Hi y'all

First time I have ever owned a Jaguar (2000 XK8 4.0 Coupe, if my sig doesn't work), and now after a week of owning the car I have stopped posing and preening enough to look around the cab. I notice that one of the "good looking idiot lights" referred to above is a voltmeter and I have a question about its behaviour. When I am cruising along minding my own business, it sits pretty steadily in the middle (13v?), but when I drop to idle, the voltage drops too - nothing dramatic (well, nowhere near the red bit), but significant.

So, my question: is this normal? Should the little needle wander about a bit, or should it pretty much sit still in the middle?

(PS: Is it good etiquette to chime in on a thread, or should I have started my own?)

 

Welcome to the forum. This was my thread and your question is related, so no problem.

The voltmeter does actually "work", but it seems to be regulated to max out at the mid-point. However, it will register low voltage.

My original issue turned out to be my alternator going bad, so I would recommend you checking your battery output at the source. You should have 12.4+ at rest. If not, have the battery checked. If it is OK then move along to the usual suspects. If it's the battery, change it ASAP or you will start to see many odd things begin to happen. These cars are very sensitive to low battery output.

 

Thanks for your help.