After fitting a new battery, the engine temperature needle in the instrument cluster keeps rotating all the way to the fuel gauge.

With no key in, the needle sits at about 11 o'clock
Key in (position 1) the needle goes all the way to the fuel gauge.
Turn key off then the needle goes back to 11 o'clock

I have unplugged the battery for 5 minutes which seems to help a bit, needle goes to 3 o'clock but as soon as I put turn the key to position 2 the needle rotates to the fuel gauge.

Any help with how to reset or fix would be greatly appreciated.

 

Welcome to the forum. Did you jump start the car prior to fitting the new battery?

 

Nope, should I?

 

Thinking about it, yes I did jump start on the old battery before installing the new one.

 

Try a hard reset, disconnect the negative battery cable and touch it to the positive cable for a minute or so. This will drain all residual power stored in capacitors.

Remember to reset your windows after doing this.

 

Thanks Jandreu and WhiteXKR, done that.
The needle seems stationary at 11 o'clock, so it doesn't jump around anymore but doesn't sit where it should on the needle rest.
Basically, how to I get the needle back round to rest on the needle rest.

 

Check fuses #14 and #18 for the instrument cluster in the fusebox at the end of the dashboard on the DRIVER's side.

 

The fuses were fine, but.... taking out fuse 18 and putting it back in a couple of times eventually reset the temperature needle to the rest and appears to have worked nicely.

Thanks both

 

Glad that worked.

For future reference, if you ever need to jump the XK8 again, make sure the 'donor' car DOES NOT have its engine running. Serious electrical damage can occur otherwise.

 

Thanks for the tip, very useful to know.

 

Hi, So after going out a for drive this morning the temp needle didn't move from the rest. When I stopped the engine the needle stayed on the rest, but when I turned the key again it creeped up to the about 4 o'clock then when turned the key off, it then went straight to 1 o'clock. Any other ideas? Thanks

 

Welcome to the forum YoungOldJag,

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but even when you do get the gauge display issue resolved, it's not much help in monitoring coolant temperature. A correctly functioning gauge will sit on Normal and not move until the temperature has already risen sufficiently to risk engine damage.

The solution for accurate temperature monitoring is fitting WhiteXKR's RealGauge, See the link in his Signature for more information.

Your issue seems to be a faulty gauge, harness connections or temperature sensor. Eliminate the simplest one of connections first.

When you get a minute, please follow this link New Member Area - Intro a MUST - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum to the New Member Area - Intro a MUST forum and post some info about yourself and your vehicle for all members to see. In return you'll get a proper welcome and some useful advice about posting to the forum.

Graham

 

Hi Graham and thanks.

The problem is I am fixing up the car to sell, we're buying our first home and need to sell the Jag to help pay for the stamp duty.

I've spent the last few weekends fixing it up and only have a couple of niggly little things I want to get sorted.
I've just had it serviced by a Jag specialist i've been using for years but want to avoid paying for diagnostics time to try and find the problem. The car drives perfectly and the engine fans come on when they normally would.

 

I have a strong suspicion that the gauge cluster was damaged from the jump start.

My suggestion would be to get a used one on ebay from the same '97 model year and it should plug and play. Try to get one with similar miles on the odometer, because the odometer reading will be wrong. Make sure you remove and install the replacement with the battery disconnected.

 

Hi Thanks, unfortunately if it really is the case that the the odometer reading is stored with the cluster then that isn't an option. Unless the odometer reading can be corrected by a specialised or Jag dealer.