Hi, I have had my XK8 for nearly 3 years now. Never had a problem. today when starting from semi warm it would not idle and stalled. with the console message "engine stalled". The car always starts perfectly from cold and when hot too. The engine always starts and runs smoothly until normal running temperature is achieved. The car was left for about an hour before I went to start it again. Any ideas on what this may be?

 

First thing would be get the codes read and see what errors it shows. Look for obvious things like vacuum lines off or broken in the meantime. Without knowing the codes it could be dozens of things causing it.


Dave

 

Thank you for the reply. Not sure how to get the codes though. Please can you advise how to get them?

 

You will need to buy or borrow an ODBII scanner that is capable of reading the codes. There are a lot of them out there but some don't work well with Jags.
Knowing the codes will make it much easier to know which direction to look in for the problem.

This is the one I have. I like it because you can leave it hooked up and it will act as a set of gauges so you can real the real engine temp and car speed or anything you set it up to do.


Dave

 

Dave,
Thank you very much for your time and effort in replying. I will do a visual check of the hoses and the obvious. I will also invest in a scanner to retrieve the codes. Thank you again will post my findings

 

As Dave says, a code reader is an essential for troubleshooting. You don't need anything too sophisticated or expensive just for Pxxx (powertrain) codes.

The XK8/XKR has a low volume, high flow rate cooling system specifically designed for rapid warm up. You should find the increased 'cold' tickover on start up drops back by approximately 200 rpm to normal in about a minute. This behaviour is a function of the signal from the ECT (Engine Coolant Temperature) sensor to the ECM (Engine Control Module).

If starting and running from both cold and hot is OK, the ECT sensor would be high on my list of suspects.

Graham