I've had my 2008 XKR convertible for about 6 years, and have worked through all kinds of electrical demons with it. Especially with the top. I keep a battery tender charger on it while it's stored for the winter. The battery is new last year. This winter the battery tender got unplugged, and this spring the battery was completely dead. I jump started it and let it run for a while, and then put the battery tender charger back on it for a day. I thought everything was fine, but now when I drive it, the instrument cluster goes dead and then "resets". This happens randomly between every 30 seconds and a minute and a half. Doesn't matter is I'm sitting parked or driving 90 MPH on a bumpy road. When it happens, the tach and speedometer needles drop to zero and the instrument cluster screen goes dark for about 2 seconds. Then I hear the clicking noise from the glove compartment area that you hear when the car is starting. Then the needles go back up and the warning lights and bells come on just as if the car is being started again. But when this happens, the engine, radio, navigation, and climate control stuff all keep working normally. I hooked it up to a code reader and got no errors. My nearest Jag dealers is about 2 hours away, so I never take my Jags there except for warranty work. The local Jag "expert" garage doesn't want to mess with it. I've tried unhooking the battery overnight, and looked for loose connections. I have spent hours searching google and haven't found anyone else having this problem. I hate to just take it to the Jag money *******, I mean Dealership and let them start changing out stuff until they find the problem! Any help or advice GREATLY APPRECIATED!!!! I'll try to attach a video of what it's doing to this posting.

 

I've had my 2008 XKR convertible for about 6 years, and have worked through all kinds of electrical demons with it. Especially with the top. I keep a battery tender charger on it while it's stored for the winter. The battery is new last year. This winter the battery tender got unplugged, and this spring the battery was completely dead. I jump started it and let it run for a while, and then put the battery tender charger back on it for a day. I thought everything was fine, but now when I drive it, the instrument cluster goes dead and then "resets". This happens randomly between every 30 seconds and a minute and a half. Doesn't matter is I'm sitting parked or driving 90 MPH on a bumpy road. When it happens, the tach and speedometer needles drop to zero and the instrument cluster screen goes dark for about 2 seconds. Then I hear the clicking noise from the glove compartment area that you hear when the car is starting. Then the needles go back up and the warning lights and bells come on just as if the car is being started again. But when this happens, the engine, radio, navigation, and climate control stuff all keep working normally. I hooked it up to a code reader and got no errors. My nearest Jag dealers is about 2 hours away, so I never take my Jags there except for warranty work. The local Jag "expert" garage doesn't want to mess with it. I've tried unhooking the battery overnight, and looked for loose connections. I have spent hours searching google and haven't found anyone else having this problem. I hate to just take it to the Jag money taker, I mean Dealership, and let them start changing out stuff until they find the problem! Any help or advice GREATLY APPRECIATED!!!! I'll try to attach a video of what it's doing to this posting.

 

I recall seeing a thread abut loose/corroded ground maybe causing a problem like this. May wish to search for that.

 

Here is a thread somewhat on this:

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...-kitty-126282/

 

My first step would be to put it on a battery charger overnight then see if it holds a charge. A tender will not fully recharge a battery. Additionally, even new batteries do not like to be completely discharged and may be damaged as a result.
There are several threads on the forum detailing how to go about confirming the condition of a battery, but in short: wait about 15mins after having driven the car then place a VOM across the battery terminals looking for a minimum of 12.6Vdc. But do this only after you have allowed it to be fully charged with a battery charger.

 

I'm going with wonky battery. A new one is cheaper than an hour of a tech probing around your car chasing ghosts.

 

You may need another new battery. Have read on this forum that a battery can be damaged by letting it go completely dead, so it may be the source of your troubles. Also, a battery tender won't recharge a battery back to full in just one day, so put it on a real charger (like 10 amp) overnight, and try again, but keep in mind, your battery may be toast.

 

Only reason I think it’s something other than the battery is that historically the convertible top and some other things don’t work right if the battery is even the slightest bit weak or discharged. Those things are working fine right now. But I’ll do the battery tests anyway.

 

FWIW, there are 4 ground posts under and around the dashboard. I experienced these issues once and discovered the passenger well ground post nut was loose. Tightened it up and voila, no more issues.

 

Hmmm, ticking noises: relay issues?
Resetting...: bad grounds?
it would be odd but in the history of the car has anyone been behind or under the dashboard?
and stating the obvious: are all relays/modules/fuses well seated?

of course I am surprised there are no codes...