Here is my sequence

1.Turn hex key opening latch top disengages from latch but sits in latch "cradle"
2. Press lowering button until top is down
3. Release button
4. Turn hex key to close latch
5. Press button to clear fault message

To close

1. Turn hex key to open latch
2. Press button to raise top until it makes contact with latch
3. release button
4. close latch with hex key
5. press button to clear message

At no time do I have to have one hand on the hex key and the other on the button. Once the latch is opened during the opening sequence or the top has made contact with the latch during the closing sequence turning the hex key completes the operation.

Will post pictures when I can. I plan on making another hex key as although this one is "good enough" it is not perfect. I found that putting the shift knob and hex key together gives a lot more torque to the tool and makes opening and closing the latch easier and more comfortable.

 

Great. It would be good if some other users would try this and let us know. On your car, the drill could hardly be simpler.

On my '01, I can't count on the "not latched" message clearing unless I use the two-hands method when raising the top.

Starts to look like they may have tweaked a logic circuit or two over the years.

 

It is so easy that given the unreliability of the original latch hoses and the lack off long term proof that improved hoses solve the green shower problem, I would never consider going back to a hydraulic latch system. It should have been electric from the start.

 

Do you guys know if the hoses to the latch are the same hoses, that go to the rams? Are the I.D. markings on all the hoses the same. My latch hoses don't have I.D. markings, like the ram hoses(which are original). Since the bolts to do the manuel alternative of the top don.t fit, I'm thinking maybe my latch hoses were replaced.

 

There are guys here who know more than I about this, but I see your question has been sitting for a while so I'll give it a try.

There was one (more?) changes in hose material over the years. But I think for any MY, the hoses going to the latch are the same as the hoses going to the rams. So I would think the markings on all of your hoses would be the same if all are original.

 

I never bothered to check but always assumed they were. The factory hoses to the latch have always had markings.

 

Thank You Dennis07 and Gus. I'll assume my latch hoses were changed at some point, and not switch over to manuel operation. Wish me luck!

 

just saw your solution for going manual and I am so excited. I've been searching for a reasonable and economically easy way to do just that. I've been obsessing over why it is necessary to even have a hydraulic system to raise a rag roof for a 2 seater car in the first place. Kudos to Dennis 07 for your ingenuity for just being a practical kind of guy. many thanks

 

So I'm in the process of moving out of my '01 (which I will sell) and into my '03. Decided to revert to normal latch operation on the '01, but I figure I'll offer any prospective buyer to set it up either way.

After a year or so of manual operation, I was not sure what to expect when converting back. Would things work as before? It turned out fine. The system burped a little on the 1st raise/lower top cycle, but then performed perfectly. (The ends of the disconnected latch hoses had been kept in a fluid bath, intended to prevent anything from drying out in the latch hose circuit.)


BTW, my new (to me) '03 came from forum member Lorwood (who figured prominently in this thread) so we're keeping the car in the family, so to speak. She's a beautiful BRG rag-top, 3-gauge (what I wanted), 40k miles, and I've never before been so lucky as to find a car this well cared for.

Thank you, Lorwood!

 

Glad to see she will be in good hands. One day I hope to own another one of these great cars. My daughters getting married this year so the expenses are pretty high so the Jag had got to go. A Dads got to do what a Dads got to do.

The good news is my company car is being turned in so this time I requested a 2014 Ram Big Horn with lots of toys. Truck was ordered and should be delivered in April. Should be fun and hey the price was right!

 

I have modified the roof latch to manual operation as a temporary measure before full fix with new hoses. It does not work for me, though. The latch won't open fully even when using a lot of force on the hex key. I have also tried by pushing the hood upwards to clear the latch hook. It seems that the latch won't go more than half-up or so when using the hex key.

I have disconnected the latch hoses from the pump and installed the blanking plugs.

Is there some additional trick I should know about to be able to release the latch manually so the system reacts with the chime and starts operating the pump and the up/down cylinders?

I will now order new hoses and hope that by replacing the old ones I can restore correct automatic operation.

 

I don't believe anyone has reported this before. Has anyone seen this problem? Questions:
- The pump ends of the latch hoses ... have these been left open rather than connected together or capped off?
- Do the rear windows go down when you press the rocker switch to lower the top?
- can you hear the pump running when you press the rocker?

Away most of the day but will check back this evening.

 

If fluid is in the hose with them being capped that latch may not move or have limited movement. Pull the caps off and put a cup under the hoses and operate the latch. Remember this system is a push / push!

 

Found same result. Little tweek to the latch after the top settles was all it took to turn off the warning. REB1999

 

I'm thinking its just a release of pressure to the system. Opening a vent... REB

 

OK, just to re-calibrate quickly: To set up the car for manual latch, the pump ports must be capped of course, but also the abandoned latch hoses must be left open at the pump end ... not capped or connected together. A water bottle or similar can be used to catch any escaping fluid at the pump end.

Set up this way, there should be nothing to interfere with using the hex key to open and close the latch. it's a little more than a 90 degree turn of the key stop-to-stop.

I hope we hear back from Olca so we learn what was happening in that case.

Reb, my '03 lived on LI until recently. Got her from forum member Lorwood. Always wanted one in BRG.

 

Hi,
It's working! It seems that the binding condition of the front latch could have had something to do with the appropriate draining of the hydraulic hoses, or some mechanical binding that needed plenty of jerking back and forth to loosen. When I was testing this afternoon to give the responses to the questions by Dennis07 I actually found that it was working!

The responses to the questions:
- The disconnected hoses were left open at the pump end.
- The rear windows did go down.
- The pump was working (now). It took a two-handed operation: One on the up/down switch and one on the hex key for the manual latch to keep it in the clock-wise (most open) direction.

Thank you for your attention! Now I am just waiting for the hoses that I ordered to arrive, and the resistor for the reduced-voltage conversion. I still have a small leak in the hydraulic cylinders that I hope will be reduced by the resistor.

 

Olca,

You're quite welcome. Glad to hear it!

As you found, it may require a two-hands procedure. It seems to depend on MY. On my '01, I needed to use such a procedure, shown in the link in my sig. line below, to be sure of clearing any "top not latched" messages.

Lorwood found a one-hand procedure worked, see post #181 in this thread, on his '03 (which coincidentally is now my '03).

I think they may have tweeked a logic circuit or two over the years.


Now the bad news: once a cylinder is leaking, a resistor or a relief valve will not help much if at all. That cylinder will need attention.

 

I have found a supplier in the UK for the blanking plug and nut. Yorkshire Hydraulics in York. Just ordered 2 to keep in case I get a burst and can immediately blank off the pump. Only £8.88 delivered for the pair.

Steve

 

Hi,
I have also found a local supplier of the blanking plugs. I prepared myself with plenty of printouts and specifications for the plugs and went to a local hydraulic service company. The guy behind the counter just had a look at the photo and went behind the parts shelves, making som noises while looking in his parts bins and returned with the plugs. Apparantly this is quite a common, standard thing.

It cost me SEK 33 (about USD 5).

Just after blanking off the pump connections I received the two hoses that I ordered from the UK. I will replace the old ones in a couple of weeks I think.