When I drove my ‘97 Xk8 (conv) two days ago, at three different occasions when I started it, a ping-like beep came from what seemed like the right side of the front dash(maybe near glove box). It pinged 5 times & stopped. This happened not every time I started the car, and only that day. I didn’t see any warning messages/etc. I read some similar instances on the forum, but too dissimilar to be the same issues. Still, this morning I went out to the garage just to start the car , to see if the usual dash lights all came on…and they did, but nothing unusual, and car started as usual, the start up lights all went off.. I will also add that over 2 days, I drove the car almost 600 miles without any issues whatsoever. EXCEPT for gas prices being $6.40-$7.00 , premium w/card.
So, I am going to be getting the 60,000 miles service, and again wondering if I need to give my mechanic a head’s up on this newest phenomenon?

PS..as I was leaving the hotel parking garage, I saw a small group of older teens with skateboards hanging out, having been enjoying the smooth, twisting, undulating garage floor. I drove around them slowly, and as I passed them, one of the boys said “hey guys, that’s a Jaguar!” Needless to say, I was glad I had done a FULL detail. But I pulled forward, stopped and leaned out and asked them if they wanted a closer look. (It was Visalia, after all, and a block from the PD). 15 minutes later, I was on my way with a big smile on my face…

 

Does the Climate Control Panel display ER and 'beep' 5 times?

 

Didn’t catch it displaying the ER on the climate control panel, it happened so quickly that I only had a couple seconds, it has not done it again since the 3 non-consecutive starts . But yes, 5 beeps.
is it to do with ac?

 

5 bleeps followed by 20 more is SRS warning light failure so see if it lights ok to eliminate that one

 

hmmmm.The times the thing beeped, it was only 5 beeps over about a 3 second interval… 5, not 20, and not every time I started the car. I will just start it up throughout the day and keep an eye on the SRS ok light.
Thanks, all of this can be passed along to mechanic.
With this car, I have learned that there is no such thing as being TOO paranoid

 

The SRS light is a LED so unlikely to fail ..if its on with the ignition and then goes out normally then I would say its ok..you get 25 beeps every 30 min if its faulty ..made my head ache

 

Boy, that WOULD be terribly annoying, and on a long drive could make me homicidal. You said “normally” you believe it’s okay…. Made me laugh, as car is certainly making me neurotic. My relationship with this red beauty is a “LOVE / Dear God what is THIS?” relationship ….

 

Why not check the 'self-diagnastics' on the Climate Control Panel to see if there are faults?

 

^^ That is what I would do. On my wife's 2006 XK8, I follow these steps to do so:

Press AUTO and RECIRCULATE together while turning on the ignition, then release and press AUTO again. If there are no HVAC faults, the display will show 00. If there are HVAC faults, the display will cycle through a series of numbers which are fault codes.

To clear the HVAC fault codes:

With the engine running and the fault codes displayed, press REAR DEFROST and the "Arrow to Face" button together. Any displayed fault codes should clear to 0.

 

You guys!! Followed the steps outlined by a couple of you(thank you!!!)… and cleared the fault codes.
Were 0 at the end. Re-tested as outlined, still 0.

Bourbon, Pacifico, sweet tea…. On me.

 

Glad it worked out. You're going to be answering technical questions in here soon. Did chuckle at your "LOVE/what have I done" comment. With the 2000, I had fun just seeing a XK8 in my driveway even when it didn't run!