I am a new Jaguar owner. I purchased a used 99 XK8. It's turning out to be a huge headache, but I have too much invested to sell it. I have replaced the throttle body, abs module, cam cover gasket, the water pump, thermostat, and hoses.

Now a new problem is arrising and the car is unusable. Whenever I start it up, it immediatley hits 5000 rpm's and rises slowly then drops back down to about 4000 then goes back up. If I leave it alone and let it race out then it will eventually come down on it's own. Unfortunatley it gets pretty close to redlining, so I don't let it work it's way out. Engine failsafe mode also comes up on the message center. If I give it a tap of the gas to bring the idle down, it comes all the way down and stalls and the message center changes from just engine failsafe mode to traction control failure and engine failsafe mode.

Anybody here have any suggestions? I am pretty much at a standstill with the car.

 

Thanks for the tip. I'm going to checkout the TPS.

I also ordered an OBD-II. I'm waiting on that to come in.