I am having a challenge when I turn off the engine, pull the key out , the engine continues to run.....I have disconnected the battery and it reset once but it started doing the same thing yesterday.......is this an engine computer problem?.. anyone else have the same experience? 1997 Jaguar XK-8.. thank for your help

 

Welcome to the forum. What a way to start...

Do the gauges, radio and everything else power down, or does the car act like you never turned the key off?

 

Hi CC... no all power is still there, even the electric fan is running.....I had to stall the engine by turning to start....then i disconnected the battery for several hours... I reconnected the battery and the car started up and ran normally with a/c radio ....then tried to shut it down and same thing... turned the key towards me and the turn stopped the key pulled out easily and the car was still running with everything electric working fine........???

 

Never heard of a problem like yours, so I'm just thinking out loud here...

I would need to check the wiring diagram to be sure of how it works for your year, but could it be a mechanical problem with the ignition switch?

Does it feel "odd" when you turn the key back? It should click when it goes through the positions from run, back to off.

The steering column cover is pretty easy to remove. Two screws on the bottom and then 4 clips (two on either side). You can identify them by a little detente in the seam. Slide a small screwdriver into the detente and UP and the clips should pop out.

With that off, you should be able to see if the switch is somehow broken and rotating.

 

Interesting situation! Have you made any modifications to the car? Have you done a hard reset?

 

Thanks Charlie... it feels the same so i am not sure... Gus how do i do a hard reset please?

 

no modifications.....

 

Hard Reset: disconnect the negative battery cable and touch it to the positive terminal for 20-30sec. This discharges all of the systems and will reset the electronics.

You will have to re-teach your windows, set the radio, etc.

This will also reset the ECU fuel adaptations so you should drive the car 50 miles or so before really flogging it so it can re-learn.

 

How long have you had the car? Any chance the previous owner had added a remote starter that is now malfunctioning?

 

You remove the “-“ cable from the battery then take that cable and place it on the “+” cable and hold it in place for 10 to 20seconds then place the “-“ cable back on the battery.

If you are not comfortable with that;

You can remove the “-“ cable from your battery then turn the key on in the run position turn the lights and the horn for 10 to 20 seconds then turn the lights and the ignition key off and reinstall the “-“ cable.

When you do this your car is reset to ground “0” meaning you will lose the window memory so you will need to reset both windows, you will also lose all your radio presets and the possibility that your radio may need the security code. If you need the code to make the radio work just call Jaguar and they will give it to you.

 

Good point!

 

thank you Gus... no I have owned the car for over a year and this just happened for the first time....several people mentioned that it might be the engine computer but i thought I would ask the "experts" in the forum before I dropped $575 to have the computer rebuilt.....thanks I will try the hard reset... the windows are a small price to pay to reset.... I will let you all know.....

 

Hey Gus and all...I tried the hard reset twice......when i reconnected the battery the dash lights came back on , the electric fan was blowing......the car started fine but would no turn off again.....this is becoming a quest!...LOL

 

strange issue indeed.

Doug as this is your first few posts into the forum, please take moment and visit the New Member Section to post an introduction.

New Member Area - Intro a MUST - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum

 

Ok Steve thanks for the reminder!

 

Ok.. I got it done Steve.......thanks

 

That shouldn't happen. If it is actually OFF then when you reconnect the batter all you should see is the mileage light up, none of that other stuff.

From the look of the electrical diagram the ignition is mostly a mechanical switch.

I'm going to bet that contacts I & II stays connected when you switch the key to off. You should be able to (carefully) verify this by checking the voltage on those wires with the column cover off.

You could also try tapping on the lock cylinder while the key is out to see if it will release or using a little WD40 in it to see if it will loosen up.

 

Has the car been detailed?

Do you know where the car came from?

 

Good one!

Cat's do not like water. I washed the engine bay once... dumb dumb dumb thing to do.

 

thanks charlie i will try both of your suggestions.....