Hello all
I recently bought a MY2000 XKR convertible in BRG with oatmeal interior. It's in immaculate condition with just 100,000km on the clock. I'm currently away from home on holiday and had to leave it out in the open in the middle of summer. Its been around 30degC here over the past few days so I guess it got a lot hotter than that in the closed up car. I opened the doors to be greeted with a wave of hot air so decided to lower the top. I pushed the button and got the green shower of hydraulic fluid from around the courtesy light area. And of course the top is no longer working. (It was working fine before).
I presume either a hydraulic hose has burst or a seal on the latch cylinder has failed, due to an increase in oil pressure because of the elevated temperature. The main rams were replaced about 4 years ago.
I'll drive it home (500km) before getting the local JLR dealer to quote to repair it, but i was wondering if anyone else had experienced this or had any useful comments. I did see somewhere that OEM hose failures are not uncommon. I also found a Utube clip showing the installation of a bypass pressure relieving valve - it would have been useful to have had that fitted ... a week ago. C'est la vie.

 

Yes, hydraulic hose failure are very common. They will burst sooner or later.
I did replace mine last year (also 2000 XKR), even mine has the pressure release valve.
Not a very difficult job but very time consuming. Most of the interior has to come out.

 

This link provides instructions for capping the latch ports on the convertible top hydraulic pump, and for operating the latch manually. Doing this lets you continue to raise and lower the top until such time as you replace the ruptured hoses. Some folks have made this modification permanent. Same link in my sig line below.

Failures of the original hoses have been quite common with these cars ... even when fitted with pressure reduction. Failures do seem to be strongly correlated with high heat. There are replacement hoses available from several vendors that are quite strong and don't require pressure reduction (but it couldn't hurt). You don't want the replacement hoses from Jaguar.

Good luck.

 

Mine had already had the bypass done when I bought it. That's just fine with me, I don't mind a bit having one less thing tone concerned with. TM

 

I also had the green shower…2000 XKR…. After reading a bunch of threads, I went ahead and replaced all lines and had the struts & latch rebuilt by top hydraulics. Well worth the effort and cost. I do not expect any problems from now on. Plus, when all the interior is out, you can really clean and detail the inside of the car. Also a good time to upgrade any stereo or audio components. Good luck and have a great new year

 

Hi again. I got my XKR home and after thinking about it for a few milliseconds decided I just had to find the leak and replace as necessary. Gee, what a job. So many bits to pull apart - each of them easy enough (mostly) but so many items. You need to pull out the overhead console and trims, LH A-pillar trims, LH sill cover, LH seat, centre console, rear seats, RH seat belt anchor, the RH woofer (and body stiffening strut), and most of the boot (trunk) lining.

The LH sill has to be removed to release the carpet as the hoses go underneath it just in front of the seat. But the screws are covered by a beautiful polished aluminium (not aluminum, this is British) cover plate that is glued down. "Remove carefully" says the manual. Oh Great. I did get it off using old credit cards as plastic levers; I didn't scratch it, or bend it too much, but now I'm faced with how to re-attach. Or more accurately, what glue to use? Any suggestions gratefully received.

The problem was a blown hose right at the power latch cylinder. I considered genuine JLR parts ex UK, or Top Hydraulics ex Oregon, but both are 3-4 weeks delivery; so I thought I'd try a local solution. Success! I found a local guy who made them up overnight with the correct 12mm fittings. We used DN2 hose rather than the original DN3. Its slightly smaller in diameter, but the original clips still hold it OK. The measured length is 5750mm. The old hose was deteriorating with the black cover falling off. I didn't touch the other hoses as the main rams were replaced just 12000km ago and they are not leaking.

It's all reinstalled and recommissioned. I was a bit worried at first as the top wouldn't latch, but it turned out I had the hoses the wrong way around. Oops. A quick changeover at the pump end and its now working perfectly. It took just 2 or 3 operations for the system to self bleed.

I would recommend putting caps on the open ends of the pump while you're working on it. Its inevitable you'll have to move the top manually, and this delivers hydraulic fluid out the open ports and all over the CD changer and amplifier!

Refilling the oil reservoir is a real pain in the butt. The fill port is high up under the RH mudguard (fender). I could probably have done it with a syringe and plastic tube, but decided to remove the support frame it sits on, which also contains the CD changer and amplifier. I could then gently move the pump out and refill easily.

I haven't bothered with a pressure relief valve or similar. I figure it's 'once bitten twice shy' so won't be operating the top when potentially it's hot.

In summary, its a time consuming job but rewarding in the end. The only special tools are plastic trim lifters, and T30, T40, T50 drivers.

Attached photo is just after I fixed it. It needs a wash and polish but is still lovely.

the dog matches the leather

 

Well done....