Had my new XK8 about 3 weeks now. Put the top up today for her first wash. I noticed a film of oil near the homelink buttons /map lights

During the pre purchase inspection about 2 months ago the jag dealer said no evidence of green shower. Maybe he missed it

Any way my question is there pressure in the hydraulic lines when the top is down? If yes, Is there a way to release the pressure.

Since I am in Arizona I hope to keep the down most of the time and I can buy some time till I need to get it fixed if in fact it is a leak.

Randy

 

Have a look at the manual and it will tell you how to release the pressure. There is a finger switch, just screw it counter clockwise and no pressure.
To get the latch to the home position, use the allen key and take the plug out on the header rail, stick in in and turn.

 

Supporting Wayne's comments. The petcock that allows the pump to transfer hydraulic pressure is located on the side of the pump. This is just above the CD changer amplifier stack in the trunk. Turn the petcock to eliminate the possibility of more fluid leak from pump pressure, and to free up the rams and latch to be opened and closed manually.

To answer your question: no there is no pent up pressure in any roof position with pump off and roof immobile.

Did you know that you can open and close the roof manually with petcock open?

As mentioned the latch is operated with the Allen wrench that came with the car. It is fastened to the side of the pump. It takes a lot of force, this is normal. FYI I need a flat blade screwdriver to remove the plug that covers the hole for the Allen wrench. Its tight.

Wth, in case you have no allen wrench, we have identified and posted the size in a thread from about 2 yrs ago. If you can't search ask 4 help.

John

 

John,
So if the top is down or up there is no pressure in the lines then there is no benefit to opening the valve now. Hopefully I can keep the top down here in AZ for a few months.

However, if I want to raise or lower the top I should relieve the pressure with the petcock and I can raise or lower the top manually and use the hex key as described in the manual. Is this correct?

 

Correct.


John

 

Sorry I am late to the party just spotted your post. I think you will find my post helpful Click Me To Read . If you do find it useful a "Thank you" would be nice as I like to know who has been reading. Thanks!

 

So during the pre purchase inspection I asked the shop to inspect for the green shower. I was still on Oregon negotiating with seller in Arizona.
PPI said "TOP HYDRAULICS DRY AND LEVEL GOOD"

Bought the car and took car in today for some of the recommended changes and they said I have leaky hoses as evidence by fluid in the top latch.

Shop has yet to quote the repair costs but I know it won't be cheap.

What do you think would be a fair "good will/price adjustment" by the shop

 

If I were you id ring a different dealership. Ask them how much it would cost to fix the green shower aka a convertible hose leak. Sit down when they tell you, its expensive. It should give you some idea of how much compensation etc. You could also let them fix it, and as recompense for your troubles they could do both hoses at the same time?

To give you some idea I phoned my dealership here in the UK. To replace one hose they gave me an estimate of £6000 uk, thats about $7072 US.

I did it myself, as you can see in my previous link, the cost to me because I did both hoses myself £120, $155 U$.

Of course the costs may be cheaper in the US because of competition etc.

 

The first thing you should do is to remove the overhead console and sop up any oil in it. I'm pretty sure new ones are no longer available.
Once it's clean, you can put some paper towels in it and re install the console till you fix the hoses.

 

Frankc, where did you get hoses at that price. We could have them Special Delivered here.
Good deal.

 

Just spent a good half hour going through my receipts book, yes I have a lot of receipts, and cannot find the original one for the hoses. However I browsed the internet and think I have found the company.

https://www.cabriolet-roof-hoses.com...let-roof-hoses $142 gone up from £120 uk to £140 UK for BOTH hoses. I dread to think what Jagaur charge for their inferior ones.

I looked to see if there is a company that does similar ones in the US and I think I have found one..

https://www.tophydraulics.com/jaguar...atch-pair.html they are more expensive than what I paid, but at least you do not have to import them.

 

Thanks Frankc, but that is the company we used on mine, the whole set,plus rebuilt rams was between $800 and $900. The quality was first rate, the job, painful. As you know, we have to take the interior apart and keep it all in order.
Just looking for prices for the next person around the area we can help. Jon89 and I try to help when we can.

 

Why did you replace the rams? I've done lots of hoses but never had to replace a single ram on an XK8.
Did you replace all 4 hoses then too?
Again I've never seen the ram hoses go bad.

 

I had an e-mail conversation with Chris Porter at www.cabriolet-roof-hoses.com in late June 2019. He is in the UK but even with shipping costs to the U.S. his hoses are less than half the cost of what Top Hydraulics charges. All of his hose fittings are supposed to be an exact match as OEM, and his hoses come with a lifetime warranty....



RedSky,

The rams can leak as their internal seals weaken. Top Hydraulics rebuilds them with better-quality parts. That is what Wayne (cjd777) had done (he shipped his rams off to Top Hydraulics) and yes, we replaced all four of Wayne's rear hoses and installed his refurbished rams when we did the job back in March/April 2015. A tedious job due to all the interior disassembly required but we really enjoyed working on the project together....

 

At the high pressures that the convertible's hydraulic system runs, I think it's fair to say that there's enough evidence from owners that both the rams leak and their hoses eventually go bad especially at the crimp at the connectors. I've oil stains behind my rear quarter panels to prove it on my 99 XK8 in Bahrain.




Did the work myself DIY, with the help from this forum, and it's not very difficult …. basically stripping out the rear interior. However you should be aware of the right cylinder ram's lower connector as it could be a different fitting. See pick below.

 

Hi,

Is there a time limit that anyone has found when these pipes usually go?

Any indicators that would show they are about to go?

Thanks

Chris

 

If you are referring to you 97, it may not be a problem. The US delivered cars of that year had hoses from a different source, and they did not tend to .fail. But since the UK was generally one year ahead it may still be a problem. I have seen the code of the earlier hoses vs the later style compared here in the past, but I don't recall when.
If another member with a US 97 would check and provide that info it would help.

 

Well that’s a great question without a simple solution. I suspect this isn’t a scheduled maintenance item.

First thing I would do is a simple check the hoses condition at the pump. Easy task to take off trunk RHS wall carpet trim and look at the condition of the hydraulic hoses. The front 2 immediately visible are for the windscreen latch and the rear 4 are for the roof hinge rams. It’s readily visible if the sheath is falling apart but look closely at the connections as this is where failures commonly happen. The overhead windscreen latch experiences worst weather (heat/sun) so I suspect it will be in a worst condition. Make a decision from there. Taking off the trim to reach the overhead windscreen latch is a major PITA but do-able in case you want to look there.

Here in the blazing heat of the Middle East, I’m in the construction trade, and we regularly change the hydraulic fluid (approx 3 year intervals) as it’s known to gum up. Easily done in our X100 pump via the brass cap on top.

 

See if this information helps.

Link. JagRepair.com - Jaguar Repair Information Resource

 

Hi,

Thanks for the replies, the article on Jagrepair was excellent.

Just a quick warning to anyone reading this thread.

The pressure created by the pump is very, very high, your car tyre is 32 psi the pump runs at 1625!
If a jet of hydraulic fluid hits your hand at that pressure, it will do two things, it will cut your finger clean off and inject hydraulic fluid straight into your body through the skin resulting in severe blood poisioning.
If you are not well versed in high pressure systems, make sure you NEVER have a possibilty of the pump starting while working on any part of the hydraulic system. Always disconnect the car's battery and pressure down the system.
If in doubt, get someone who knows what they are doing. I can't stress enough how dangerous it can be.

I work in the seismic industry and we use high pressure air systems up to 2000 psi, i know the dangers!

If in doubt, do now't! ( do nothing! )

Cheers

Chris