Our featured service is a 2001 Jaguar XKR Convertible Top Fluid Leak Repair, brought to us by a client from Kerrisdale, Vancouver.
One of the frequent failures on the beautiful Jaguar XKR convertible is rupturing of the hydraulic hoses to the convertible top latch. The leak becomes very evident to the owner as green oil leaks out of the top of the windshield/roof front attachment area above the console. The condition is known as the “green shower.” Once this occurs the top will no longer latch and must be moved up and down by hand.
So common is the issue that Jaguar sells a hose repair kit. It comes complete with newly designed lines and all the fittings to couple to the existing hoses down in the door pillar area.
While the repair kit is expensive and the job time consuming it is far easier and significantly less costly than changing the complete hoses to the rear of the vehicle where the hydraulic pump and valves are located.
To complete the service we cleaned the leaked fluid from inside the car. Considering how damaging an oil leak could be to the beautiful interior of this car, things cleaned up well. For the owner no evidence of the leak remained and the roof moved up and down as it was meant to.
Jaguar, for many years had a reputation as a finicky sports car, in the shop more frequently than on the road. With these Ford era Jaguars (1989 to 2008) the cars have become very reliable. As with most fancy European cars, their value slides precipitously and many models can be purchased used for a bargain price. The downside is that repairs can be expensive but if you’re prepared for that, you can drive a very luxurious vehicle for a fraction of the price of a new model.
For more information about the Jaguar XKR click here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaguar_XK