Hi all,
first off, thank you all for this forum. I start here if I need any info or knowledge, it’s the best. So it finally happened, my overhead latch hydraulic line failed and filled my headliner with green fluid. My question is, has anyone successfully saved the headliner from the mess I’ve made? And if not, where’s the best place to acquire another? I live in the US and own a 02’ XKR with 50k miles

 

Some owners have reported that they successfully cleaned up their stained headliners using brake parts cleaner spray. Just be relatively gentle with any rubbing....

 

Thanks for the tip. I will give it a go before trashing and replacing the fabric, and/or the whole liner

 

Good luck w/ the cleaning. Sorry you have to deal with it. For a short term solution, has anyone cut the hydraulic hose that runs thru the headliner and then used an allen wrench to lock/unlock the latch? If this is reasonable (and doesn't increase the already high pressure on remaining lines), suggests appreciated on best solution to reliably capping the line so I don't just move the green shower problem back to the trunk. I do want to keep opening and closing the roof hydraulic. Best long term is replace all lines w/ high quality aftermarket but that's a major project for the future. Gus' pressure reduction unit sounds great but isn't it putting off the inevitable failure? I don't know how often the PO used the top so hard to tell how much longer the originals will last. Top moves smoothly and up/down in less than 20 seconds so that's good. Thanks

 

CA,

See the "Manual Latch" link in my sig. line below for info on capping the latch hoses at the pump and operating the latch manually.

Good luck.

 

Thanks. Very useful. Interesting that the failure rate is higher on the latch circuit. Is there a better solution to opening/closing the latch? Modern doors open/close electromechanically.

 

You're quite welcome. I believe the higher failure rate in the latch circuit is mostly a heat issue, though the latch circuit also sees somewhat higher peak pressure than the ram circuits. The tell is that the latch hoses almost always fail at the latch end, where they would tend to get hotter. Other opinions are out there. We've never had enough data to say for sure.

Over the years several guys have talked about designing an electrical alternative to the hydraulics for the latch mechanism. I don't think anyone has gotten very far with it.

 

I have a question for anyone......I have read the engine build manual since I am in the process of changing my timing chains and tensioners to the metal type.....before I take the old chains off, I want to be sure that my engine is in the correct timed position. As It stands now, I have the cam locking bars installed and the timing disc pin in the correct hole and flush to the tranny housing and tight. My question is:
Can you have the engine on the wrong stroke with it in this position....or is this the only timing position and it is designed to be on the correct stroke (compression) and at the correct ATDC degree.
I know that the "A" bank most forward cylinder is close to TDC and the lobes of the intake and exhaust cams for that cyl are pointing somewhat horizontally, which I assume would be compression stroke.
I did not see anything in the manual about compression or exhaust stroke....so I'm curious. Plus the last thing I need to do is make a mistake at this junction.

Thanks for all your knowledge.
Dave

 

Hi all,
Before purchasing my 99xk8, it was neglected and sat for quite a while.
After purchasing, getting the car going again, and started using the top. Being naive to the green shower situation, it wasn't long before noticing just one small drop of something (hydraulic fluid) near the Jgate shifter...for a couple of days I just wiped the single drop not realizing what, or where it was coming from.
The fluid had actually made its way through the upper console and was seeping between the dome light and housing one drop at a time.

Thankfully, I found Dennis's DIY post on these forums and was able to secure the caps and do the mod in about an hour with topping fluid and figuring out manual operation...

Which, yes takes a bit of finesse at first; just follow Dennis's well written and mapped out direction and manual operation is a breeze.

Huge thanks to Dennis for making this mod available and easy to achieve ! ! !

One tip that I might add is: Harbor Freight tools has these small 8 or 12oz? red oil cans that have a flexible spout tube and push valve dispenser. This was perfect for topping off the hydraulic fluid reservoir in the boot with no spillage...

Best, AJ
99xk8

 

My car had the top latch bypass done with one of it's previous owners. And that's just fine with me. I don't know how it was done and I have no interest in changing it. That'll be just one less thing to worry about. TM