Greetings everyone, new to the forum, but wanted to share recent purchase of a 2000 XKR from Cali that arrived here in Boca Raton Florida, every Jag dealership service invoices came with purchase, every know characteristic issues have been taken care of by the dealer, the reason for my post today is about the convertible top, it has had a new pump, lines, rams, fluid etc all replaced by the Jag dealership in California, when I purchased the vehicle I tried to drop the top, heard the chime, driver and pass windows partially drop,top begins to raise only two inches and stops, pump stops, then header latch closes, rear windows drop, and the top doesn't go down, tried 8mm manual reset of front latch, petcock on pump is fully open and cycled top manually, hard reset of battery cables, car is running while trying to operate, fluid level is good and has the new fluid installed, no response from top close button, tried to pull up to lock rams but didn't work, rear windows still down, but driver front window drops with key, everything was replaced by Jag in 2009, could it be corrosion at the ram micro switches? Jelled fluid in the lines again? Vehicle has 71000 miles. Photo below.

Thoughts ?

 

petcock on pump should be shut!!!!

 

Sir, the petcock on the pump was open when I manually operated the top to bleed off the hydraulic pressure back to the reservoir.

 

If Jaguar did the convertible top refurbishment in 2009, the car unfortunately received Jaguar OEM hoses which are prone to fail. I would check the condition of the hoses at their various attachment points. You may find they are beginning to leak. If the hoses must be replaced again, be sure to go with the much more robust aftermarket hoses from Top Hydraulics, Cabriolet Roof Hoses, etc.

 

Interesting story. Hmm...

And you say you did a hard reset...?

My understanding is that (and this is where details matter) at the top OR bottom of the rams there is a sensor, or switch, that is built into the ram. It's triggering is the signal that the top is either fully open OR closed. I'm sorry for my lack of clarity here... I really believe it is at the bottom of the RH ram... Memory doesn't always serve 😬

When you try to open the top, and you get the 2-3 inches of travel, and the latch on the top of the dash collapses, do you get any message saying that the top is unlatched?

It's a PITA, and I would hate to send you down a wrong road for that reason, but (and theres that word BUT) are you willing to remove the lower section on the rear seat, remove the upper/back rest section, and dig around in the space created to see what you can see with the switches on the bottom of ONE of the rams...

ANYONE ,,, if you know that I am wrong here pls stop this dude before he does something unnecessary. Jus say'n

If that switch isn't working or connected the electricals of the convertible sequence just doesn't know what's going on. It's an pretty sequenced and multi step process and if any part of it is OUT of sequence or not working it throws the whole thing off,,, and for reason.

 

Still can't tell if it's on the LH or RH side BUT there is the switch and plug and thankfully it's on the TOP of the ram, not bottom. It being in the top might spare you the pain of removing seats in the back, and potentially one of the panels.

If the pump kept running and gurgling trying to catch that would be one thing, but from your description something is shutting the system down.

If you climb as best you can into the back seat, with a light, you should be able to see the tops of the rams and check on that plug... And to restate,,, this is just a shot in the dark...

Also, once the top opens that 2-3 inches,,, are you then able to push the switch the other way and it closes,,, or does it just stall there and stay stuck?

 

There is no response from roof close switch, after it raises for 2 to 3 inches.

 

Okay. This system has switches on the latch and on one of the hydraulic cylinders to tell the system where in the sequence it is. This triggers two relays, two solenoids and the pump. The pump changes rotation to change direction of the hydraulic fluid.
1. Push the lowering switch and the chime will sound and the rear quarter windows will be powered for 3 sec. If the front windows are closed they will be opened slightly.
2. The security control module will switch on the "Top up relay" and the Latch valve solenoid. Pump starts and the hydraulic fluid is routed to the latch, witch starts to raise the top.
3. The Latch closed switch will switch to open circuit, followed by the top closed switch that also will switch to open circuit.
4. This will trigger the module to switch off the Top up relay and switch on the Top down relay. The pump stops and starts again in the opposite rotation.

So you have to check the switches and relays and power to the relays to figure out what happens

 

Sitting in your car, the right rear cylinder is the one which has the switch. I just replaced my rear hoses.

 

I would check the switch that is at the latch. I will attach a photo.

When the center switch in the header does not change its status it thinks that the roof is closed and will not tell the computer to open the roof. A switch that is often forgotten and not cleaned and lubricated. Spray it with WD40 to clean it and gently work the fulcrum with a pencil eraser until it moves freely.

Link to roof latch switches JagRepair.com - A Jaguar Repair Information Resource

 

Friend, a real long shot, but it'd be on my trouble shooting list, so here goes:

As a new owner you may not even realize this, but you can operate the windows & roof from outside vehicle using keyhole in drivers door. I'm sure you have a left hand drive vehicle:

Roof is closed (or thereabouts in your case):
Insert key in drivers door.
Turn key clockwise
Alarm is disabled
All windows drop simultaneously.
Roof opens (when your roof opens, header latch will not recede until roof rests open completely)
Entire sequence takes less than 20 seconds.

Roof is open:
Insert and turn key counterclockwise
Alarm sets (beep)
Roof closes and latches
Windows close

Like I said, an incredibly long shot but stranger things have happened. Give it a try.

I'm sorry don't recall. Did you tell us what the message display says at idle roof partially opened?
Did you say you manually closed latch before roof was fully open? Seems like that is out of sequence, latch is protruding until roof completely open.

Gosh this reminds me of that 1 day I was in stop and go traffic roof open. Sudden rainstorm, pushed and held close button. Just my luck, as roof got to 3 inches before closed, traffic speed picked up. I exceeded the speed at which the roof works - it just stopped! So I drove home holding it almost closed with 1 hand, it wouldn't budge even at stop!

I had to manually cycle it open, latch down before it went normal.

I remember writing about that incident, I'm going to go 2x check my memory on the final solution. If any changes I'll update this within 15 minutes.

Edit, found it fast: https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...highlight=Roof

John

 

Good morning John, I can lower the driver front window by turning the key in the door, rear windows are stuck in down position, driver front comes up with key counterclockwise, top does nothing, when I tried to open top with button,top comes up 3 inches,pump stops, rear windows dropped, then claw on header latch tried to close,cluster states ,top not latched,then I have to manually close it with the 8mm allen wrench, I have many things to try,hut cant because its been raing 3 days straight here in Florida., as I stated before , everything was replaced by jaguar in 2009. Lines , pump, flush, all due to gelled fluid..with the roof open 3 inches and I try to close it with the button on the console nothing happens.

 

Ok, there was a TSB issued on gelled fluid. I thought that choice of fluid ended before you car was born, maybe I'm forgetting. Have you seen the tsb?

Just Don want you to spin your wheels if its moot for 2000.

John

 

Confirmed its TSB 501-33 (1997 - 1999 vehicles)

John

 

Greetings John, in 2009 all of the components were replaced by Jaguar, due to gelled fluid, pump, lines, etc. and I'm sure the Jaguar dealership put in the new Pentosin fluid 9 years later after production, when was the new fluid introduced ?

 

The TSB came out August 1999.

John

 

I think Gus may have nailed it with his post (AND LINK) above. Great info in that link. Good for us all. Thanks Gus!

 

Greetings everyone, I took the Jag to Treasure Coast Jaguar and the 28 year Veterans there just retimed the system and it works fine, thanks to all for your contributions, its truly appreciated.