Hi David

Thanks for the swift reply, yes clockwise to open anticlockwise to close, I am thinking the mechanism is all stiff or gummed up, the guy who had the car before me only used the roof once or twice in 18 years of ownership. I am guessing if I get it open I can open up the cover on the top rail and give the mechanism some maintaince. Is it possible the latch ram could be very stiff from lack of use.

John

 

John,

As Flatsix said before, external lubrication of the latch is not harmful, but it will not solve the overall problem with the hydraulic convertible top operation. It should be a smooth 15-20 second operation from start to finish holding down just the button - as designed.

As the previous owner hasn't used the system much, my initial guess would be old contaminated fluid in all the hydraulic works, uncovered by your recent operations of the convertible hood. New Hydraulic fluid isn't expensive but tricky to install considering the pump's location. A lot of people are wary of unbolting the pump, as the hydraulic pipes can embrittle with age, so they use a short pipe and syringe/pump to change the fluid from the top of the standing pump.

For your problem today, lubricate the latch where possible, let it stand for 5 mins and then it's time for some brute force!

 

You dont need to unbolt the pump etc. You can feel the top of the tank and get a spanner on the nut that allows access to the tank. I bought a pump off Ebay. Around £12 Uk money. Use it for loads of stuff. I used it to pump out the tank. Then same pump to refill the tank with fresh. Took me longer to remove the nut off the top of the tank, and that was easy.

 

Hi All,
Have just finished a day working on the XK8 and the roof now operates as it should, thanks for all the excellent advice and kind words. I found an official Jaguar service bulitin whilst trawling the internet and following it along with your help meant I was able to repair it. The cause was thickened and congealed original fluid in the latch and the hoses going to the latch even though someone had filled the reservoir with the new green fluid. The procedure included clearing the gloop from the latch and pumping it up through the hoses until new clean fluid was produced, it really was very thick and gummy. I am attaching a copy of the document in case it can benefit anybody else.

Thanks again
John

 

Well done on changing the hydraulic fluid. As suspected the previous owner didn’t use the roof much and the fluid was well past it’s sell but date. With summer on the way, your fix was very timely.

Enjoy the card. It’s beautiful and powerful. A real head turner.

Beware! As a Texan friend, BC, said- it’s like a blonde, you do one thing, and then it wants something else. Well you did say the car was a retirement project... 🤣

 

been following advice changed fluid used key open roof slightly clean and oiled catch trying roof again making all same noise and side windows operating but roof won't budge how easy to reset please

 

Christopher,

Really need a few more details esp. from what the original problem was and where you are you now. What did you do so far?

Try cycling the roof manually a few times and get the latch moving to push any old fluid through.

 

Had xk8 3 years no problem roof last week message on dash not closed properly stopped car then closed roof on button now been unable to open so changed oil used tool open roof manually cleaned and oiled catch still won't open on button back windows come down makes noise if trying to open I think wants reset

 

If you open it using the tool just to the unlatched but still up position will it then open on the button which might give the car a chance to reset it. Also if opened completely by hand does it close using the button ?. One other thing have you checked the bypass valve on the pump is shut ?

John

 

Thank you John have done that still won't open didn't won't to manually open

 

Can you open it fully manually with the valve open ?

 

I had a roof that would not close and it turned out to be the top latch needed lubricant, as indicated above.
It was very stiff and required a lot of force to open. I was nervous that it would break it but knowing you turned it clock-wise helped significantly.
I then manually open and closed the latch a few times while lubricating and this made the movement a lot easier.

Also I had changed my hoses and fluid around 4 years ago after the "green shower of death". The fluid level is half-way between the minimum and maximum level (ie: not at the maximum level) and roof works correctly.
Thanks again to this forum.

 

Some further updates. Roof started to stick again and would only work if assisted by opening the latch manually.
I checked the hydraulic fluid level when in the fully closed position, and this was now below minimum level indicator on the tank.

As per the advise above, have now filled this to maximum level in the open position (slightly above in closed position).
Roof is working much better now, so good idea to lubricate latch and manually open-close latch a few times, and check and fill hydraulic level to maximum level.