XCrossWindsX must be a great mind. He and I think alike.

I am now in the process of de-confusing my convertible top system. The only piece of knowledge I am missing (that I know of so far) is how to gain access to the rams to unlock them.

As-is, my top is up, but is not secured by the latch, which is closed, and the rear windows are open. The open/close switch does not produce any action. My plan is to manually lower the top, do a hard reset, and see what happens. With the petcock open, I cannot lower the roof, so the next step is to unlock the rams. If I can find them. They have to be there somewhere. They worked for awhile this morning.

Thanks!
Tom

 

In March/April 2015, Wayne (cjd777) and I replaced his failing rear hydraulic hoses and sent his leaking rams off for refurbishing. We did a complete step-by-step write-up on the job and Wayne posted it here in the XK8 forum. Search using "2000 XK8 Ragtop Hoses and Rams Replacement" as your search phrase and you should find it pretty quickly....

 

Thanks, Jon. I found the thread with the detailed steps.

It looks like the back seat has to come out to get to the rams to remove them. Do you have to disassemble to the same degree to be able to apply pressure to unlock them?

Tom

 

tlynch, I think Gus has a step by step on that, requires a lot of force if I recall


Wayne

 

Thanks.

I'll also look for write ups from Gus. So far, I'm a T50 bit away from being able to tear it down to the rams.

Tom

 

Use this link and scroll down to the ram diagram.

Link JagRepair.com - Jaguar Repair Information Resource

 

Thanks, Gus.

Do I understand properly that you used ratchet straps to apply the pressure to unlock the rams?

I have everything apart and I think I understand the diagram to know where to apply pressure.

Wish me luck.

Tom

 

UPDATE:

I used a hand clamp to apply pressure to unlock the rams. Once I got everything lowered, I closed the petcock, started the car and the roof raised properly, without having to disconnect the battery for a spell.

After I get everything reassembled, I'll run the top down and up a few times to purge air from the hydraulics.

Plenty of reassembling to do first, though. I will say that with the excellent write up from Jon89's thread and Gus' link, the disassembly wasn't hard. Just lots of steps and small fasteners. If I had had a T50 bit on hand, I'd have been done hours ago.

Tom

 

Yes I did use straps but that was because I had everything apart to replace the hoses. See the attached photo for the other option

Link http://jagrepair.com/images/AutoRepa...oof%20Rams.jpg

 

If you go to my page you will find all you need to know about the roof system and more.

 

Your page is a wealth of information. Thank you for making it available.

Tom

 

All finished. Everything works.

I did manage to lose one of the funnel-shaped washers that goes with the screws on the top trim piece in the back. I looked for it for quite awhile and fished for it with a magnet with no luck.

Still, I count this a victory. I didn't break anything, everything works, and the cloth top has a fresh coat of protectant.

I think I'll wait until another day to replace the headlight bulb. The mosquitoes own the driveway right now.

Thanks to everyone for their help!

Tom