I've pulled a lotof wrenches in my day. Last big job I did I pulled a dead motor from my Merkur/Sierra, pulled one from a donorMerkur and then put the motor in the good car. Did that in a day.

Pulling the timing cover off a V8 s-type and replacing a chain? DEAR GOD.

Top covers. Cooling. Fan. Two cam covers. Serpentine belt. Pulleys. Tensioner. Harmonic damper. All off. Not a big problem actually. The most cursing was trying to get the extension knuckle on the 148 bolts that are hard to get at on the cam covers....

To get the timing cover off on a 2000 s-type is not how it is depicted in the PDFs or magazine excertps from the XK8. You have to remove the alternator. Then the bracket. Just to get ONE bolt from the timing cover off.

THEN. To get one bolt off on the other side you must remove the a/c compressor to remove the power steering pump to remove the bracket. The a/c compressor is easy to unbolt. It does NOT move out of the way without removing and degassing. and there is a big chunk of superfluous metal on the pan that gets in the way. So suffice to say you work AROUND it in a home garage. And to work around this pump you have to get at 4 impossibly longbolts that hold the power steering pump on. One is so tight in there that there is a hydraulic fitting the gets in theway. Of course it's a goofy 18mm fitting that I don't have a wrench for.

So after some cursing and creative box end wrench flipping I got it off. Timing cover off. replacing the noisy chain and the lower tensioners and guides was easy. I had recently done the top tensioners but the noise persisted and I then knew it had knackered the chain. So replaced everything, tensioned it up nice with the jag tools and put the cover back on.

Now to put that stupid bracket back on. I get it all on and the the last two bolts won't go in. The wholes setup is bolt sleeved so it placed the threads perfectly. I tried in vain to get them in.So I have to take the power steering pump off a second time (this takes WAAAAAAY too long to do) to feed the bolts in loosely. Then put the alternator on. Not fun. Ok got it. Now to do the easy top end stuff.

No such luck. The dipstick has come out. 45 minutes later I get it back in the sump. Christ. Button everything up and drive out the air bubble in the coolant.

18 hours later I'm done. I saved a boatload of cash doing it myself. It runs and sounds great. Unless you REALLY know what you're doing don't attempt this mid-life maintenance/fix yourself. Just pay someone to do it. Wife looks funny at you when you come in from the garage at 5:30 am two night in a row.

 

Nice, any pics of the work? How much did the job run you?

 

lol i do it every day..

 

For free ? LOL

 

I feel for you man. I really do. That goddamn powersteering pump bolt.... I'll hand it to Jag, the NVH engineers REALLY made sure that bracket wouldn't vibrate and a certain frequency for sure.

I really do appreciate the work you do. When people scoff at service prices I always tell them "Ever done this yourself and had FUN?"

I just couldn't do it for a living. I used to restore cars out of high school for a local hot rodder and painted/disassembled/restored a fair number of crappy vehicles that should have just gone to the crusher. Not my cup of tea anymore.

I look at my Merkur that sits in storage now with it 400 horse engine and all the issues that come with keeping it going. But man SO easy to work on. I can replace the alternator in about 5 minutes. Cam belt is $12 and I can do it in about 6 minutes. Turbo is off in under 30.

I love both my cars.

 

Ah the good Ol days!! I remember them well.

 

lol.....now you have done that, I am assuming a 4.0 V8? Try going to the 4.2
I for one appreciate your words of encouragement. People like you make it worth while continuing to do what we do.
You should be proud of yourself for getting it done in that time. I can tell you from experience though, if you ever go in there again, at home, do yourself a favor and pull out the motor. Will be much easier in the long run and probably cut down your time by half.

 

You need special tools. If it is going well, just leave it alone. If you are going to go in there just to look....you would be aswell to change them.

 

I bet you have either had the tensioners serviced and don't know it (assuming you bought used) or b) they are cracked/broken and you don't know it. Only once one REALLY fails does it become apparent with noise on startup or constant noise.

Yes, the top ones are the noisy ones that need replacing. My lowers were is very good shape. The top ones can be replaced easily with no front cover removal. There is a thread on this forum that details that. They should be inspected and at least replaced.

If the tops really go and they tweak your chain (like mine) you are looking at a major job lik emine was to replace a chain. Even worse if the chain breaks. It's not a BANG and it's dead situation. You are given plenty of time to inspect and replace if need be.

Pull both cam covers off and inspect for cracks. It takes enough to get the cam covers off that I'd replace the top tensioners while you are thereanyway. To do the top tensioners you will need special tools. I rented mine off ebay.

 

I experienced a broken tensioner where the chain was so loose it flopped around and rattled. So had a mechanic change my tensioner and timing chain.

He swore he wont ever work on another Jag engine after this experience and stated that it would of been easier to pull the engine out of the car work on it, then put it back.

I still have major problems after he replaced the tensioner and chain.
My 2001 S-type showed codes p300 and p341, which are over advanced timing and multiple misfires and over a year later still shows the codes even after getting new plugs.

The over advanced timing code is worrying me that he did not do a complete job. I believe he cut corners and slapped it back together.

The vehicle runs like a 4 banger and not a v8. The power of the 8 is not there anymore.

Did he forget to align anything up while changing the timing / cam chain?
Any advice will be helpful

Thank you

 

Sorry to worry you but I'm struggling to see how you can get a proper answer by asking on a forum. I think you'll need a competent tech who has the car in front of him/her.

 

I'm in the middle of rebuilding my 03 s type r. I've installed new chains and tensioners . They sell the kit on eBay to lock the cams in place and also comes with 2 locking keys for the flywheel. I have the shop drawings for that year if it would help I'll send em to you. Mikejacobs102@gmail.com mine wasn't as bad because the engine is out of the car and on a jac stand . I couldn't imagine doing this in the car holy **** !

 

Congrats on getting the job done. I've done it and learned quickly that the single bolt on the cover and the dipstick should have put an engineer in jail for that mess. Haha