Help! 2001 XK8 Convertable Top Problem
#1
11-01-2009, 02:25 PM
Guest
Posts: n/a
Help! 2001 XK8 Convertable Top Problem
Hi everyone, I am a new member here. I have two BMW's both which were hit by other drivers in the last month. My cousin recently moved to costa rica, so I am looking after (and driving) her car until my cars are repaired to save on rental expenses.
The car has been a total nightmare for her. We've had so much replaced on it, it's not even funny. Even with an extended warranty she has paid almost 8K within one year for repairs to this car.
Yesterday I was driving the car and had to start moving slowly while the top was not totally closed (about 4 inches from beind closed). Afterward I stopped, and pressed the close button, and the top came down but the latches would not connect.
Now, when I use the button to open or close the top, nothing happens. I can sort of see the electrical lights in the car dim sometimes or hear some sort of noise while I'm holding the button (but I don't think I'm hearing the pump - it's not loud enough), but that's all that happens. The rear quarter windows are all the way down and do not even attempt to go up.
I've tried checking all the fuses and found the two fuse boxes by the door, the two under the hood, and one under the trunk, and all of the fuses are good. I do not know which ones specifically pertain to the convertable top however. I also do not know which relays control the convertable top - maybe it's a bad relay?
Can someone please help me troubleshoot this issue? The extended warranty we have does not cover any of these issues. It's dangerous to drive around with the convertable not latched, not to mention the wind that hits you right in the face from the lack of seal there.
I am going to check the fluid level and such but don't think it's a fluid problem. Seems to be something electrically related.
Any help is GREATLY appreciated.
You can message me here or email mbenvo@powerchipgroup.com
Or even call 323-375-4269 if you have time. I really want to get this fixed!@
The car has been a total nightmare for her. We've had so much replaced on it, it's not even funny. Even with an extended warranty she has paid almost 8K within one year for repairs to this car.
Yesterday I was driving the car and had to start moving slowly while the top was not totally closed (about 4 inches from beind closed). Afterward I stopped, and pressed the close button, and the top came down but the latches would not connect.
Now, when I use the button to open or close the top, nothing happens. I can sort of see the electrical lights in the car dim sometimes or hear some sort of noise while I'm holding the button (but I don't think I'm hearing the pump - it's not loud enough), but that's all that happens. The rear quarter windows are all the way down and do not even attempt to go up.
I've tried checking all the fuses and found the two fuse boxes by the door, the two under the hood, and one under the trunk, and all of the fuses are good. I do not know which ones specifically pertain to the convertable top however. I also do not know which relays control the convertable top - maybe it's a bad relay?
Can someone please help me troubleshoot this issue? The extended warranty we have does not cover any of these issues. It's dangerous to drive around with the convertable not latched, not to mention the wind that hits you right in the face from the lack of seal there.
I am going to check the fluid level and such but don't think it's a fluid problem. Seems to be something electrically related.
Any help is GREATLY appreciated.
You can message me here or email mbenvo@powerchipgroup.com
Or even call 323-375-4269 if you have time. I really want to get this fixed!@
#2
11-02-2009, 01:34 PM
Veteran member
saw your new thread was in the XJ section, so moved it here for you Mike.
BTW, In order to close the top, you must be <10mph, thats a safety/damage prevention thing
Sounds like you buggered something really good. There's a manual closing procedure, I don't have it with me now, but maybe someone will come along and give it to you.
BTW, In order to close the top, you must be <10mph, thats a safety/damage prevention thing
Sounds like you buggered something really good. There's a manual closing procedure, I don't have it with me now, but maybe someone will come along and give it to you.
#3
11-02-2009, 01:45 PM
Veteran Member
Go over to my page and I have 3 locations relating to the roof operation. Select the Hydraulic Hose Evaluation first. It also has a TSB on troubleshooting. Now if you are going to drive the car you will need to latch your roof properly so it does not catch the air and it comes off completely.
Last edited by Gus; 11-02-2009 at 01:57 PM.
#4
11-02-2009, 02:44 PM
Veteran Member
After reading your post you may be lucky and just confused the system like h2o is suggesting. All the switches and operation go to the body processer and it may need to be satisfied or reset. At times using the wrench in the trunk pump area to latch the roof up front may satisfy the system in thinking it is properly closed. You will know this if your windows go up after closing the front latch manually. I would recommend doing the electrical close of the windows with the roof close button. If the windows close then cycle the entire system to open and then close again and you should be ok. If it does not let us know. It may require opening the roof manually and that is a little tricky if the lifts are extended properly or disconnecting and reconnecting the battery terminal.
#5
11-02-2009, 05:17 PM
Veteran Member
Something that sounds similar happened to me a few times. In my case, as the top was coming up the latch mechanism got hung up. Consequently, the top did not latch (also got a fault message) and nothing worked at that point. I had to go through the manual operation (release the pressure at the pump by turning the ****, pardon the expression) and use the wrench to latch the top. Then I closed the **** and the top operated just fine. I discovered the latching mechanism could use a few shots of WD-40 (or some other grease) every so often to prevent binding.
Doug
Doug
#6
11-02-2009, 07:36 PM
Veteran Member
#7
11-03-2009, 02:02 PM
Senior Member
Also check the oil
You should definitely check the oil level. My problems like this all resolved back to the pump sucking air instead of oil. This could be as simple as sitting on a down grade or a slow leak in one of the cylinders. When the roof goes up the oil is at the lowest level because the lift cylinders must be filled. This will result in the roof stopping short of the latch. The mechanism grinds to a halt and can't move forward and won't move back either because it is still trying to finish the first operation.
When a cycle does not complete the Jaguar Tech Bulletin says to hold the button for 40 seconds. This causes the control to time out and not be lost in the middle of an incomplete sequence. Manually closing will also accomplish the same purpose. The control is waiting on switches that indicate that the roof is in position and the latch is closed.
When a cycle does not complete the Jaguar Tech Bulletin says to hold the button for 40 seconds. This causes the control to time out and not be lost in the middle of an incomplete sequence. Manually closing will also accomplish the same purpose. The control is waiting on switches that indicate that the roof is in position and the latch is closed.
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#8
11-03-2009, 03:15 PM
#9
11-03-2009, 03:35 PM
Veteran Member
I like WD40 for a number of reasons but for a lubricant that will withstand high and low temperatures and not lose its consistency I use Pennzoil 705 white grease. It has a high melting point and it is water resistant. It exceeds most lubrication qualities with 1 exception, a lubricant made by corning and that is out of my price range.
Use the WD40 and see if it frees up the latch. If it does make it operate better you may want to fallow up with the white grease. When applying use a thin layer on a clean surface, WD40 is a good produce but does not last nearly as long as the white grease.
Use the WD40 and see if it frees up the latch. If it does make it operate better you may want to fallow up with the white grease. When applying use a thin layer on a clean surface, WD40 is a good produce but does not last nearly as long as the white grease.
#10
11-03-2009, 05:35 PM
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Posts: n/a
Thanks everyone for your help!
I actually called my service manager at BMW (he used to be the service manager at a Jaguar dealer) and he walked me through some steps to get it working.
What happened was that the top came down and set on the top of the windshield before the latch caught, so the latch was down and not holding the top. I had to open the valve at the hydraulic unit (fluid level was in the middle of the two marks for the record), and then push the top while using the allen wrench to move the latch up so it would fall into place. Then went back and closed the valve and voila! works perfectly.
Although I really like this car, it seems like a nightmare. It takes two or three times to start it sometimes and sometimes says Traction Not Available after a failed attempt. Then it will fire right up and no problems. Any ideas in this regard? A couple other issues while I'm here: The ebrake light does not come on when the brake is on. It does come on when you first turn on the car so I know it's not a cluster light. And it worked once before but I'm not sure what the deal is now. Is the car supposed to tell you or show that your seat belt isnt fastened? It doesn't do that either. And the final thing is that the steering wheel does not always go to the correct position when you put the key in and it moves automatically. Any ideas?
Thanks again for the help and I'm glad I got it working again. From what my tech told me it's very important that the car sees a specific cycle otherwise it will ignore commands to put the top up/down. To the moderator: thanks for moving it to the correct section. I always get the XJ and XK mixed up. I really like the Jag (when it works) but really miss my BMW's!
Mike
I actually called my service manager at BMW (he used to be the service manager at a Jaguar dealer) and he walked me through some steps to get it working.
What happened was that the top came down and set on the top of the windshield before the latch caught, so the latch was down and not holding the top. I had to open the valve at the hydraulic unit (fluid level was in the middle of the two marks for the record), and then push the top while using the allen wrench to move the latch up so it would fall into place. Then went back and closed the valve and voila! works perfectly.
Although I really like this car, it seems like a nightmare. It takes two or three times to start it sometimes and sometimes says Traction Not Available after a failed attempt. Then it will fire right up and no problems. Any ideas in this regard? A couple other issues while I'm here: The ebrake light does not come on when the brake is on. It does come on when you first turn on the car so I know it's not a cluster light. And it worked once before but I'm not sure what the deal is now. Is the car supposed to tell you or show that your seat belt isnt fastened? It doesn't do that either. And the final thing is that the steering wheel does not always go to the correct position when you put the key in and it moves automatically. Any ideas?
Thanks again for the help and I'm glad I got it working again. From what my tech told me it's very important that the car sees a specific cycle otherwise it will ignore commands to put the top up/down. To the moderator: thanks for moving it to the correct section. I always get the XJ and XK mixed up. I really like the Jag (when it works) but really miss my BMW's!
Mike
Last edited by Mike Benvo; 11-03-2009 at 05:38 PM.
#11
11-03-2009, 05:46 PM
Veteran Member
From research prior to buying and my own experience since owning, it seems like these cars are subject to occasional irritating electrical gremlins. My understanding based on reading a book on the XK8 by Nigel Thorley is that this car was one of the first attempts to use multiplexing throughout the electrical system. I believe this means that the same line could be used for multiple purposes and different signals going through the line could be destined for different systems (I am a structural and not an electrical engineer so I probably described this poorly). According to the book, this also makes it difficult to track down electrical problems.
Doug
Doug
#12
11-03-2009, 05:52 PM
Veteran Member
#13
11-04-2009, 08:03 PM
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Posts: n/a
I know this is going to go off topic for the thread... but I don't want to clutter the board with another one.
Today it took 7 turns of the key to start the car. It fired up a few other times today the first time. Sometimes it takes two or three. But 7 is a lot! Some of the times it says traction not available in the instrument cluster after the 2nd or 3rd try. Any ideas what this is? I think it's an ignition switch, but don't know this car enough to be certain.
The comments about the electrical system were very interesting. Reminds me of when I tried to hardwire my V1 Radar Detector into my M3 and would up hitting a bus line that was reading 12V as if it were power. I agree that any diagnosis on that jag would be timely and expensive.
Is there a wiring diagram for the car located anywhere?
Today it took 7 turns of the key to start the car. It fired up a few other times today the first time. Sometimes it takes two or three. But 7 is a lot! Some of the times it says traction not available in the instrument cluster after the 2nd or 3rd try. Any ideas what this is? I think it's an ignition switch, but don't know this car enough to be certain.
The comments about the electrical system were very interesting. Reminds me of when I tried to hardwire my V1 Radar Detector into my M3 and would up hitting a bus line that was reading 12V as if it were power. I agree that any diagnosis on that jag would be timely and expensive.
Is there a wiring diagram for the car located anywhere?
#14
11-04-2009, 08:53 PM
Veteran Member
JTIS, the complete manual on the entire Jaguar product line from about '95 until '03 is available on this forum. It contains all the wiring diagrams.
Check here:
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/s...ead.php?t=9933
Check here:
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/s...ead.php?t=9933
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