Putting top up today and it stopped, about 1/3 of the way up with a wining sound from the top motor, Pushed down on the rocker button and it went back down with no noise. Pushed rocker button to close again and it hesitated at the same point, with same wine, but it closed okay from that point. I didn't try it again. I did look at the top motor, checked connections and the fluid level, all okay. Fluid level was exact same as when I had topped it off a month ago when installing relief valve, The top has been working fine since the relief valve was put in, openning and closing in about 17 seconds apiece.[ there was no problem before the relief valve either ] Do the openning and closing arms of the top, ever get stuck? Do they ever need lubrication? Has anyone ever expierenced this. And oh....the t-valve on the top motor was closed. Many Thanks!!

 

 

mick 99, my '98 xk8 made the same noise. Fluid level was fine. Did a fluid change and what came out was super thick. Manually worked the top with the valve open. Emptied container and refilled with new fluid. Closed valve. Worked the top electricly. Repeated this procedure a couple of times until I was sure all of the gunk was out. It's been a couple of years with no problems. Jack

 

I have a few questions first. Was the color of the fluid in the hyd tank a green color before you installed the valve? When looking at the tank you have two hyd fluid indicators is the fluid at the bottom or the top indicator. Is the motor wining / freewheeling or does it sounds like it is in a bind and sounds like it is reattaching. Did you check to see if something might be causing the top to go into a bind?

Now with the top going about 1/3 up the only pressure that is applied is to the rams. Did you get the top closed and what did you do in the mean time?

 

 

Motor fluid before relief valve was green but a little low. I topped off with new fluid to almost the upper fill line, after install of valve. Note; Motor doesn't sit completely level, if that means anything? Here's the sequence of event....Top was down...with engine off I pushed button to close the top....it stopped about a third way up and made a wining noise....I then pushed the button to lower the top again, which it did, without any noise....I then pushed the button to close the top again....it again went a third way up. hesitated a second and wined, but then it finished closing without incident or wining. I have since left the top in the closed position. My sense is that the motor is okay. It seemed as if something was impeding the lifting process at that particular point, like a binding of some part of the mechanics. The wining seemed to be the motor, trying to get past the impediment, and once it did it stopped wining. There's nothing in the back seat area of the car,although I don't have a cover boot, if someone dropped something back there, while I was in the store. Thanks!

 

Ive had to two top over the yrs with broken parts at the rear rams where they connect. the clips and pins the hold the ram to the top had either come off or broken. 1 was just a somple reattachemnt and replacement of the pin.
the other however bent the arm it attached to and had to have that part replaced, and it is not avail seperatly and the customer had to buy a complete used top to salvage parts from so with the top partially going down go back to that back seat area and inspect the top mechanism in the rear rams area. with the top in mid travel you can see past the headliner area as it wont be tight

 

Does it do this with the engine running? It could be that your battery is telling you it needs to be replaced. I am basing this on your comment that the engine was off. Take the car to AutoZone, PepBoys or Sears and get them to test it and see what they say. As Brutal has indicated check the rams and the associated parts.

 

Pep Boys tested battery on Tuesday said it was 12.66 [ load test ] I will try the top today with the motor running to see if there's a difference.....If I release the rocker button with the top half way down, I assume that wouldn't mess up the timing sequence?......so I could go back and check the rams.....Great of you guys to help!!!

 

Mick, mine's been doing that since I got the car with and w/o the valve. I changed the fluid in the reservoir twice, but didn't change. Didn't disconnect any hoses to purge out old stuff completely. Anyway, I thought my noise was a bit like air in the line as well as the increased motor pitch. Probably something binding in the top or possibly a bad ram; a little lift up on the top helps it up over the hump. I'll go at mine this weekend and see if anything turns up. Meanwhile it's not quickly fatal, I've put up with it intermittently for a couple of years. Good luck, and thanks Brutal for the heads up.

 

FYI The ram seals are twofold 1- “O” ring and 1- seal and each ram has 2. If the hyd fluid is not seeping out at the piston then sprat a little WD40 or silicone on the shaft of the ram and see if it works any better. This is assuming you do not find another problem.

Photo of rams XK8/R Hydraulic System Evaluation

 

Good news.....with engine on,it worked perfect. Then with engine off it worked perfect. The bad news is that its now a mystery,as to why it happened. May be like MIKE 66....intermitten....I wrote down all your suggestions in case it happens again....Thanks to all my personal mechanics on this forum!! Note; just got a 'stability control fail', with a red alert and limp home. Fortunately it happened one block from the shop of the mechanic, who did my tensioners. he's not open today . but I left it in his lot. I'm going to check past threads for info on this.

 

If you do not have a problem document the faults then clear them. This is often a sign of a bad battery or a poor connection and could also be the reason for you roof to operate poorly.