hi guys, ive heard of it and never thought it would happen to me. the dumbest place in the car to install hydraulics for the rag top. inside the valance over the dash. ive been driving jags since 86 had 3 v12 coupes (awesome machines) a 99 ragtop (which i might add was a trouble free car for over 90000 miles and twelve years) i upgraded to a sweet 27000 mile 06 victory edition and now the fun begins. just wondered if any one experienced the same issue and what generally causes the leak and maybe a rough idea what the repair might cost not that it matters. if you want the top down you gotta throw down the dough. short of that who doesn't love the xk8. also wondering if i will live with an oil stain or not. the oil is light green so its not god awful but any suggestions on clean-up would be appreciated. thanks guys and happy motoring

Never heard of it.

Just kidding--search in the FAQs.

Doug

A bunch of info and the price range is all over the place. Parts for repair of the rams and latch run about $400 and the hoses, (which are a lot of work and your major issue) run in the $600 to $700 range. Most of the interior needs to be taken out on the drivers side.
If you will find and read Gus's forum on this site, he goes into detail on the complete system, much more than anyone. LOts of different things to help prevent this again.
Sorry for your trouble. If you were closer Jon89 and I could help.


Wayne

Yes I have a lot of info for the top on my page www.jagrepair.com that should help. I used Dawn for cleanup.

Gus
www.jagrepair.com

Will Dawn travel to NH for the cleaning?

Dawn dish soap.

No, but Toots will if the price is right....

had same problem on mine caped the two hose connections on the pump closest to inside of trunk and used hex wrench to latch and unlatch top still went up and down by power just bought the new hoses on ebay from a place called hel hoses in the uk total cost was 170 us dollars shipped to usa told total time to install is 4 to 6 hours will put them in this weekend

Please update us on your progress. Photos are always welcome!

I got the green shower last year and have been manually operating the latch since then. Just been putting off spending a full day to tackle it. But I do miss the automatic latching.

Good luck.

simple green works great on cleaning the mess... replacing the hoses are an all day job but not that hard just time consuming and cant get too aggressive . you wont know which went south the ram for the latch or the hoses till you open up the header .

thanks for the help. i got it complelety dismantled and have a real hardtime understanding why hydraulics are necessary to operate any part of the convertible top. i checked with the jag dealer in new hampshire and they want around 1600.00 to run new hoses i brought it to a small jag repair shop for him to finish the job. with a bad back,knees and shoulders (retired plumbing and heating contractor)i would have beeen in agony attempeting the rest of the project. giving it some thought and depending on the diameter of the tubing i wonder y i wouldn't have been able to cut the hose back and install a compression union and a short piece of flared tubing with a new nut to make the repair even if you had to replace the 90 that the hose connected to. sort of like a connection to a dishwasher or ice maker. as i see it the hose was jammed in and cocked causing it to let go at the end where the pressed on fitting is. "Nice work Jaguar" any way thanks again for the help and dawn dish soap does sound like the answer for clean up. luckily a small area is affected

There is 1600 PSI in that hose, and one reason the hose separates is the plastic sheath deteriorates. Replacement is really the correct approach because a repair will not hold.

I believe the cause is mostly due to heat fatigue in the windshield frame. The same hoses NEVER go bad at the pump end which has 1600 lbs pressure same as at the front latch on closing.

You said that you bought a sweet Victory Edition. I would almost bet that it came from the deep south.

The same hoses NEVER go bad at the pump end which has 1600 lbs pressure same as at the front latch on closing.

You said that you bought a sweet Victory Edition. I would almost bet that it came from the deep south.[/QUOTE]


Actually mine did - 4 months after the latch hoses were replaced I had one blow off at the pump end. I seem to remember a few other forum members have also had problems with the hoses at the pump end.


I do agree about heat probably shortening the hose life.

As you said. "Never" is a little too strong, but for sure the lion's share of reported failures have been at the latch end.

Two things are different at that end: it gets hotter, and the hose fitting is more likely to be put under mechanical stress as it is installed.

It really doesn't work to think in terms of one "cause" (pressure, say) of these failures ... relegating other factors to a supporting role. Peak pressure, pressure rate-of-change, temperature, mechanical stress ... all conspire to make a green shower.


And while we're at it ... happy Magna Carta day to all the lads across the pond.

Just to clarify, the reason I was emphasizing pressure is because I was addressing the likelihood of failure of espy1949's proposal for splicing the hose.

As far as hose failure at the latch is concerned I always think of it in the same light as the old saying about pilots of retractable aircraft landing wheels up - them 'as have and them ' as will )

I'm tempting fate but ... I'm hoping to be an exception.

My '01 ran through 2014 with original hoses ... it may still have them far as I know.
My '03 still has originals as well.

Now that I've said that, I should probably go down to the garage and see if I need to start cleaning up

Hey Dennis,
That was my thought, as well. My 2005 top worked perfectly. To play it safe, I installed the pressure reducing valve and only operated the top with the engine off, hoping it would reduce the pressure even more. Then, one beautiful sunny morning ...

I hear you, John. For sure nothing we can do is a guarantee.

But hope springs eternal! I've added to my defenses setting the latch up for manual ops during the hottest 2 or 3 months of the year. I don't cycle the top much then anyway, unless it's going to be out in the rain.