Gus and I talked and neither of us has seen that type of hose. If all the hoses (lift and latch) are similar then it is probably an original. The 1/87 could be 1st Q of 87 which would kind of match up with your car date. 167/8 would also, where 167 is the 167th day of 1998, unless it is 2008.

The important part is 600bar burst. This is 8702psi and much better than any version of the Parker hose. That would explain why your hose is still intact. The Parker hose is using a fiber reinforcing layer that is not strong. Yours could have the wire mesh found in most hoses. Not sure but a good bet given the burst rating. Maybe they started out with the hose you have and switched to the Parker soon after. If it has made it this far I wouldn't change it.

The main issue for you will be cylinder seals.

 

Walt, you and gus are by far, the hydraulic top gurus. Thanks again for your help and advice on these parts.

 

Wow, I feel pretty fortunate - I would ask if anyone else has a circa 1999 that has these same hoses and they are still running but I guess if they had them and like mine, have not ever blown, they probably are not reading or caring about this thread....

 

Gus and Walt,

Your work on the hoses is really appreciated. I have a 98 XK8. The hoses are similiar to mbalce. My hoses are printed with "Power Packer 1/B/DN3 Max burst 600 bar - 96/8". So based on your comments to mbalce, am I correct in assuming my hoses are probably ok?

Walt how do I contact you to purchase one of the kits? You can email me at qwakwak@sbcglobal.net with the info.

Thanks for your efforts. So far I've gotten a new free throttle body and now it looks like I can save a lot of $$$ from a hose failure thanks to you guys.

Mick Routh

 

It appears that the "Power-Packer" hose was used in the beginning. Gus and I haven't seen these because our focus has been on failed hoses. That hose was built to last. The really good hoses suffer from cost, size, and weight. I assume this is why Power-Packer went to the lighter hose. The car has 50-60 ft. of hose for the system.

I think it is OK to put this on this forum. I'll also email directly JIC.
www.lsi-controls.com/JagKit.htm

 

One question: Am I correct in assuming this will work with the older style hoses, it is just recommended to have the newer style? Right now my hoses are fine, so I do not particularly want to replace them (assuming I have them, I haven't looked yet) if I do not need to at this point.

If a group buy is in the works I would be 100% in on this. If no group buy happens I will wait until summer.

 

This valve works on the pump with any hose new or old. We feel that this reduction in operation pressure will dramatically reduce and in most cases eliminate the frequency of hose, latch and lift failures. Because we are unable to predict the life of the existing system in your car we are reluctant to say you will never have a leak. We are not suggesting that you replace your hose, latch or lift without reason. A failure or leak in your system would be reason to make repairs.

 

Good. Exactly what I was thinking. Thanks for your work on this. I hope a group buy happens, but even if it doesn't, I will be doing this at some point.

 

For anyone who is interested I received a call from the manufacture of the replacement hose that is mentioned on my web page and he told me of a price reduction for the hose kit. That reduction will bring the price of the hose kit and fittings in line with what Jaguar was charging for just the hose set. This replacement hose will withstand any pressure this hyd pump has to offer.

 

Gus, You should approach Jaguar with this solution and maybe you could become the Jaguar official supplier.

 

Why would Jaguar have an incentive to prevent top hose failures?

They have totally ignored the issue for 10 years even as they spent a great deal of money covering the replacements under warranty. To acknowledge a pressure reducing solution would mean accepting responsibility for all those failures paid for by their owners.

 

I did all of this because I said I would. I spent a year on this project and the success was by the grace of the talented people that helped me. Why would I want to do anything for Jaguar, they did nothing for us………. If Jaguar owners want help in this area they can go to my page or your forum and get it. Again I am making noting on any of these items on my page!

 

Hey Gus... Nice work... and to Walt as well. I have followed this hose problem for the last couple of years; and no one has been more persistent and thorough in researching a fix than you. The whole XK8 vert community owes you a big thanks on this project. Gordo

 

Gordo,
It was you I made my commitment to and I did what I set out to do. It was doable only because of the talented people that worked with me on this project. I knew nothing about hydraulics and did not pretend I did. I am an enabler and the pros working with me made it happen.

Thank you for the kind comments, I direct them to the many people involved that made it happen. From the parts for testing and evaluation to the end results of a new hose and Walt’s pressure adjusting valve.

 

As folks here buy this kit and go through the installations, how about posting the experience?

Just a suggestion.

Doug

 

That's a good idea so I can clean up the installation instructions. Gus has been the only test of the final version and he had one minor problem that was easily resolved and I changed the instructions to help. A fitting had to be moved so he could connect the one hose. I have the prototype in my car which is not as nice as the kit but works great. It is great to operate the top and not anticipate a disaster.

We have a number of orders back logged from all over the world. Parts are due in any day so we will start shipping them out ASAP. Everything is custom so it takes a little time to get that going.

 

congrats walt on the sales! Is Gus on your Christmas card list?

 

So, do you think we can get enough interested to do a group buy? I would definitely be in.

 

I had asked this early on as well and would absolutely add my name to the list. I believe the suppliers preferred to have a single location to ship to versus 25 different locations. I have seen group buys at other car forum websites and a single point of shipping was never a requirement. It seems that processing a quantity (10? 20? 25?) of orders at the same time should allow for some discount even if those orders had to be shipped to different locations. Just saying!

Doug

 

Count me in for a group buy.

I'd host it but being in Canada would prove detrimental in added shipping costs for all.