Hello everybody,

I have a 1997 Jaguar XK-8. The convertible top is open, and from one minute to the next, the open/close button is not working, totally dead.
I have no idea if there is a fuse I can check before I take it in and spend $117 just to have the problem diagnosed. I tried looking in the manual, and looking at the fuse box in the luggage compartment, but could not find anything. (This does not mean it does not exist, unfortunately I am not much of a mechanic, to say the least.)
Finally I tried to manually close the top following the directions in the manual, but even after having turned the appropriate "bleeder valve" (or whatever it is called) counterclockwise as instructed, and then manually trying to pull up the top, it is not budging, and I have applied as much pressure I deemed reasonable, still does not move at all.
Any and all suggestions are greatly appreciated. I was supposed to take it on a trip this weekend (December 10, 2016) with my son who lives in Europe, so time is of the essence....

 

First check that the fluid level in the tank is at the top embossed line on the tank. Second see if the fluid is a green color and not brown. In either situation open the roof manually by opening the petcock and making sure the roof is totally open then check the front latch closed completely. Br sure to close the petcock! Once that is done do a hard reset on the car. I will provide a link for that. Once you have done start the car and hold the close button. The front windows will go down a bit the latch should open and the roof should go up. Keep in mind the roof may hesitate a bit so continue to hold the close button until it closes and the rear windows go up. Give that a try and see if it works. I should mention that after the hard reset and you start the car the engine will idle high do not panic it will settle down in just a few moments.

Link to hard reset JagRepair.com - Jaguar Repair Information Resource

 

To check the fuse, after removing the carpeted floor panel the fuse box is a clack square box on your right. Lift off the fuse box cover. The top fuse is the orange fuse with the number 40, for 40 amps on it.

 

"In either situation open the roof manually by opening the petcock and making sure the roof is totally open then check the front latch closed completely. Br sure to close the petcock! "

Hi Gus,
Thanks so much for your quick reply.
However, I do not understand the above.
I am not sure what you mean by 'open the roof manually." It is open already, and now it won't close. Or do anything...
I tried closing it manually by turning the petcock counterclockwise as far as it would go, but I still cannot pull the roof up, it is totally locked in place in the open position...

 

If the roof is open just open the petcock and make sure the roof is all the way open and the latch is closed then close the petcock. This system has micro switches and they must be satisfied before it will reset properly. The switches tell the computer what position the roof and latch are in and when it is not correct it does not help the situation.

 

Just to clarify the latch is located in the header. It is the claw that grabs the roof and closes it completely against the header. You can check it closed by inserting the allen wrench (located in the trunk at the pump) in the header just to the right of the mirror. The hole is covered with a plastic plug.

 

Thanks. As it turns out the fuse was intact.

 

Hi Gus,

I tried the hard reset, but the negative cable would not reach the plus cable,
so I turned on the ignition, then turned on the light switch and held down the horn for 30 seconds. I have to admit I was not sure if i was on candid camera! But after that I switched the ignition off, reattached the negative battery cable, and started the car. I checked the radio to see if it had lost its memory, and that was NOT the case. Nevertheless I tried holding down the close/open roof button, and as nothing had happened after some 30 seconds, I was just about to give up, when BOOM I heard the familiar "ding" signal, and the roof started closing!
So let me put it this way: if you ever come to Las Vegas, please let me know, and I will buy you beer!
The only thing I did not check was the fluid, as I do not know where the tank is located, so if you could guide me to that location you will be eligible for lunch too! :-)
Thanks so much again, the help is REALLY appreciated!

 

Not a problem! As for filling the tank you can find it on my web page along with a bunch of other stuff..

Gus
www.jagrepair.com

 

I want to post this in case it helps someone else who has never done the manual top opening procedure on the X100 before. I'm following Gus's instructions here; this post is not a substitute for those nor anywhere near adequate to understand the whole procedure; see his posts and web page for that. What I want to relay is my real-life experience of releasing the hydraulic pressure on the tops of the lift rams. The instructions I've seen, in multiple places including YouTube, basically say"gently apply downward pressure at this point on each side until the pressure releases." This is true, but it doesn't give enough detail to tell you what you're actually going to experience. The most important thing by far is to follow the Hippocratic Oath here and "do no harm." Proper care and following the correct sequence will prevent you from damaging any component of your top. Rule 1 is don't force it. Having said that, though, you are going to have to work to persuade the rams to release enough that the top will go down. When you press down on the correct point, your arm is in a position that makes exerting downward pressure hard on your shoulder. You have to be patient. It won't seem as though anything at all is happening; it will feel as though you're pushing on an immovable object at first. But, if you apply firm, but not max-force, downward pressure at the top of the ram, and listen, you'll eventually hear a slight creak that suggests something is giving. (Of course it's essential that you have the petcock on the side of the hydraulic pump in "manual" position or nothing whatsoever will happen.) You may be going from side to side several times to get a release, unless you have someone helping you. (My wife has a broken ankle so it was solo for me.) I eventually found that, awkward as it was, folding the front seats up and partially getting inside the "back seat" gave me a more useful angle, and I got better movement. This movement, though, is so very gradual at first. Just a hint of give. You keep going back and forth, and eventually you'll notice that the front edge of the top, where you manually released it with the allen key, is farther up off the windshield header than it was. You can then GENTLY put just a bit of upward pressure on the front of the top, from underneath, from the center so you don't risk any twisting of the frame. If you've adequately released pressure at the rams, the top will SLOWLY begin to raise under GENTLE upward pressure. Just be patient and keep applying steady gentle upward pressure. If the top resists, stop. You need to work at the rams some more. Once the top is about halfway back, it will start to move easily. Keep hold of the front edge to control the speed of descent into the well. Once the top is down, spend a little time gently applying downward pressure, concentrated on and just to either side of the center of the front edge, to make sure the top is fully seated in the well. A half-inch makes a difference. The highest point of the top corner when folded down should protrude above the highest part of the rim of the boot lid near it by about 3.75". Once you measure that, the top is fully down. You can then return the petcock to automatic position and proceed. Hope this helps. I'm sweaty and exhausted and will need ibuprofen for my shoulders tonight, but I think if I had read this first, it might have been easier.

 

Now that the roof is fully open, how easy is it to raise it manually?

 

I didn't raise it manually after lowering it; I used power.

 

So, is it closing properly now?

 

Almost. Much faster. Everything works great except the latch claw doesn't quite extend up enough to catch it on the closing sequence