Recently purchased a 2007 XK with 37,000km. Great car, although I'm learning that it does not like Canadian winters at all....

Parked it to go into a store for about 20 minutes (just below freezing temperatures). Came back out, started it and it idled rough for approx 10 seconds prior to stalling.

Check engine light comes on. I try to start 5 or 6 times without success. The car seems to almost catch and then just stalls.

On the 7th try it started just fine. Finished the errands without any problems.

Any ideas?

 

I've had intermittent rough idle problems with my '07 XKR. I had a check engine light come on a few weeks ago and took it to the dealer. They replaced a faulty thermostat, and have a new thermostat housing cover to install when I can take it in again as the one on the car is slightly warped. If you take it in to the dealer, they will be able to run a diagnostic on the check engine light to determine the cause. Rough idle has gone away for me with the thermostat replacement.

 

That's amazing. I'm having intermittent rough idle problems. The last thing I would have considered is a thermostat. Is this a temperature sensor for the cold start or the cooling system thermostat?

 

I am pretty sure it's a cooling system thermostat. I still have a bit of rough idle on start up, but the car is only driven a couple of times a week so it sits a lot. I no longer have the hanging starter issue, so hopefully that won't come back.

 

I also have a 2007 Jaguar XK with 59k miles. Excellent car, but I have noticed rough idle and even several dying and having to restart it on warm start up.
This always happens when the car has been parked for an hour or so and the engine is warm.
I never had the check engine light come on yet, but I will look into the thermostat thing. thanks for posting.
This is really helpful and I would appreciate any suggestions.

 

The other thing you might consider is a battery that isn't fully charged. I used to have a BMW 850 that had two of everything including batteries, and if i didn't keep a trickle charge on them the car would not run properly or start well. Cars with this many computer systems tend to get finicky if they don't have enough juice.

 

Thank you Paul. I will check the battery for charge level
I haven't replaced the thermostat yet either
This is very helpful.