Except that I believe that I still hear "working" sounds as long as the switch is being held. In any event I just now got off the phone with LSI to order the kit and am looking forward to installing it. I have to confess that I have cut way back in operating the top since the hose replacement that was done by the dealer (under warranty) last year in the fear of something "blowing" again. I will feel much more comfortable once I get this check valve installed. I will report my installation experience.

Doug

 

Go to the TSB section on this forum and go the Convertible Top Electrical System and look at the sequence of events.

 

I have just finnished the installation on my 2000 XKR. I am unable to test it as I have already fitted my hardtop. The installation is pretty straight forward, the issues that were encountered are as follows: my car has the large stack which presented a problem removing the pump so I removed the 4 torx screws on the mounting plate to pump this allowed me to remove the pump.( this may have been because of the additional electronics fitted back there-backup camera interface,ipod dock harness,etc). The next issue is the elbow I also had to give it a slight tap with a hammer so the hose could be threaded in. The bend in the hose seems a little tight from there to the valve but it does clear the trunk trim. The last issue was securing the valve is a little akward because of the stack height. I am considering offering this kit to my customers when replacing the hoses & also an upgrade to others who have had previous issues. Finally the customer service they provided was top notch.

 

Oh boy--my kit just arrived today. It is quite an impressive hunk of metal (along with the hoses). I hope to get to the install either this weekend or the next.

Doug

 

I would like to know how you have your ipod interface cable connected. I am looking at all options.

 

As for the install I am pleased to hear the good response. That hammer thing keeps popping up; I guess it is the best universal tool.

 

I guess I will see just what you mean by needing a hammer when I get started on mine. An interesting conundrum occurred to me. If you happen to have a late model XK8/XKR that might still be under warranty (either original or Select Edition) I wonder what you should do.

If you do NOT install the check valve and end up having a problem with the hose leak (as you surely will), there is a pretty good chance that it would be a covered repair (at least based on my experience and those of others who have posted). If you go ahead and install the check valve, Gus' and Walt's efforts suggest that it is very unlikely that you will have the hose leak problem. HOWEVER, if by some unlikely chance that a problem occurs, I suspect that bringing in the car with the check valve installed will result in the dealer and/or Jaguar denying responsibility (i.e., it would be considered an aftermarket modification). I guess the way around that would be to remove the check valve and return things to original before going to the dealer.

Doug

 

No need to worry about Select Edition as it does not cover any hose or pipe that has a hose on it. If anyone has been lucky enough to have had them replaced the dealer was in error & will get charged back in a warranty audit.

 

I believe it might be on a case-by-case basis. In my case, the car had just come off of the original warranty and the SE presumably kicked in. The dealer I originally brought the car to hemmed and hawed a bit pointing out that hoses were excluded. Another dealer I called (I had become friendly with one of the service managers) said, without hesitation, that he would take care of it without cost to me. In the meantime I had independently called the 800 Jaguar customer service number and had eventually gotten the okay that it would be covered. The original dealer I brought it to had gotten the okay on a technicality. Since the (affordable) repair kit was not readily available and this was not my fault, Plan B was to install the full hose kit at their expense.

Doug

 

I think what the dealer may have done was have there Jag rep cover the repair under Goodwill as the dealers are not allowed to do any Godwill on a car in Select Edition. The dealer you offered to do the repair without question would never had been paid for that claim. There is no such thing as a case by case situation regarding any Select Edition repairs, that I can assure you. If you post or send me your last 6 digits of your vin I can tell you how your hoses were paid for. I wish they would cover hoses it would make my job a little easier.

 

howdy all

what can i add to this debate? I just gt my xk8 97 convertible, and i dont know much at this stage about jags but i am happy to see people paying attention in every detail of their xk8. And trying hard to find the best solution without involving much the main dealers . And the fact that they share this repairing infos , to me it shows a nice xk8 owners friendly TEAM. It makes me proud to read all your post guys.

 

I will try and remember to post the digits but there was one other "loophole" that could have been invoked. I do not have the original warranty booklet handy but I definitely recall there being some verbiage about the coverage that allows for special considerations at the discretion of Jaguar in having work done under the original warranty even without there being a Select Edition warranty in effect. While nothing specific is spelled out, when I brought this verbiage up with the customer service person at the 800 number, she agreed that things such as being beyond 48 months but having low mileage or showing that the car had been property serviced at Jaguar dealers might invoke "special" consideration. This was the case-by-case loophole that I was referring to that is more or less spelled out in the original warranty verbiage. By the way, the rep had mentioned that she had come across several other cases involving convertible hose failures where Jaguar chose to allow the repair under warranty past the warranty date.

Doug

 

The last 6 digits of the vin would be on your registration. What you are referring to is goodwill, which is done by Jaguar not the dealer. There is far less of this now than before due to financial constraints. As I stated in an earlier post the dealer is not allowed to do any goodwill when a car is in Select edition. This is stated in the Warranty Policy manual. The reality is that you would only be questioned if a tech brought it to someones attention if a latch-cylinder or pump failed. You are only modifing the pump which never fails, in addation this upgrade should eliminate problems with the other coverd parts. I would recomend this type of upgrade to anyone replacing the hoses, & will do so to my customers in the future.

 

Okay--the last 6 digits are A40394. What can you tell me.

Doug

 

Well, I went through the install today and would like to pass along my experiences. First, the instructions were pretty much spot-on and the entire process took under an hour (I was really taking my time). By far, the most difficult part for cars like mine (with the tall tier) is dealing with the electrical connections that you must undo in order to be able to move the motor/pump assembly forward so that you can remove it to attached the new hoses. The large electrical connector on the inboard side really needed a lot of tugging and jiggling to get undone. This was a bit difficult due to the inability to get a good grip on the plastic connector rather than tugging on the wires. Once the main electrical connector was undone, I still could not move the motor/pump much due to the wires coming up to the solenoids. The more I looked the less I figured I would be able to disconnect these as, for one thing, I could not even see the connectors and clearance to get fingers in is really tough. Then I had an idea. As I followed these wires down alongside the aft portion of the tier I was greatly relieved to find a connector there to undo. This was much more easy to get to and did the trick.

Once the electrical connections are undone, it was not too difficult to jockey the motor/pump forwards and swing it into the trunk area to work on. As for the inboard hose connection that goes where the plug (30 torx) was, I did not waste any time trying to move or hammer the existing nearby hose connection. Rather, as someone else suggested, just back off the coupler a bit and the new hose will fit right in. The outboard hose connection was a snap. The only thing that seemed awkward was "mounting" the check valve above the motor. This required tight bending of the new hoses but I guess they are made for this. I only used a single tie-strap to secure the check valve as it did not seem that the valve was going anywhere.

Buttoned everything back up and operated the top. Worked smoothly with no problems. I am a happy guy.

Doug

 

The only modification to the kit that I would recommend would be to have right-angle connectors for the hose ends that attach to the original pump/motor. The would then lay flush on their way up to the check valve. I do not know if this is feasible but it would definitely improve the finished hose configuration.

Doug

 

Doug, thanks for the comments. I'll amend the bit about how to disconnect the solenoids. The pre-2000 cars are disconnected right at the solenoids and yours (2000+) has an extra disconnect point at the back end of the electronics rack.

The other connector is the pump motor power that is 1/4 Quick Connect Terminals in a plastic housing. You can pull this apart by the wires but it will probably result in problems reconnecting. I know because that is what I did. If the pump doesn't work this is the place to check as the terminals become displaced. I agree that the no stress disconnection is stressful to the mechanic.

The original version of the kit (that was tested in my car) had right angle connectors but this led to interference with the existing hoses on install. In my case I had to stand the fittings away from the pump body with nipples so I could turn them. There is also interference with the bypass valve handle. This led to the decision to just go straight in and bend the hoses. I agree that the finish is not as nice as I would like but it is effective. Bending the hoses does not cause a problem as they are specified to accept a 1/2 inch bend radius.

The tie is included to prevent a rattle as it is not needed for physical strength.

 

Thanks Walt--your point about interferences using right-angle connections is well-taken.

By the way, I have a quick question. I glanced at the fluid level prior to the install and it seemed okay. After installing the check-valve, the fluid seems a bit lower (just about the level of the lower hatchmark). Is this because some of the fluid ends up staying inside the check-valve? I did not have the foresight to get spare fluid, and I trust there is no harm in operating at the current level. But when I get the chance I will add a bit. Unfortunately, this will probably require disconnecting the wires and moving the pump to access the fill hole.

Doug

 

The hose on the pressure side does retain a small amount of oil. It is 1/8 ID and about 10 inches long so whatever volume that works to.

When the oil is low you could have a problem with the pump sucking air. If your top stops short when raising that is probably what's going on.

Topping off will be a lot easier now that you have been through it once. I use one of those syringes made for mixing 2 cycle oil to do mine. I added a length of hose to the end so I can draw it out of the can and put a small amount into the tank without a mess. I bought the syringe at Kmart. We use the same thing for mixing epoxy at work.

The tank plug has an SAE 4 thread so it would be feasible to put a fitting with a hose to make this easier. One could also drill a hole through the plug and solder or braze or tap a tube nipple into it. This comes in handy if you have a leaky cylinder and need to top off frequently. Hopefully you don't have that but if your level is constantly going low it is likely the cause.

 

So I finally got around to closing the top (rain finally came to southern California) and the operation was flawless. As posted previously the fluid looks a bit low so I may try to pick up some Pentosin from the local NAPA store (they have in stock). In order to refill, it looks like I will have to again move the pump into an accessible position. Is it necessary to relieve pressure by turning the **** before removing the fill plug and adding oil? I guess it would be good practice but I was wondering if it was also necessary.

Thanks