Hi Guys (no gender inference here..)


I haven't had much time - and I'm lousy with 'searches'... so I'll just ask (and beg forgiveness).


I have a 1997 XK8 with 25k miles. I bought it for my wife (and drove it back to Indiana from California). It's actually one of the 'Neiman Marcus' cars...


Anyway...So far - everything works perfectly (after I fix a few little things)..


So:


When I store it, does it matter if the top is up or down?


I turn it over once a month - but do I need to have a battery-tender on it?


It has the factory Jag cell phone... Any idea where the 'main unit' for the phone is located?


Anything ridiculously obvious that I'm missing or should do?


Thanks a million.


Terrence

 

Welcome to the forum and the wonderful world of Jaguar!

Your questions:

When I store it, does it matter if the top is up or down? Yes, it is much better to have the top material stretched in place.


I turn it over once a month - but do I need to have a battery-tender on it? It is better to not start it over a storage period or at a minimum you need to get it up to complete operating temp not only for the engine but the entire car. An intelligent battery tender is a near must for storage.


It has the factory Jag cell phone... Any idea where the 'main unit' for the phone is located? The original phone is not going to work at all due to changes over 18 years in the cell phone system.


Anything ridiculously obvious that I'm missing or should do?

The TENSIONERS! The car was manufactured with plastic cam chain tensioners that have about a hundred percent chance of failure at some time. And they fail more due to time than miles. The result of a tensioner failure is a ruined engine. Become familiar with the Sticky's at the top of the forum. There is a world of information on tensioner problems there. Replacement is an absolute must do item. Absolute!

Bet you can't wait until Spring!

 

Sorry but I am not one to store a car for any amount of time we drive it. However, I can tell you that it does not matter if the top is up or down. I would suggest that you identify that the fluid has been replaced with a green fluid that is synthetic your model year car was equipped with a brown fluid that has caused problem with gelling. I will provide a link with hose and seal issues related to the roof operation. Now your car may be equipped with the first generation hoses and that can be identified by the number stamped on the hose so you may want to check that out.

Link JagRepair.com - Jaguar Repair Information Resource

Good luck with your car and welcome to the forum!

 

It does matter if the top is stored down. The top will wrinkle and those wrinkles often don't come out (my top was down too long and now I have a crease where I don't want one). Advice for all convertibles is to store it with the top up. As far as the phone I believe the major component is under the shallower center glove box (under the arm rest). But, as noted, the phone technology is out of date. The phone still could work but as noted it won't work well as the underlying technology has changed a lot in the last decade. You'd need to get one of the old Jaguar phones though as it likely won't work with anything else.

 

Yet another view on top storage: My experience has been that if a top made of "stay-fast" type material like ours is really, really clean and dry it can be stored down. Some desiccant in there with it is a good idea. Over time, it should shed any wrinkles that appear when it's then raised.

 

If you are concerned with wrinkles leave it up but mechanically it does not matter.

 

On mechanical, we've had a lot of top failures on the car and I do notice that if I leave mine down for a long period it seems to struggle more to put the top up for that first time. Material does tend to get a little bit of a memory and while it may not be much, and I do have pressure limiters retrofitted to my car to prevent the famous green shower of death it would seem that keeping the top stretched out would lower the initial stress on using the top for that first time. IN any case there are no reported issues with regard to leaving the top up and if you've ever had a mouse or rats nest in a car that alone is a reason to keep the thing buttoned up.

 

use silicone spray or white lithium grease on all the pivit points you can reach. will make the top operation much easier .