A few years ago, my mechanic did a 'service maintenance' on the top. I think he might have only lubricated the joints. Is there a good way to do a maintenance on the top to keep it running great?
Thank you

 

You might want to check into a pressure reduction modification. Here's one of them -

JagRepair.com - Jaguar Repair Information Resource

I installed this on mine shortly after I got the car. You're pretty lucky you haven't taken a "green shower" yet. I'm not sure there is much more you can do, besides lube all the joints, and maybe change the hydro fluid. Or of course, go the full Monty with hoses.

 

LOL,
Thanks for the info JimmyL. It didn't seem like there was much to it, but you never know...especially since these cars can be temperamental.
Since I don't use the vehicle much, I'm going to try the 'resister' kinda-fix. I have to repair the pulley/cable on the rear right window and since i'm digging into that area, might as well make the top's mechanisms happy. I'm also going to redesign/alter the subwoofer box and i'll post the work on that.

 

When I first got the car, I lubed the hood hinges both what you see and also those buried behind the rear quarter panels. Also changed the old hydraulic fluid in the pump reservoir. Cheap preventative maintenance that!

But I still later had a pipe burst at the back of the pump, and much consequently hassle as a result.

Not a lot of feedback in this forum on pump going bad. Mostly I see forum members reporting the hoses’ crimps going bad. I suspect that, due to the high pressure system, the hoses tend to move so any fixed point, ie at the connections, will wear.

 

As David said, the pump itself seems pretty bullet-proof ... with one caveat. There is a transient voltage suppressor in there and every now and then there will be a report of it failing and the pump then blowing its 40 amp fuse and of course failing to run. The good news is that the TVS can be replaced for a few bucks. I've never seen any other type of pump failure documented here.

 

Dennis07, is the TVS located inside the pump? If so, is the TVS accessible and replaceable (just the TVS)?
Thank you...

 

Skubee,

Click the link titled "Pump Motor Repair" in my signature line for the full story on the TVS. Pretty easy job.

There are also links there with info on ways to reduce pressure in the convertible top hydraulics, and a way to cap off the hydraulic lines from the pump to the convertible top latch so as to operate the latch manually (e.g. if you've had a hose failure).

 

Thanks Dennis07. I love it!
"the black cylinder with the silver stripe", it's a fast diode (and super cheap) used to clamp voltage spikes.

When a diode is used across an inductive load, in this case, the motor coils, when the voltage is momentarily removed from the coil, the energy IN the coil is released and will send out a high voltage spike. The diode (often called a "flyback diode" ) across the coil sends this spike to the positive side (battery + ) and basically 'clamps' the voltage spike. On a diode, the 'band' indicates the direction, so the band goes to the positive side.

Diodes are also a great way to save relay contacts from 'welding' in the on position by placing the diode across the contacts (as well as the coil of the relay) with an inductive load to redirect these high voltage spikes. They sell them to guys that don't know about flyback diodes and call it something like "Relay Saver" and charge big $$$ for it. Just make sure the diode is in the correct orientation. Also, for 12 volt applications, 1N4001 (50v) and 1N4007 (1000v) are most commonly used diodes. See attached picture for proper diode orientation. The "arrow and band" symbol is the diode on the schematic and that 'band' correlates to the band on the diode. I just replaced all the electrical on my dune buggy and I put diodes on all the relays.

 

Good stuff, thanks. There is one wrinkle in this application: the motor runs in both directions, and the polarity across the TVS reverses when the motor reverses direction. So we need a device with no polarity. A pair of diodes back-to-back make up this TVS I imagine, but I haven't looked into the details of the device. There appear to be silver bands on both ends of the can, but in any case it can be installed without thinking about which end is which.

And that's good. One fewer potential screw-up to worry about !