I went to crank my 97 xk8 and the dash is completely dead along with the other two gauges minus the clock and it won't release from park..and the ac flashes "err" and beeps when I crank the car. What In the world has happened?

 

Do you drive it daily? If not, do you plug in a battery tender? If not this could be your issue. Charge up the battery and most likely all will be good. A jag that is not driven daily must be plugged into a tender, these cars are tough on batteries when they sit even for just a couple days. A battery that tests out good can still be suspect. If the battery is over three years old and the car does not get driven daily or get plugged in daily do yourself a favor and replace the battery, then put a tender on it.

 

Yep, sounds like battery - they can 'collapse' quickly under the load of a Jag's electrical system. If you charge it up and it happens again, or if it won't take a charge, you'll need a new battery.

 

I agree with what has been said already, also make sure you lock the car even when in your own garage.

The car needs to go to sleep to reduce the quiescent drain on the battery.

 

The OP has a '97 XK8 (X100) - I don't think that locking is as significant in the earlier cars (they power down pretty quickly either way, unlike our X150s)

 

You are on the wrong forum this particular forum is for XKs that from 2007 and on. Suggest you go to the XK8 forum. You probably will get better answers there.

 

Wrong forum... yes. Better answers... doubtful... but possible.

 

Meh, some of us (like me) used to own that model - same year, in my case. A suggestion for you: I fitted an Odyssey battery to my XK8, PC1350 I think, and never really had battery issues again. It's a little smaller than the standard battery, so you need some washers to pack the battery clamp screws and get the clamp tight. Be careful lifting it in, though - damn thing weighs a ton.