A short story...

When I bought my 2000 XK8, the seller advised that the left cylinder was "sweating" fluid; a very slow leak that meant he had to top up the fluid about once every 20 cycles of the system. He said that the leakage would fall harmlessly in front of the rear wheel; and yes, I'd read online that there is a drainage port there. Ultimately I knew there was going to need to be service to the convertible top, and it's something we factored into the price of the vehicle at the time of sale. I used the soft-top frequently for the rest of last Summer and into the Fall until I garaged the car without issue.

Over the winter I've been doing a little wrenching - so I had trim pieces removed while working on replacing the stereo and speakers. Once I got the rear seat out I noticed that there was quite a lot of hydraulic fluid collected in the seat well - on both sides. I decided to move the hydraulic service forward, and contacted Klaus of Top Hydraulics.

Two weeks ago I'd finished disassembly, and packed and shipped my parts to Oregon. The process was mostly simple enough, but I had a struggle and a half getting the top latch out.


I expressed my frustration by taking this photo. Maybe you can already see what's wrong here.


A lady at Top Hydraulics contacted me and asked if i still had the original fittings for the top latch - I don't - that is how the car was as I purchased it. She said they'd work with it and find a solution - and sure enough, they had the upgraded parts and new hoses back to me early the following week.They'd removed the female nut-style connectors from the front latch and put the original style fittings back in place.

So this weekend I'm ready to install my new gear, and just as I get to the pump to start marking & disconnecting hoses, guess what I see?


So I guess I've got three options:
1). I send the pump in to Top Hydraulics for their rebuild, and hope they can replace the connectors as they did on the front cylinder
(I had intended to do the rebuild anyways, just, was hoping not to have to do it so soon, since the pump seems to be fine)

2). See if I can get a male - male fitting from a hardware or plumbing store to allow me to connect the new hoses to the pump as-is.

3). Drink and curse the cheapskate who did this
(not mutually exclusive)

Thoughts?

 

I would go to a hydraulics parts supplier and get two male to male fittings. If the length isn't an issue then you should be good to go.
wj

 

Tom,

You'll find the spec for the hose end of the elbows you need in the "manual latch" link in my sig. line below. Metric. The spec for the pump end of the elbows you can of course get from the elbows you found in place. I suspect the needed elbows won't be hard to find. See, for example, Malone Specialty Inc. in Mentor, OH. (www.malonespecialtyinc.com).

(I have an extra "bench" pump here and can measure the pump-end thread if you need it. Let me know.)

I would not spend $$ on the pump rebuild. These things just don't tend to wear out with the amount of use they get in our cars. The only failures I've ever heard of turned out to be electrical and easily repaired.

(I would still drink and curse the cheapskate, as you noted.)

Good luck.

 

I am sure Top Hydraulics has the fittings available or tell you what fittings you need if you are unable to find them at your local hydraulic shop.

 

Tom,

It turns out I have a few of what you need on hand. It's this part ...
Malone / Male Metric Tapered to Tube 90 Degree Elbow - Compression Tube Fittings - Couplings by Vendor

Got them from Malone; better pricing.

Send me a PM and I'll get a couple of them to you.

 

Thanks for the assistance all; Dennis07 - PM sent.

If I may offer something in return, here's the results of my latest attempt to replace the front strut tower cover - you know - that piece Jaguar doesn't make any more?
Upside-down


Right-side up


This is a Uxcell 70mm Grommet - - they come in a pack of 5 for $8.53. They fit like they were made for the job - although the cautions I have so far are -
#1 - The rubber center is very flexible - like an empty baloon, and I suspect these may not last all that long under the conditions
#2 - I haven't driven the car since October and won't again until mid March, so I can't guarantee that these will handle the heat. Test at your own risk!
#3 - They stink of that "rubbery" smell.

All of that said, they fit like a glove - so the idea of using a 70mm rubber grommet plug seems to be a good one - if not necessarily this grommet plug. So this will be the road I continue down while I try to replace my rubber cover.

edit:
These are the dimensions for this piece (in mm). Just in case anyone wants to use them to try to find a more suitable replacement.

 

Tom,

A quick postscript on the fittings: It occurred to me that you may have awarded the "finger" to the wrong party. I remembered that some years back there was a vendor selling a replacement hose set for our cars that required replacing all of the fittings with those of a different size.

(I know what you're thinking; beats me.)

Anyway that may be the source of the funky fittings you came across. Just a guess.

 

It looks like whichever owner it was suffered a "green shower" and then retrofitted those lines on the pump & front top latch only - the rest of the fittings (and hoses) look bog-standard to me.