Not contradicating you....just curious, if the timing chain is never removed from the sprokets on the cam, how can the timing change?

 

Because if the cams are not locked down, the sprockets will move. If you want to attempt it that way, do so and let us know of the results. Experience working on these engines tells me that I would never do it other than the way it is supposed to be done.

 

If you ever get to the Tampa area, I would pay you to do it!
I will never try it!!

 

I am on the east coast, so I am sure that day will come soon enough.

 

Say when, my email: donzikid@yahoo.com

Ted

 

What year is your car? Does it make noise?

 

2000, no noise, has 65,000 miles

 

Once it starts to rattle on startup......holla

 

Ok, will do,
thanks

 

Hello, first time poster here hopefully I am not doing wrong but have a few questions.I am wondering why they ask me for a engine number on my 2001 XJR when I try to order the tensioners from WorldPak, my hookup for Jag parts. I priced the secondary tensioners from my local dealer and they want over a $100 a piece and am getting a better deal from WorldPak. I will have the engine out so am looking to do it all, chains guides and tensionersfor hopefully way less than the grand or so I am getting quoted from other sources.

 

Greetings,

I'm a recent newbie here too, and I'm reluctant to create any waves by dropping offers. Please contact me privately for your requirements, or consult with the advertisers of this forum for other alternative sources.

 

I appreciate the response and I will be in touch. I am just new to the Jag scene and am finding it a bit of a mystery as far as finding suitable aftermarket parts thatreasonably priced. $975 fora timing chain kit now give me a break!!

This is awfully reminiscent of the days gone by when I was repairing my first 3.8 liter Merc engine with the weak single row timing chain, you would have thought that Jaguar would have possibly learned a bit by other makers previous mistakes, even more so as twenty years or so earlier if my recollection is correct. At least with the Merc you could upgrade it to a double row.

 

Hey Chas,

It really comes down to how proactive you want to be about future problems, or about correcting any symptoms your engine has now. Some dealerships and repair shops insist on replacing primary and secondary chains and tensioners, as well as V V T assemblies, to insure the car won't come back for a chain noise. One dealer I know of also sells customers new cam covers with the job, and I can't make any sense of that unless it's because they don't think it is cost effective to clean the breather screens.

The chains only fail because the tensioners fail, and it's only the secondary tensioners that will lead to a catastrophic failure. There is currently a thread about an '04 engine that broke a primary chain, but that was probably due to an incorrectly assembled or machined cylinder head. For all I've seen and read about this issue, nobody else ever lost a primary chain... just cases of chain noise from stuck primary tensioners.

 

Changing the cam covers is bs. Lazy on part of tech not wanting to clean them and replace gaskets. Vvt shouldnt be changed unless they are stuck.
The labor should be similar wherever you go. We charge around 1300 for labour including compression testing etc. Sounds like alot but it is alot of work.

 

I am not real sure what happened to my engine as I bought the car at an auction with it damaged, it did run but was knocking slightly and missing badly. I pulled the plugs and did a compression test and found a couple dead cylinders, took the camshaft covers off and found evidence of some bent valves but the chains looked to be tight. I could see a couple of intake valves bent over towrds the sparkplug holes on a couple of cylinders. I am somewhat suspecting that the engine was overheated badly and may have dropped some valve seats but haven't got the heads off yet to be sure. The oil looked nasty, kinda red in color with a trace of watery oily sludge here and there. I talked with a local Jag mechanic and he advised me not to bother repairing this engine so I bought another wrecked 2001 for parts, hopefully the engine in it is good so I can maybe just update the upper tensioners and be done with it. I gotta be careful because with nearly ten grand in both cars now I am starting to get close to the price that would make this whole ordeal not worth it.

I think the brand new radiator and some signs of curb rash under the front suspension makes me think the radiator was knocked out and someone continued to drive it until it cookd the engine, somewhere I heard that the temp guages on these cars are not very reliable or am I wrong?

 

Greetings Chas,

Every bit of that makes good sense, although I have not seen any overheated v8's with bent valves. Best verification was mentioned by FJT in another thread, which is to perform a cylinder leakdown test with the camshafts removed. Checking the valve clearancesfirst will usually reveal a problem, but it sounds like you already know you have a big one.

The XJ8/XK8temperature gauges are not responsive, many of these engines overheated from thermostat and waterpump impellor failures and the gauge stays at midpoint after the failure. The engine temperaturedoes not.

Your deduction about the radiator is logical: these radiators are not prone to any sort of failure unless they are damaged from rough driving or roughwrenching.

I have done exactly what you are doing with several XJ8's, and you have to make alot of decisions to make your investment aprudent one. I'm doing a '98 XJ8L and a 2000VDP right now. As a minimum, Iallways change the secondary tensioners and cam cover gaskets, thermostat, and water pump on the replacement engine. Keep enough money in reserve to service the transmission: you can drain the converter while the engine is out, and not risk driving the car until you have a fresh filter and fluid in it.

Please get in touch with me off-list, we may be able to work out some even swaps foritems since you have a good source. That keeps costs down for both of us.

 

I don't know if maybe I was too quick to buy the second parts car but I guess it might be good to tear the engine down first and see what happened to make it bend the valves. I just wanted to keep my options open if I got into the position of needing another engine. The first car is a XJR with only 54K miles so I guess it would be kinda premature for it to have tensioner problems. The parts car whichis a rolled theft recovery has a few more miles on itbut I couldn't be real picky I suppose as XJR's are not exactly plentiful in the scrap yards around here.

Oh yeah do you happen to know when the bad impeller problem seemed to plague the V8's?

 

I bought my 2001 VDP with a blown motor. The coolant leaked from the expansion tank and they kept driving it. It dropped two valve seats and blew both head gaskets. Due to the fact that if heads are damaged (they are normally repairable) you would have to remove the heads anyway. While you are there, you will have all the chains off along with the timing cover. At this point, definitly replace the primary and secondary chains and tensioners. Better doing it now and a very cost effective way to prevent future failures. I will post a pick here of the piston with the dents in it from the valves hitting it. Oh....also a very cost effective way to buy a Jaguar too btw. Worthless with a blown motor.

 

So FJT, if they overheat they are repairable.... I am maybe thinking I jumped the gun by purchasing the parts car now, how much did the gaskets, partsand machine workcost you to repair the engine? (I paid$2900 for the parts car)

Looks as if I have two worthless Jags at the moment, one with a blown engine and they other with a totaled out body, hopefully I'll havea usefulJagrunning in a fewweeks or so.

 

WOW , this is a popular thread, lol

its very interesting to see peeps take on whether the job needs to be done or not, and in what way , and how far to go..


as originally posted, i had done 90k miles and from the reports of the tensioners demise i decided to replace the upper ( secondary exhaust ) tensioners,
the local Jaguar dealership quoted me £1200 to do the job , that included the new tensioner parts, but none of the gaskets, which were all shot, so also needed replacing,

its not very clear in my description, but both cam covers have to be removed, and both heads locked down to stop movement, as removing the chain on one side will let the other side move , i did not however need to install the torque converter bolt as i was not removing the primary chains , some would say its still advisable, and i would agree, but it involves getting under the car and removing the sensor to replace it with the bolt...

i have now done 4k miles sine the change, mostly motor way driving @ 70-mph, with no problems or noises of any kind,i carried out a full oil flush and change with a new filter after the job, to ensure all the small bits of contaminants are removed from he engine


good to see a healthy interest in this job.....

BB