Good catch, Spurlee. Sounds as if you got to the problem still in its early stages. Good luck and keep us posted....

 

Good job---We'll all be following with interest.

 

Klaus,

You may have covered this; if so, sorry, I missed it.

Do you have a feel for how much temperature plays a role in this kind of failure? If so, have you done any work on ways to keep the area of the latch mechanism a little cooler? Some insulation and or venting maybe?

Thanks,

 

Spurlee, we are looking forward to upgrading your front latch cylinder as soon as we get it. We average a one-day turn around lately.

I noticed that your Corvette is an '00, so it's not a C6. Reason I'm mentioning that is, we are already upgrading all the hydraulic cylinders in many Corvette C6 convertibles (they started with MY '05). Maybe that will make some folks feel better - the Corvette C6 OEM hydraulic cylinder seals are a worse choice than those in Jaguars... Good news is, it can be taken care of.

The front latch cylinder has the same seals as the lift cylinders, plus an additional one. It is actually the additional seal that typically fails first, because it is made of a material that biodegrades faster than the other two. None of these seals are available off the shelf, nor would it make sense to use the same seals again. I cannot justify doing only a mediocre job and not upgrading the cylinders while we are working on them. We correct the OEM's errors in choice of seal material, size, and shape. We manufacture the proprietary seals in volume, and we also manufacture in volume the metal parts that accommodate these superior seals inside the Jaguar cylinders.

Norri, allow me to do some marketing here despite our site sponsorship not being official yet: we call our service an "upgrade". The reason is, rebuilds usually have the stigma of being inferior to new OEM parts. ;-)

Dennis07,

the decay of the seals is a chemical reaction, and it is accelerated by high temperatures. Please note, though, that Spurlee is located in Wisconsin, which may tell you that the decay is inevitable in climates that are not extreme.

I can understand your desire to delay the inevitable as long as possible by avoiding extreme temperatures on the cylinders, but I highly doubt that it is worth the effort of insulating or venting the cylinders. Please keep in mind that our seal material and design is far longer lasting than the original seals used. We have a very straightforward solution, and I hope that it will give folks peace of mind, as opposed to wondering how long they can avoid the disaster.

-Klaus

 

OK an XK8 convertible is a long way down the road, but it is good to know that someone is manufacturing improved seals.

I wish you success.

 

My car sits in a garage 80% of the time, if the hose or latch failures are heat related it's sitting-in-the-sun heat that does it and relatively short periods are enough.

Latch seal failures are another situation entirely. Mine "failed" on a cool day in the shade in late winter. It wasn't even being operated, it just leaked a tablespoon of Pentosin one mid-morning while sitting... When I cycled it afterward it didn't leak noticably, in fact, it worked fine.

I'm told that there isn't any pressure in the lines when the top is latched. I would presume the seal just degraded enough to lose it's sealing properties. You'd think that after dropping unpressurized fluid it would not be able to build enough pressure to work the latch, but apparently it can!

Regardless, it is easy to get to, simple to remove and inexpensive to fix...

 

Great! You should receive my latch tomorrow afternoon, Tuesday - I sent it Fed Ex Standard.

My Corvette has the old fashioned manual top but, being a true two-seater, it is small and easy to raise/lower. If you are rebuilding C6 cylinders already that means some folks only got 6 or 7 years or less out of them! Ouch!

I got 11 years out of my hoses before one failed and 12 for the latch. The larger cylinders looked tight when I replaced the hoses but I am sure one will blow some time. That's OK in my book...

 

My car is a '05 the previous owner had kept his records and the hoses were changed in early '07!
That's a real short life IMHO.

 

Wow - just two years before the failure occurred. Where did the car live, Norri? I wonder if the owner was raising and lowering his top several times a day every day of the year....

 

It was a CA car, so there was a good chance it was well used.

 

I shipped the latch Monday FedEx standard and Top Hydraulics received it Tuesday. They rebuilt/upgraded it that afternoon and sent it on its way back.

I should receive it Thursday. They sent an email with the USPS tracking number.

I asked if they could have it to me by the weekend and they were able to do so.

 

The latch was returned as promised. I could tell that the ram was much tighter than before. I reassembled the system and gave everything a light lithium greasing before putting it back together. A couple of short-cycles to purge the air and it went back to working normally.

I would heartly recommend Klaus Witte and Top Hydraulics 541-902-3214 Top Hydraulics | Rebuilt Convertible Hydraulics - Top Hydraulics, Inc

It would appear, then, that I'm back in buisness and ready to finally install the remote top opener.

I probably have THE most bullet proof system among us - new steel braided hoses, pressure reduction valve and upgraded top latch!

A Tip - the white electrical connnector that supports the top latch functions and the white electrical connector that supports the map lights and garage openers are identical. On my first try I plugged the Top latch connector into the map lights socket. What happens is that the pump and top operate normally up until it comes time to snug down the top - it dosen't get the signal to start this cycle and it doesn't work and the windows don't raise.

A question - there was a 2-wire (yellow) blue connector that drops out of the headliner harness. For the life of me I could not find what it connected to, if anything. Everything works - door opener, vanity lights, map lights, mirror tinting. Anyone know offhand what this connector is for?

Thanks for the help!

 

Kudos to you! On the road again!

 

Thank you for adding the KX hydraulics to your services... I always wondered what would happen if my top latch fails. Now I have peace of mind. Thank you!

 

What you said. It's great the Klaus showed up here.

 

Last week I was putting the top up and got the green shower. Front hose at the fitting burst took it to a hydraulic shop said that they thought it was a defective hose. Being that he said the fittings should be the last thing to give. Besides the long process of taking everything apart replacing the hoses wasnt too too bad defenitly made me feel like I really accomplished something. Will defenitly be getting the relief valve. But the ironic thing was the hoses that failed were from 2004 manufactured date and my car is an 2001 so this is perhaps the cars second green shower.

 

What manufacturer of hose did you replace your failed one with? I went with Coliflower from Gus' website and am very happy - certainly more stout than the original ones I had. I'm no Pro but I'd guess my new ones are waaaay more than is what is absolutely necessary.

My original set failed at the fitting but it looked to be that the hose itself failed or in some way extracted itself from the fitting. The plastic had delaminated and the braided hose material was clearly blown out.

The pressure reduction valve is probably a good idea - although after I installed it my hose went anyway - and my latch seal went later, too. In my personal experience it's not a cure or even a guarantee, but from the great work everyone has done here on the topic it appears to be prudent in terms of extending hose life.

Perhaps the newer the car is the better an idea the valve works out to be. Once your car is past a certain age the hoses are just too deteriorated to be saved for any meaningful length of time.

On the other hand, maybe I just have bad luck...

 

I replaced mine with oem from jaguar the hose that failed was polyflex. The new one mabe the same but the jacket on I and the actual fitting on them is actually a little smaller not sure if this is a good thing or bad thing? But the thing that sucks is that 3 hydraulic shops all bragged about polyflex as a fantastic hose it almost seems like a conspiricy that they just decided to make crap hoses for jaguar and all three guys I talked to said the hose is a defect if it comes apart at the fitting unless its being bent and pulled didn't really think mine was. But ohh well.

 

well, in 10 years, maybe polyflex has made leaps and bounds in its design and manufacturing...you never know.