Well it did, I got the Green Shower.

Went to put the top down and holy cow, green fluid all over the car and me.
It came through the map lights, and sprayed everywhere.

So to get it fixed with new everything it will be $1600.00 give or take a buck.

So, my question is, can I raise and lower the top manually, the sun is out ?
Please help, it a beautiful day and the parts will not be in for a week or so.

 

Rich,

Sorry to hear. You'll find at least one link in the stickies with the procedure for lowering the top manually. Be sure you understand this before attempting it, as it's possible to bend something.

While waiting for your permanent repair, you can have a functioning top if you're willing to operate the latch manually. There's a link in my sig. line below.

Good luck!

(I had a 240Z -- two of them in fact -- back in the day. Loved 'em!)

 

Rich-
I remember a while back you were asking about the timing chain tensioners.

Have they been checked and upgraded if necessary?

If not, and your car budget is limited, you really should do the tensioners first and do Dennis' manual mod. temporarily to buy some time. That is another 'I never thought it would happen to me' item with potentially much more expensive consequences.
-Steve

 

Thanks Steve,
I am going to have my mechanic check the timing chain tensioners.
not sure if they have been replaced or not, but will have them changed to the updated tensioners. Would you have any idea how much I should expect to pay for the tensioners?

 

$800 or less at an indy with Lincoln LS parts.

$1200 plus at a Jaguar dealer.

 

When it happened to me, I just had to be out with my partner in my nicest pantsuit. Luckily apparently Pentosin CHF11S is dry cleanable.

 

for now you can cap the two hoses on the pump in the trunk closest to inside the trunk with pluming caps fill with fluid and operate top with wrench to latch and unlatch top and windows will still go up and down with power. you can buy the hoses from a company called hel in the uk shipped to ma for about 160 us dollars took me about for hours to replace needed my top down on cape cod

 

Got the top fixed, $450.00 kit from Jaguar to re-fit all hoses and fluid. Works fine, had my mechanic look at the tensioners and they seem to be fine, for now. Will have them replaced before I put her away for the winter. They told me the cost would be around $1800. to $2000.00 because the cam shaft has to be removed, and very carefully, which will take most of the time to do this repair. Good to go, For now.

 

Rich,


Did you replace the hoses yourself with that kit, or did your mechanic do the work? If you did it, how long did it take? My latch hoses are disconnected and capped, so I have to latch and unlatch the top manually. I'd love to get it back to the way it's supposed to work, and get the remote that the Jag Wrangler sells, but taking on a 6-8 hour project (which seems to be the norm in replacing the hoses), is more than I can take on right now.


Thanks,

 

Max,
I had my mechanic do it, was in the shop for two days. I'm not sure I would tackle it myself, seems like a lot of work.

 

The camshafts DO NOT need to be removed to replace the secondary tensioners and they DO NOT need to be removed to replace ALL the chains/tensioners!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You can remove the exhaust cam to replace the secondary using the 'zip-tie' method but that is not very labor intensive (and not the 'approved' method).

You might want to find out EXACTLY what your mechanic is going to replace before committing to repairs without the proper tools or parts. He may very well want to replace ALL the timing components to ensure nothing is left to chance. Be sure the shop has the tools/knowledge to complete the job.

bob gauff

 

New problem, driving with the top down for two days this weekend, no problems up or down. But, I have developed a hydraulic leak of some kind coming from drivers side just under the gas cap and trunk button. Leaking slowly but still leaking. Back to the shop, I don't know what exactly this is but it is hydraulic fluid. Any suggestions as to what it might be?

 

I have a 2001 XKR that gave me a green shower so I went to my car insurance company and they covered some of the costs. I live in British Columbia Canada and have car insurance through the Insurance Corporation Of British Columbia (ICBC). ICBC would not cover the mechanical failure but the did cover the cost of the damage caused by the hydraulic fluid as a comprehensive claim under specified perils. In my case I had to pay a $300.00 deductible with no impact on future insurance costs. The following is how the costs broke down in Canadian dollars:
I paid $1,308.00 for new hydraulic line, hydraulic fluid and the majority of labour to install and includes my $300.00 ICBC deductible.
ICBC paid $2,236.00 for carpet underlay and headliner replacement, recovering front bow, and labour to install and replace these items. They also paid for 7 hours of cleaning time to clean the seats and carpets.
I hope this saves a few fellow Jag owners a couple of bucks down the road
Cheers
Hockeymachine

 

Just got the word from my mechanic about the leak in the new hose under the dash. He said that I need a new hose from the front to the back because the connections are not holding and if he tightens them any more they will break. Still leaking, so he said it would be better to replace with a one piece hose from front to back. Another $1000 or so. I am living with a small leak now, and the top is still working fine. So will get the new hose at the end of the summer, along with new secondary tensioners, another $1800 or so. Had the car one year this August and have over $3000 dollars in repairs already. Should be a new car by the time winter comes.

 

Sorry to hear that you have to revisit your hydraulic hose situation. Hope the second time turns out to be the final fix....

Yet another reason to keep a $2,000 to $3,000 rolling maintenance fund on hand throughout our ownership of these Jaguars....

 

The repair splice kit that you got from the dealer was an effort by Jaguar to avoid the 8 hours labor to replace the entire hoses under warranty. This fix did not work and the splice kit was recalled and dealers were advised not to use them. The dealer should have never sold that to you.

Don't have time at the moment but will look for some documentation on this subject. With that in hand I would go back to the dealer and ask for my money back.

The 'kit' was only about $250 5 years ago when it was being used.

 

It is impossible to determine by inspection in place that the tensioners are 'fine' so that was a wasted effort and inaccurate at best. You need to replace the tensioners before repairing the top.

Reread motorcarman's post.

 

You can spend a little less per year if you DIY some things. These cars are actually very easy to work on. Some repairs are time intense and can try your patience, but are quite simple compared to their german and italian competitors. I have yet to remove my front bumper on my Jaguars and I have yet to break a single Jaguar wiring connector.

There's also a really good community for these cars! This forum has excellent Jaguar technicians sharing their stories of how to streamline a job (like how to remove fuel lines going to tank; the zip tie method of secondary tensioner replacement, etc) and save you time. There are plenty of people posting cross references of parts that save you a fortune (Acura vs Jaguar mirror, using Valvoline NAG1 compatible ATF in W5A580 R model transmissions, etc).

It's not that you can't figure this stuff out yourself, but it's nice having the time back by someone else sharing what they learned. Smart people learn from their experiences, really smart people learn from others experiences.

 

I do indeed DIY as much as I can, but keeping a reserve fund to cover the associated costs is essentially mandatory for both of our Jaguars. My 1999 Ram pickup continues to roll right along costing me next to nothing in maintenance, but Wayne and I will be replacing its worn-out ball joints and front bushings once the weather cools off come Autumn 2015....

 

Well, I just got my XK8 back from the shop, new rag top hose from front to rear, one piece to replace the the leaking two piece hose that was leaking. Seems to be fine, except for the $1300.00 charge for labor and new direct from Jaguar hose.

Next up, storage till March, then I'll have the secondary tensioners replace for another 2k