Greetings from the Alps.

Haven't posted for years because nothing has ever gone wrong with my 04 XKR.

That said I had a battery issue after running it flat using a cigarette lighter tire inflator.
A full recharge wouldn't start the car but a jump from another car did and thereafter it starts on its own battery.
I covered the whole saga at the tail end of another thread on dead batteries and jump starting.

A big thanks to all of the usual expert suspects on this forum and apologies for not naming them all but I'm not going to reread all of the hundreds of posts that helped.

By way of thanks allow me to post here an idea that one of the moderators can put in the correct thread on convertible green showers from the hydraulic lines leaking under pressure.

When I first got my XKR convertible I noticed deep in the specs somewhere that there is a 30-40% pressure increase in the system when raising the top/hood between when the car was running versus when the engine is off and just using the battery.
I'm sure one of the boffins on here can find the spec citation.

My successful solution these past 11 years is to always raise the top with the engine off using only he battery.
I give a little assist by pulling on the center handle though it is not really needed, it just takes a bit longer without the assist.
There is not much pressure needed to lower the top so it doesn't matter if the engine is running or not.

No showers.

No offense to the folks who came up with the low pressure cut out switch.

Good luck to all who enjoy these wonderful but sometimes maddeningly complex machines.

 

Reading this post is like deja vu all over again. When I got my hardly used 2005 XKR back in 2008, within a few months of ownership I got the leak at the top latch. Luckily it was still covered under the original Jaguar warranty and the lines were changed at no cost to me. At around the same time I was reading all of the threads and posts here, most useful of which were written by the convertible top guru--Gus. So after the fix by Jaguar I bought one of the pressure relief valves that he and Walt developed and installed that myself and then felt a bit more comfortable about operating the top (and sometimes did so without having the engine running as extra caution). As luck would have it not long after that the pump motor suddenly died (or at least some component in the motor). Again that was covered under the original Jaguar warranty so it was replaced at no cost to me. Sadly the two incidents with the convertible top caused me to be gun-shy about putting the top down more than I have been. In the back of my mind I keep thinking something else would go wrong. But a couple of weeks ago when the weather was great here in the LA area I bit the bullet, held my breath, crossed my fingers and put the top down. It worked flawlessly as did the reverse operation when I put the top up some days later.

I really need to get in the habit of just enjoying the open air experience on a more regular basis and not be afraid to do so.

As an aside I believe the pressure relief solution is a better one than the electrical resistor one and you can read volumes of information at other places in the Forum.

Doug

 

In all my reading about these wonderful and complex cars I've not read of this. I conclude there is lower voltage/amperage to the top motor/pump when activated directly off the battery vs under alternator charge and it moves slower due to lower pressure. Then there is the pressure relief device which I've heard of, both suggest the engineering is in question. Is that about right?
How can you tell if the lines have been replaced?
Thanks
Mark

 

As far as I know, my '97 has the original hydraulic hoses. I did install the voltage reduction kit.
No problems with the top

 

The issue is that Jaguar changed suppliers for the convertible hoses a few years into production - the new hoses simply weren't as good as the originals. Either way as they are coming up to 20 years old they are probably going to need changing in the near future.

If the car has no documentation of the lines having been changed you should assume that they are original. You can get to the lines at the pump end by removing the trim from around the CD player/sat nav - the pump is on top of them. You might be able to read the markings on the hoses and you can of course inspect them and see how they are holding up after 20 years.

Cars that sit in hot sunlight seem to have more likelihood of a green shower than those that don't.

However rust, timing chains and gearbox problems really are more serious issues to look out for than whether the hoses need changing.

 

Like many of you, the green shower has always been at the back of my mind. My solution has been never to raise the top. As I live in a hot climate, Palm Springs, I keep it in the garage when it's too hot to drive. I'm not so worried about replacing cables, but having to clean up that hydraulic fluid mess.

 

Mine are PARKER POWERFLEX lines vs these above say power packer.

My hydrolic top lines. PARKER POWERFLEX
Are the Parker Powerflex replacements? They are plastic coated and metal braded under the outside coating.

 

I don't know if they are a replacement. Check this link: JagRepair.com - Jaguar Repair Information Resource

 

Probably not a good idea to never raise the top since you will likely end up with permanent creases or chafes in the canvas.

 

Man damned it you do and damned if you dont….. thus is the same logic I use to never open my sunroof! Lol

 

You can put the top up and down manually. I did that on all my Corvettes for years. They have no power top. Well they didn't in C5 and C4 anyway. Lol

 

I cringe a little and wait to be showered in green hydraulic fluid every time I raise the top. But, it hasn't happened yet. I did install the pressure reducing kit, but I still worry a little. All in all though, 17 years with one top that still works and looks good is quite a good record. My old MG and Triumph tops never lasted very long, they leaked and were noisy, and the rear windows would get foggy and fail safety inspection. So, I can't complain about the XK top. (knock on, or touch Jag wood)

 

How much is the pressure reducing kit and does it slow or otherwise change the operation or the top?
thank you

 

You can reduce the pressure in the system by resetting a control valve in the pump to the desired lower pressure. This is done by substituting a lighter spring in the control valve. The spring needed is S3205 from Century Spring Co. About $10. See "Pressure Reducer" link here or in my signature line below.

This modification does not slow down the operation of the top.

 

Here's the one I used. A lot of good info on here -

JagRepair.com - Jaguar Repair Information Resource

JagRepair.com - Jaguar Repair Information Resource

Apparently, the top operation is slowed by 25%. It not a long operation (raising or lowering the top) anyway though.

 

Handy to know about the manual open/close and manual assist during power open. There’s also cap the lines in the convertible top and simple lock/unlock using an an Allen wrench.

 

It depends on where you live but another approach is open up in the spring and close late fall.

 

Problem is the top creases very quickly and would have wicked creases if left open for any period.

 

I open my top in the spring and close in the fall. As far as I know, it's the original top. This is what it looks like.

 

Definitely got those fold marks but I'm surprised they are not worse. Do you have any trouble with the top leaking if you ever drive in the rain?