating the starter to kill the engine i started her again and then took the key out, still the same engine kept running so did the same again got out closed the door all dash lights still on inside fan still working wipers everything apart from radio...? so i disconected the battery, t re connected it and went to start her again where i had all dash lights but now the indicator lights outside were joining in too! and no starter engadging ??? i can here a relay in the dash click but thats it, after many many attempts of re connecting disconecting open door close door wiggle key plastic in the dark and still no start i give up, please help me regain my love for the car.
I did note when I| collected it the boot was up, the battery was disconected and the indicators did flash but it started and ran fine, i stopped twice on the way home 50 miles into the journey and she stopped started fine so whats happened, I also found a relay laying loose under the bonnet a light brown one so looks like this may have been a problem someone has looked for before ? ??

So to sum it up, took key out engine kept ticking over fine with dash lights on, disconected battery now no turn over but all dash lights on with key in or out, when ignition turned to starter indicators flash and flash but no siren, any help greatly appriciated.

 

Would like to help, but am unable to interpret your post due to "run-on" sentences, lack of proper capitalization and punctuation. Sorry.

 

I typed it quick, basically I pulled the key out and the engine kept running it will even rev with the throttle all with the key in my hand, i then managed to stop the engine and disconnected the battery then re connected it when the indicators started flashing and all the dash lights are still on but the car will not turn over at all.

 

How old is the battery, sounds like it needs to be replaced..

 

do you reckonit could be what voltage should i have?

 

So shes been left over night with the battery negative terminal disconnected, I just went out to her, opened the boot re connected the battery, opened the drivers door put the key in the ignition (all dash lights were off until I turned the key)turned it to start and up she went ! started as normal everything working as it should, I then turned her off and the engine shut off as normal and all the dash lights went out as normal, turned the key and again she started so I drove her round the block (the sound of a V8 !) bought her back pulled up outside my house shut her off and all lights out again as normal, no one would ever think anything was wrong with it at all so its looking like a hot run problem.
I have a few cars and they are my life I just love them and are addicted to cars and the non start (minnus dash lights being on ) that I had last night I would normally put down to a faulty crank sensor however if this were the case here why would the dash lights stay on with the key out of the ignition and the door closed ?
Or am I on the right lines of a relay ( even fan acting as one) sticking on when hot and back powering the ignition ? or even a dodgy ignition switch ?
Again any help much appriciated.

 

Sounds to me that the ghosts of Lucas are playing games with you. Jaguars USED TO BE well known for electrical gremlins. When Ford took them over they mostly fixed the reliability issues.

All cars in the US car should have an OBD II port, starting 1996. Not sure about non US cars. But, if you have that port you need to plug into it with a code scanner and see what, if any, codes are displayed. Code scanners can be purchased cheaply online or in any auto parts store. That should give you an indication as to the nature of the problems. Other than that, it is very difficult to troubleshoot something that is intermittent.

My old. 1982+ XJ6 had harness issues that were intermittent. Sometimes the electrical connections were good, other times not so good. Used to be typical for Jags. Might be a good idea to go through the harness connectors, clean them with an electrical cleaner spray, reconnect and hope that the ghosts disappear. Good luck!

 

Just a thought, but you may get more information if the moderator moved your post to the x308 forum as this is the x351 forum.

 

woops didnt notice sorry..im going to run her an hour today see if shes ok could be lack of use?

 

just gone out to start and battery dead as a do do so severe battery drain