I see how the top on my 1994 XJS can be raised or lowered by hand in an emergency ,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,. considering the car is now 25 years old I wonder how much longer the motor for the top will stay alive ........ the car is in A-1 condition having been purchased from the original owner and he took GREAT car of it ............. I have several other British classic sports cars and up and down the tops go by hand.

Question: Can anyone suggest how to make the top more user friendly and be able to raise and lower it by hand ...............( I guess I am from the old school ...........................LOL)

Steve Q

 

I think the pump system is quite easy to maintain and repair. It should not be a problem to keep it working at intended

 

You can turn the lever on top of the pump to manual. It works, but definitely has some resistance

 

there is a bypass valve on the pump you can open to raise and lower the top manually,

i gutted my whole power top system on my car pump all the hoses hydraulic cyl's everything. it all leaked none of it worked right and once you get rid of all of it very easy to raise and lower the top manually, re wired the rear 1/4 windows so they still roll up and down. probably not the route most here would go but with how easy it is to manually raise and lower the top without the hydraulics in place i don't mind one bit.