Here's the events leading up to the twilight zone...

I drive 3 miles to the high school tonight to pick up my son after practice. Top down, headlights on, fog lights on, radio off, passenger windows up. Engine sounds great as she normally does, trans is shifting perfectly (it was not in sport mode). No messages on the dash, Absolutely normal.

I pull in, park the car, put the trans in park, shut it off, pull the key out. Now here is where it gets weird. The second I pull out the key, all the dash gauges freeze exactly where they were when the car was running. There was a red light lit on the trans shifter plate, and the oil gauge. NOTHING ELECTRICAL WORKED. The car wouldn't even turn over. completely dead, frozen in time.

Opened the trunk using the key, access the battery and fuse box. All looked good. I jiggled all of the top fuses in the box, and the interior lights came on (much to my surprise!). The car fired up perfectly after that and we drove home. It drove like it never happened.

The only thing was the power windows were out of sync afterwards, which I easily fixed once we got home.

It seems fine now, will take it out tomorrow for another drive and see if it happens again.

I don't have a code reader, but I'm thinking the whole thing reset itself anyway during this episode of the twilight zone.

Solar flares or something else?

 

you lost all power momentarily...with some charge left in a module or two to give you some minor illumination (remember hearing about hard resetting vs the 'soft' kind?) This is what happens in a 'soft' one.

Jiggling in the rear (lol) fixed your connection obviously. Check the ground next to the battery, remove both terminals, clean and reconnect. Then wait to see if it ever happens again.
+ =

Gus will also recommend you check the module in front of the rear tire (i think its the security ?), make sure it is not cracked from spare tire impact, as this causes some power problems if it is.

 

Thanks Matt. The battery connections are tight and spotless as is the rest of the spare tire well under the trunk floor. I'm guessing some fuse got loose over time but I'll look at the security module tomorrow. Maybe Gus will chime in.

I had it idling in the driveway later tonight for about 30 minutes, and couldn't replicate the electrical cutoff. I shut it off about 3 times during that period and it worked perfectly.

 

Check the Main Electrical feed from the Battery to the Engine Compartment. This terminates at a bolt (covered with a rubber cap) near and under the bend in the air tube to the Throttle Body. This connection can loosen with time.

 

Not sure this is it but the high power protection fuses in the trunk that seem to crack or at times have a loose connection. You have 2 sets of fuses one double fuse for the starter and the single for the eng control units under the hood. But I am concerned that you were unable to start (crank) the car leading me to think it is the power supply. I would look at the entire power supply. I have car onelines on my page http://www.gusglikas.com/AutoRepairElectrical.htm that may help. Be sure to disconnect the battery first.

 

Dave, almost the exact same thing happened to me the other day. I pulled into the local Subway to get a sandwich and everything was fine. I come back out a couple of minutes later and nothing. No lights, no radio, no start, etc. I opened the trunk with the key, all battery terminals looked great, I proceeded to wiggle the ground to be sure it felt secure, and did the same on the positive post then at the main fuse panel. I went back to try again and bingo! I lost the settings on the memory seats, etc. but everything seemed fine.

I'm going to have to check out Gus's findings on this as it's guaranteed to happen again!

 

We found three cars that had a problem with the fuses. It seems that the tire in the trunk when not secured or when it is moved will bump the fuse box resulting in the box and or fuse to come loose or defective. When you check the leads on the battery the movement may be just enough to make contact to get you home. The one most important thing I can say is to remove the battery terminal prior to messing around with the wire connections. A DC flash is a nasty thing!

 

So was the solution to replace the fuses? If so, how much do these little gems run?

 

All depends if it is broken (cracked) or loose.

 

Had the car out today, everything normal. I rechecked all the fuses and connections. Nothing is cracked or loose. Spare tire secure. Everything electrical is working in the car as it should. Appreciate everyone's input, and your suggestions are things I will watch out for going forward.

But still, in the back of my mind.....I have to wonder....WTH?

 

I think we need a poltergeist section in the FAQ to list the many we see.

 

Was the car hot when you went in to the subway? And when it finally started had the car cooled down?

If yes to all of the above have your positive and negative cables checked. The positive will corrode inside the casing and when heated up it will not provide enough of a path for any current to do any thing. I chased this one for about a week before I finally took it to the dealer and explained the entire series of events to the tech. From my explanation he knew exactly what the problem was. Bad positive and negative cables.

Just a thought!

 

Everything checked out previously, and it happened again yesterday. It was fine for 6 weeks after the first occurrence. I cannot find what is causing this, other than an odd "creaking" noise behind the center of the dash when driving the car. Which I cannot isolate the cause that noise, and I don't know if it's related to the intermittent electrical issue. Might be time for a trip to the dealer.

 

Dave,

You are back again? Only kidding! What were the weather conditions and did you have the roof down and the windows up? I want to see if conditions were the same. Today I had my interior light come on / off and it has not done that for many months. Recently we have seen a few cars with electrical connection issues and wonder if you changed or moved relays or fuses.

 

Hi Gus,

Top down, windows up. Sunny 75 degrees. I think the first time this happened the top was up. In this latest instance, I saw able to start the car right after everything froze, it almost stalled but quickly came back to normal idle within a second. Had it out today, and was fine, except for the dash noise I mentioned previously. This only happens when I turn off the car. Almost like something shorts out, or a loose connection that I can't find.

 

I had to reread all the posts. I agree that it is electrical but not sure where it is originating from.
First Time Aug in the evening;
• Removed the key and indicators frozen in place
• Red light (security) lit steady
• Oil light (red) laminated
• Nothing electrical worked
• Car would not start
• Light came on after moving fuses in trunk
• Car started with no adverse conditions
Second time Oct in the day time;
• Started but almost stalled but returned to normal
• Noise under dash when car is shut off
Dave, this second time did you remove the key this time? If you did remove the key I am wondering if you might have a problem with the key cylinder. Do you have a heavy key ring? Do you have and use a remote and was it on the key ring?

 

Gus, only the Jag key and keyfob, nothing else on this keychain. The noise under the dash is when the car is moving. An intermittent creak, which is random and not timed to bumps in the road. This morning I double checked all the connections which I could easily get to and nothing was loose.

Maybe the previous owner had the heavy key ring. Funny thing is each time it started back up when I manually open the trunk with the key. Quite a comedy act to restart lol. Had the car out on Friday, and was fine.

 

upper dash, or lower... I've got a bolt to perhaps fix the upper dash, by the glass if thats where your noise is.

 

As much as I love this car, and obtaining it was truly the highlight of my car-buying experiences, this is the one vehicle I have owned where I get that dreaded "will everything be okay this time" early in the car's life. Here is what I mean. I have owned all of my cars a minimum of 5 years and a maximum of 14 years (the last 3 cars being 10 years or more). All of these have been daily drivers and there eventually comes a time where I will get in the car to start up in the morning and start worrying about what might go wrong. This happened with my 95 Corvette during the 11th or 12th year of ownership but nothing really serious ever went wrong (worst problems were failed fuel pump, leaking transmission tailshaft--no big deals). Still once a car reaches that age it is normal to wonder if something will suddenly "blow" or go haywire.

My 2005 XKR has only 22,000 miles and is "like new". Buy whenever I start it up I find myself having thoughts like I would have with a much older vehicle. Talking with the one other owner in my office building who has a similar vehicle (2003 XK8 coupe) has not helped. He tells me about the chronic problems he has had (weird instrument light problems, oil pressure hoses that suddenly blew, and most recently a transmission problem that occurred just after his warranty expired with a potential repair cost of $1,500 to several $thousand depending on what they find).

I guess that is the price you pay for owning one of these and, dare I say it, my wife was probably right to dissuade me (unsuccessfully) from getting a Jaguar.

Doug

 

Have faith doug, your friend may have not gotten a well maintained car in the first place (unless he's the original owner)

You've seen my issues over the last 3 years, never a weird light problem, oil line issues (though I did have a power steering fluid line bust) or transmission woes. I did change filter and fluid at 75k though. Sitting at 117k and change today. Still drives like when I got her at 45k 3 years ago.