hey everyone,
being new to the forum and jag ownership club thanks to all for the friendly welcomes! I'm trying to trouble shoot my convertible top problem. when i push my convertible down button or driver key clockwise, my door windows go down but my quarter windows dont do anything and neither does my top. i've checked the connections on the top pump and made sure the petcock is closed (clockwise). I've put it down manually with the allen key and tried to put it back up with no success either and switched around the relays and checked the fuses. I've read through gus's trouble shooting guide and I'm thinking it may be a control module but any suggestions of what to try next would be appreciated.

 

Welcome to the forum!

Does the pump run with switch or key? Suspect not because the quarter windows should go down first.

The most likely problem(s) are the micro switches on the rams and at the top latch. I believe I confused my system one time had to manually cycle the top down and up and latch it before it started working again.

Also the always reliable full system boot by disconnecting the negative cable from the battery and touching the positive post. That drains the little electrons running around in capacitors not knowing what to do.

The reservoir is full isn't it?

Stay with us before firing the parts cannon at it.

 

hey test,
thanks for the reply! I've tried the hard reboot with no avail and the res is full. I've manually put the top down and tried to put it up with the button or door key with no success. I also tried to put it down again once i manually put the top back up with no success. I tried to jump the quarter window relays last night to see if they would go down and they dont. This is a bit baffling. I'm thinking it may be a body control module but dont know how to test it other than buying one and seeing if it fixes the problem.

 

I think my next step is going to be to take the rear side panels off and access the quarter window motors to see if i can jump the motors directly. I would think that jumping the quarter window relays would get the motors to work since i believe the relays run directly to the window motors.

Another factor i havent yet mentioned is that the left quarter panel was hit(right behind driver door) and repaired according to the guy I recently bought the car from. Not sure if this would affect both sides though.

 

an option have seen the top latch mechanism on ebay for around 150 or so may want to get one and try a swap first that should eliminate any questions if its the switchs in the latch assembly and much easier that your plan of taking the side panels off.

 

Hi Wolf, If you are going this far ( remove the interior panels), you can jump the wires at the piston rams. The right ram controls the quarter windows. I have removed the rams with the intent of sending out for updated seals. For the time being I just jumped the wires to fool the ram the top is in its fully extended position

 

Easier to jump the relays in the trunk. The relay location is in JTIS which you need if you are going to be able to live with the new car. Free download in the Sticky above. Schematic on side of relay cover.

 

I've already tried to jump the window down relays in the trunk and they don't work.

 

Are the relay sockets powered? If they are the windows should work since there is nothing common to fail between the socket and the regulator motors. If not, are the fuses good. I know you said you checked the fuses but was that by sight or continuity.

Then you are back to the Body Processor Module. There are several fuses feeding that.

 

so i've made some headway. took the back seat and rear side panels out (since i had to replace the blown subs anyway) and found my problem. The quarter windows were both unplugged by the previous owner. after plugging them back in, they work fine.

also, found the reason he unplugged them was a bad connection on the convertible top motor. when i would jiggle the power wires, the top worked intermittently. I had to actually zip tie the power wires tightly to the side of the motor for it to consistently work. it seems that there is a bad connection/solder joint in the motor.

has anyone taken the convertible top motor apart and resoldered connections? I've taken the motor cap off to see if there was anything obvious that could be repaired and found the power and ground wires going into a white circuit board looking structure. i found some used motors on ebay for $350-$400 but would rather not go that route if not necessary.

thanks for everyone's input so far!

 

ok, so now my roof stopped working again and i had to put it up manually. has anyone ever taken the convertible top motor/pump apart to check/resolder connections?

 

I am having trouble getting a grip on your problem so please check your PM. As for the rebuild of the pump I would suggest having it done properly and send it to Top Hydraulics JagRepair.com - Jaguar Repair Information Resource for them to look at it.

 

. . . and please be careful removing the solenoid electrical connectors. You can pull the very fine wire out of the coil if the connector comes loose from its attachment. Priced a pump lately?

 

So we took the pump out and took the front cover off (where the white and black wire enter pump). I was able to remove the 3 clips holding the circuit board on and pry the circuit board out enough to give me enough room to resolder the points where the 2 black and 2 white wires attach to the board. We put everything back together and the pump worked perfectly. Put the top down and up twice with no issue.

Later that night when I went to put the car back in the garage, tried to put the top up....no dice. It didn't do anything at all. I had my gf hold the key in the door counterclockwise while I jiggled the power wires and eventually the top went back up.

I did a little bit of hunting on ebay and found a good looking used pump for $275 with a 1 yr warranty. Oh well I tried...
Maybe I'll play around with it a little more this weekend while waiting for the new pump to arrive. It's bit annoying since i know from wiggling the wires around that its a bad connection.

 

You can have yours rebuilt f( the entire pump) or the same amount of money and you will have a guarentee.

 

i found a used one on ebay from a highly rated seller for $275 with a 1 yr warranty. The top hydrolics website says a rebuild is $400. Maybe if I have some problems after a year, I'll get it rebuilt. It's awesome to know that they can do that. Thanks for the tip!

 

With a little luck, you could end up with a serviceable spare pump. Sounds like just a cold solder joint or some such thing with your current pump. If you can get hold of a jeweler's loupe or similar, a close look at things might turn something up. Look hard at the connector too.