Hey everyone. I am the proud owner of a 99 XK8 convertible that just turned over 30,000 miles. Have an issue with the top no longer operating. Today I checked the hydraulic oil in the pump cylinder and it was below the Top Up line. Filled it and tried it again but no luck. I know there are issues with the pumps on these year cars. Would anyone let me know what the next step I should into might be. Tom

 

Do you hear any noise when you push the top up/down button? Did you check the fuse in the trunk?

Doug

 

Did you check the petcock at the pump? It must be fully closed for the rams to work.

Plenty of threads on the top operation. Search the forum. Also see Gus' excellent site on general repairs and troubleshooting.

JagRepair.com - Jaguar Repair Information Resource

 

Thank you. I have noticed over the last several times I operated the top it was getting slower and slower to go up and down with a bit of a squeeling noise until in the up position it will not at present go down. Fluid was a little low but nowhere near being dry or extremely low. Thanks. Tom

 

The pumps themselves rarely fail but have been replaces many times because of other issues.

What color is the fluid in your pump? The early cars used a yellow version that congealed into a sirup that wouldn't pump. That was primarily on the '97 - '98 cars but yours is close enough to ask. If the fluid was green then you should be OK in that department.

The valve mentioned above is next. Closed clockwise.

The system is sealed so if the fluid was low you have a leak somewhere. Look under the car in front of the rear tire for fluid dampness that would indicate a leak at one or both of the operating rams.

The latch cylinder tends to leak noticeably but can seize up especially with the early yellow fluid.

I would put the pump at the bottom of the list of things to work on.

 

I wanted to thank all of the folks who have responded. I will check the fuse and assure that the petcock is in the correct configuration. I bought the car with 20K on it in CA and have had the top down a handfull of times since coming to Denver in April of 2013. Within that handfull of times the top has been down, I have noticed it laboring more and more to go down and back up. What prompted my start of the investigation and my out reach to the forum was the inability for it now to go down. No squeeling or sounds what so ever. Checked the fluid over the weekend and filled with the Green hydraulic fluid to bring the level up to the lower sight line, not a great deal of fluid added. There are NO puddles under the wheels or in the trunk compartment. Though someone else may have experienced this before. Tom

 

Hope to hear of your fix

 

You should fill the tank to the top embossed line on the tank. At times the rams have a tendency to weep fluid and with time the fluid goes down below what is acceptable levels.

 

when pushing the button do the windows go down and the latch operate? if so one off the people recently posted he sprayed all the joints for the top with silicone spray and the sqeeks from the top were gone with the added extra of the top working alot less harder to raise and lower. worth a try first b4 digging alot deeper. if the windows are not lowering first then a switch is stuck on the rams or in the latch or the top is out of sequence. the sequence i use is- i start the car- unlatch the top- hit the lower switch- when it stops i release it- latch the top- and if the dash says top unlatched i hit the button on more time and it goes out . same sequence with raising it but switch pushed in raise position.