OK, I am looking at a 2006 XK8 convertible. The owner says that his mechanic told him that the hydraulic lines were only an issue on cars that were left out in the sun. The owner said that his car has always been garaged. Is this true? I would have the car garaged also, except when I was using it as my almost daily driver.
What are your thoughts? Those of you with a convertible XK8.

 

Sitting in the sun does hasten the process, especially on the top latch hoses, but they are still going to suffer from age and so will the cylinder seals.

 

+1 heat does seem to be a factor but avoiding it is not a guarantee of avoiding a failure.

 

A master Jaguar mechanic told me years ago that there are only two types of XK8 convertibles: Those that have suffered the green shower, and those that will suffer the green shower....

My wife's 2006 XK8 has thus far avoided it. I am knocking on wood as hard and as fast as I can right now....

 

My '03 has had the bypass performed before I bought it. I use a wrench in the manual top release then push the button. I don't mind that at all. I don't know the details of how that is done other than the lines to the latch are blocked off and not sure if it's at the top or the pump. Works for me. I should look into that just FMI.
If you shop wisely you'll be ok, but you will not be free of all upgrades that might be needed. It's the nature of the breast. The rewards are worth it. TM

 

Xk8 has this problem even in "cold" countries, so no they dont survive even if its garaged. The hydraulic lines dies of age, high temperature makes them age a little faster but sooner or later they need replacement. Mine held 20 years and that I think is acceptable. I did not get the green shower, the lines started to leak at the pump first, on my 2000 XKR.

 

I've read that there's an aftermarket hose kit that is better than the OEM hoses.
Top Hydraulics.
Any other good choices?

 

My 2006 XK8 has 94K miles. I always garage it, but do not know about it's previous life. I recently found the reservoir low on fluid and top would not lock. I had noticed some fluid collecting down by the left footwell side. When checked, we found that the hose had ruptured as it goes up the left side of the windshield.
I ordered hoses from Cabriolet. Supposedly these will have better high pressure control. Installing the hoses this week. Definitely not an afternoon fix.

 

Here's a thread with a poll and a lot of discussion on the hydraulic top issue -

Convertible Top Pressure Reduction Poll - Page 2 - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum

I did the hydraulic pressure reduction valve on my '06 shortly after I got it. No problems, yet anyway (knock on wood).

 

What about draining the fluid and making it a manual top?
That works for a lot of cars, including Jaguars.

 

My car (which has ALWAYS been a garage queen) had the lines go a few years ago... as is the norm, I got the dreaded green shower (but it barely leaked so I was blessed) and immediately went out and bought some caps to block the pump off on the two latch hoses. I could then use the pump to raise and lower the top and then just had the manual latch to close using the allen wrench. Who know how long that would have worked, but I wanted a proper fix so I bought all new lines and rebuilt rams and latch from Top Hydraulics.

Using the manual latch was not an issue but I don't think you would want to go full manual as that would be a PITA... you could however just stick with the manual latch WHEN those lines fail... then if you just had to just replace the rear hoses (the "easy" ones) then it wouldn't be so bad... it's the latch hoses that are the difficult hoses to replace.

 

The previous owner of my 2000 XK8 apparently had the hoses replaced under warranty when the car was a few years old. I installed Gus's pressure reduction valve and have had no problems (yet). That said I still hold my breath when lowering and raising the top!

 

Good evening all. Mine is an early 1996 xk8 and still on original hoses. I have replaced the fluid twice - but never had any leaks or problems. The car stays outside in the UK weather so after 25 years I am impressed. Cheers

 

As I understand it the first production year had better quality lines. Subsequent years through the end of production had different lines, probably the result of Ford doing a production cost "optimization" after analyzing the first year's numbers.

So the majority of these cars will suffer some type of failure in one or more lines eventually. On my 2004 I have the pressure reduction and have replaced all the hoses, with lift cylinders and latch being original.

If you haven't bought the car yet then I would definitely adjust the offer to reflect the need to fix this issue.

If you can DIY then your costs should be under $1000 or so. The work is time consuming but not hard and it is well documented around here.

If you cannot DIY then your repair cost would be in $2-3000 range depending on where you take it.

 

When I bought my XK8 my first concern was the green shower. I checked the hoses à the hydraulic pomp and I was able the see the degradation of the hoses. So the next step was to replace all hoses and replaced cylinders with rebuild ones from Top Hydraulic. My only concern was a defective cylinders and I had to buy a OEM from Jaguar because warranty was not accepted by Top Hydrolic.
i have picture of the degradation of the hoses that show that a green shower was coming soon. After opening the top latch console, we found similar degradation of the top latch hoses.

 

I've been monitoring the hose condition on my '03 XK8 since I bought it in 2011. Never raise or lower the lid with the engine running - just acc "on". Dry and intact, no bulges, etc. - so far. I suppose at some point it will need addressing - lucky so far!

 

Mine blew a gasket about 3 years ago. I use the wrench (which is a bit frustrating since it does not exactly go into the hole properly first time..I have to figit with it since you really can't see into the actual hole)....and that has worked well. Remeber the sequence for your top (what order things open/close or you could (so I have been told - not sure if it is true or not) you can mess up the sequence and that is a whole different issue).

I want to buy the new hoses, etc but as with many things, other real life issues keep interrupting me. I hope that the top will continue to work just fine for another year or so, so I can continue to save money to purchase the new lines. I really want my top back in working expert condition.

Top Hydraulics is where I want to buy my stuff from. They look like they have some really awesome stuff!

 

Just had my hoses replaced. Costs with me buying hoses, $1800. Will try raising without the engine running. Di not have "Green Shower" Had leak in windshield side hose.

 

I was relieved to see receipts for the repair being done by a previous owner. That relief disappeared when the green drip began. Had it repaired along with replacing several aging rubber and plastic parts in the engine and suspension areas. Frustrated, But relieved, I continued to use the hydraulic system, UNTIL the latching became slower. Sure enough that slowing was followed by a reappearance of the green fluid in the dome lights. Grrrrrrr. Not the growler I want.

Fortunately the top is up and locked. It will remain so until I get around to replacing the lines, again.

 

People have mentioned not raising or lowering the top while the engine is running. Why does that matter?