LSI no longer makes this upgrade kit. I have a 2006 XK8 convertible that failed near the rear view mirror. Any other providers or suggestions?

 

Many ragtop owners here have utilized the resources of Top Hydraulics in the state of Washington. Great products and a great refurbishing service as well....

 

I believe Gus sells the LSI relief valve and then a huge +1 for Top Hydraulics for lines, rams, and latch.

 

Thanks, I'll follow up!

 

I just capped off the lines in my trunk last weekend (green shower...ugh) Now I just use the allan wrench to manually unlatch & latch the top then use the toggle switch to raise and lower the top like normal. Total cost to do so was $25.00 (after shipping). That's a far cry less than buying new hoses and pulling out almost kitties ENTIRE interior.

 

Did you cap all lines or just the front for the latch, keeping the rams? Otherwise, how does the button work?

 

I did the same, just cap the front lines ,works fine. Only need to raise it once in a while as car is garaged and covered, Much more fun to drive in with the top down and I avoid rainy days as cats don't like to get wet.

 

For this mod you just cap the ports on the pump that normally connect to the latch hoses. The latch hoses are abandoned in place. See the link in my sig line below for the parts needed and the procedure for operating the top with the mod in place.

 

Yes, as the others stated, all I did is cap off the lines to the latch. They are the connections that you can see when looking at the pump after removing the cover in the trunk.

 

Dennis07-It's your post/procedure I followed and it works beautifully. The only comment I have is that in order to get the allan wrench to fit into the latch "socket" I had to break off about six metal tabs inside of the "socket". They popped of very easily so I think they may be for Jag technicians to verify the manual latch method has been used in the past (probably to void warranties when the car was new?)

 

Marvin,

I'm not sure what you encountered there. The hex key that is stored near the pump should fit into the hexagonal hole in the latch mechanism without having to break off any tabs. There's a factory-specified user procedure for using the hex key to latch the top in an emergency, e.g. a pump failure, and doing this would not effect a warranty.

I have not heard of such tabs before so I'm stumped. Maybe just a manufacturing flaw?

 

Hi Dennis, I don't think they were a manufacturing flaw. When I initially went to use the hex key, it wouldn't fit at all. I got a flashlight and looked up in there and my immediate thought was "How does the hex key fit that? That's a torx fitting" So I got my Torx drivers, none fit. So, I got a large Phillips screw driver, too small. Then tried a larger flat screw driver to see if that would work and on the first attempt I popped off two of the tabs with minimal force. The thought of "What???Oh great, now what do" I do came crashing into my head. I tried again (nothing to lose now) and "pop" two more came off, so I then just popped all 6 of them off. I shined the flashlight in there again and realized that it's not a torx fitting...but a hex fitting, and now the hex key fits nice and snug. The tabs were all identical and perfectly formed and had the exact appearance of a Torx fitting. Jaguar, who knows? Go figure...