Help...I have a 1999 XK8. I'm having a problem. Every so ofter while driving, a small orange light will go on, on the dashboard, right above the steering wheel, by the odometer. When it does, I seem to lose power like the fuel pump has suddenly gone off, or something similar. Usually within 5 to 10 secs the light goes off, and the car goes back to full power. Then 5 minutes later it may happen again. Its very annoying. Anyone experienced this before?

Thanks

 

as others will say, need codes read from the car to see what it is.

 

Is this a text message, a pictograph or both? What does it say/look like?

Could be as simple as the traction light flashing if you are driving more aggressively than the cat likes. Small puddles just as you are accelerating or making a spirited turn will drop power, use the brakes and flash a message that it is working.

BTW, orange is better than red.

 

I agree with Mike, this sounds like Traction control kicking in for a second. I've even noticed it when I for example give it wide open throttle from a light, then drive the right rear wheel over a 2 foot wide drain/grate in the road 30 or 40 feet from the start during the acceleration. It took me a long while to realize that the light goes on as the car is correcting for slippage and I may not even be able to tell that the loss of traction occured. On the other hand the computer cuts power output as part of the traction control, you feel this as a loss of power in more extreme circumstances. Now when I have to make a real fast left turn from a stop because of oncoming traffic for example, I turn off the Traction control for fastest acceleration. Might get some wheel spin, but let's face it - that's kind of fun. These cars just snap back into a straight line if you release the steering wheel for an instant.