it is possible to manually put the top up, start with windows down, open the petcock on the pump, grab the allen wrench attached to the side of the pump, on the windshield header will be a small plastic button cover, pull it out and insert alec wrench and turn clockwise about a quarter turn to open latch. Gently lift top and pull to latch. use allen wrench to close the latch. At this point the top is up, but the quarter windows will not close until you gently lift on the right rear ram to pull it up to make the micro switch. see owners manual or search this forum for guidance on lifting ram. once this is done, the top button should raise the rear windows. It the ram can't be locked, quarter window relays can be jumped to raise windows. I had a very similar problem with your symptoms that was caused by the security module getting wet. Best of luck and this forum is a great place to get help.

 

Zig and Cabriolet Hydraulics are great to work with - got my hoses from them shortly after I bought the Jag.

 

I am just getting back to my convertible top issue after traveling for the past week. I removed and replaced the black relays in the fuse box as well as the 40 amp fuse. No change - i get a ding when the up button is pushed but nothing else. I do notice that when releasing the up button that the top slightly moves downward. Poking around the solenoids on pump for the top in the truck I found one of the solenoids (the one with the blue dot in the picture above in the link) is warm to the touch, the other is not. Is this normal or does it suggest the solenoid has failed?

 

Correction it is the solenoid with the red dot in the picture on the string located above.

 

An update on the warm solenoid. I left the boot open to do other things so to let the solenoid cool down. I came back about an hour later to find the solenoid too hot to touch and the other one warm to the touch. Now the key was out of the ignition switch and the only lights on in the car were the courtesy lights in the boot. I closed the boot just to shut everything off. Thirty minutes later and the solenoid was cool to the touch. All of this suggests a short somewhere. Any thoughts?

 

Those solenoids are driven directly by the Security and Locking Control Module (SLCM), which is located directly underneath the fusebox in the trunk. If you have a water leak in the trunk, the SLCM will get wet and likely fail. This is a fairly common failure mode.

First check for any moisture on the trunk floor area by the fusebox. If you find any, that is your smoking gun.

Even if you do not see obvious moisture, there could have been a leak that is now dry. The SLCM should be removed, the case opened up and the circuit board inspected for moisture damage. Remember to always disconnect the battery before plugging or unplugging any electronic module.

 

Don't know if you have this or not:

 

water damage to the SLCM is what I was thinking, your symptoms are almost exactly what I had when rain water got into the trunk and humidity damaged mine. I was having a difficult time finding the exact one, so I added a couple switches that fed power to the relays to bypass the module. 22 months later, I finally located an exact match at jagbits.com. It was plug and play and fixed all the issues I was having as mine finally started giving me other problems as well. Match the number on the module, or pull the left side carpet up in the trunk to locate the VCATS label.

 

I would think if that solenoid is hot, then it is getting power and it's not the controller. I would swap those solenoids just to see if there is a change in symptoms. Swap the connectors first and see if there is a difference, and then swap the solenoids, and see if there is a difference. They are exactly the same. You can get a new one from Cabriolet Tops for $80.

 

A faulty controller might still provide power. Controller behavior would be extremely unpredictable if water is involved. Look at the wiring diagram, there is nothing between the solenoids and the SLCM except a short wiring harness section. When water gets in the trunk on this car, normally the SLCM is the victim.

 

Have someone press the top button while you are looking and listening to the hydraulic pump. My guess is, the pump starts, or tries to start by stops almost immediately. The solenoid only changes the flow from lower to upper lines. If this is the case, it is probably the security module, but you can test the pump by touching a jumper wire to the power leg of the relay and battery and see if the pump runs. Default when the pump runs is top down, latch closed. The solenoid will have to be activated to raise top or open latch with another jumper wire to the solenoid wire connector.

 

The pump does start. So the next question is where is the power leg of the relay and which relay that you mention to jump.. Second question how does one get to the SCLM ? I removed the three bolts but the wiring harness is in the way. What is the secret? And a third question, of the SCLM is bad where does one find a replacement?

Thanks All ​​​​​,

 

The sclm will look like the base of the fuse box unit. It's a bit of a tug but you want to get the fuse box assembly off the floor of the boot a little, tilt it a little and you will have to feel around or get an angle where you can see,,, and you will find some clips, plastic, dark grey, that will allow the sclm to release from the assembly... It's a cool hiding place...

Important! Before yanking on it at all, reach to the BACK side and disconnect the coax cable which is the antenna for the remote/fob control. You don't want to break that.

I admit I haven't read all of this thread BUT someone mentioned the two solenoids on top of the pump. As they suggested the wiring that takes power to the solenoid control is a SINGLE bare/naked copper wire that goes into the solenoid coil for operation/signal to energize... Take a meter of some sort and see if you get continuity going into and coming out of the solenoid at it's plug. If not, it's bad. The raise roof solenoid is the inboard of the two.

 

That is exactly what mine was doing, and it turned out to be a broken connector at the blue solenoid. Replaced the solenoid and everything was back to normal. If you do not have a second person; open the trunk, with all of the panel removed so you can see and hear the pump, and use your key in the door keyhole to operate the top. That is what I did.That way you can operate the top and see/hear the pump.

 

If the pump is running while the up button is pushed, then I would look at the solenoids on the top off the pump. To raise the roof, the outboard solenoid must engage to switch the flow to the rams to lift. For the latch to open, the inboard solenoid engage to switch the flow to open the latch. The mechanics of the top operation and pump are fairly simple. Adding the electronics to enable one button operation running through a multiple function module makes it complicated. As to your question about finding a replacement security module. This is a discontinued part. You will have to search the internet for used salvage part. EBay may be of help, but there are several places that specialize in jaguar parts. jagbits.com is where I found mine after searching for almost 2 years. Just make sure if you buy one, that the part number matches the VCATS label.

 

I have been troubleshooting the soft top non closing issue using the suggestions on this thread and other threads by so many kind people.. Here is what I have done so far but without success:

1. I manually raised and lowered the top — when the top is up the fluid line drops to midway between top and bottom line. When I put the to down the fluid level goes back to the top line.
2. I have done several hard resets
3. The solenoids on top of the pump seemed to be properly connected.
4. When I push the top up button the pump runs.
5. After getting caught in a unexpected rain shower with the top down on July 4th (I manually raised the top but the rear windows of course stayed down, this morning I jumped the side window micro-switches in the trunk — disconnecting the battery ground cable first. Both windows closed as expected. However, upon reconnecting the ground cable (after doing a hard reset) the side windows immediately went down! So there is no way to close the windows when the top is up unless I keep the battery disconnected! ☹️☹️☹️

Some had suggested the security module or one or both of the solenoids might be bad or an electrical connection broken. Now that both the security module and the solenoids are not easily sourced, I have stayed away from tampering with them as a last resort in case there were other more simple solutions. Any suggestions out there for my next step?

Bill

 

This is when it gets frustrating. None of the suggestions seem to work. I'm not sure why the windows did not stay up when you jumped them. I'm not sure what procedure you used with the battery disconnected. I always pulled the quarter windows relay and stuck a short piece of wire between the two points to raise each window. The other method to raise the windows would be to pull the right ram up into the "locked" position so that the switch on the ram makes contact allowing the windows to raise.

To eliminate the possibilty of a failed relay, have you tried switching the two top relays to see if the top will then raise? The relays are the two large ones on the left. I suppose it is possible the the top up relay has failed.
best of luck

 

I believe the reservoir should be at the top line when the top is closed. You may be low on fluid. Check your owners manual first to be sure. If you are low on fluid, you may have a leak in the system.

 

I'm going to make some comments. I can't remember everything in this thread and sorry, I ain't going back to read the whole thing...

If (with battery disconnected) you manually close the top and completely lock it,,, key at the windshield. If you then go and manually raise the windows maybe from an alternative power source with the battery disconnected, and THEN reconnect the battery, what happens?

(Remember. There is a switch in the RAMS which tells the system which/what position the top is in... )

If the windows stay up. If you can set the alarm, lock the doors etc and everything stays as it should - closed - good!

So, here's the thing. What happens then when you get in, turn on the car (have a friend do it) and push the button to drop the top? Does the motor run? Does the motor run and windows go down?

If all of that is happening, my main guess would be the solenoids. But, I doubt that both would fail. Again, sorry I couldn't reread everything. Does the top go in one direction only? I guess I better go back and read. Lol...

Stay chill. You'll figure this out. Worse case you may have to buy a "new" pump. If only for parts.

 

Have you inspected for moisture on the floor of the trunk? I know you do not want to hear that it is the SLCM, but this is likely. The key giveaway here is that the solenoid is under power when you are not cycling the top.
I have seen this exact failure mode with the solenoids from a wet SLCM several times before.

If you can extract it there is a chance (albeit small) that the SLCM circuit board is salvageable with drying and cleaning.