What are the tensioner and why the suggestion.

 

Re Paul's post ............



Jeff - You have a beautiful car - enjoy. Perhaps more so in the US, but even here in the UK, many owners with early (97/98/99) cars have taken great care, and gone to quite some expense, to "improve" the looks and/or specification of their cars. Mine - a 1997 car - has 'modified' exhausts, a 'modified' grille (several hundred pounds), the 'modified' rear boot plinth, and a few other small things to make it just a bit different and "unique". None of that is in the service history / maintenance record.

Any previous owner who has gone to the time / trouble / expense of doing what has been done to your car has probably treated it well so apart from checking tensioners, cooling system, hoses etc (just do a search) - you probably have a car which will keep its value, and give you many miles of great fun.
But ............. it's a 4.0 naturally aspirated XK8 not a supercharged XKR

 

What is the ....plinth....and why check tensioners? A great suggestion to look at the back of the vents.....I presume under the hood? I will check tonight and let all know. I really don't care what I have other than a great riding and looking Jag. I'm just repeating what I've been told by others who know more than me when asked. But thanks for the help from everyone. Piece by piece I will check and maybe we will find out what Ritzy really is!............Thanks........Jeff

 

The original tensioners are plastic and can self destruct taking your engine with them, there is an updated tensioner that is fairly simple to install, a forum search will reveal all.
Here is a recent thread different model same tensioners https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...o-late-148895/

 

 

As written by Jamdmyers:
The early 2000 model US import XKR's had Jaguar on the left they dropped it on the 2001 model and I think to 2003 A newer design was installed in 2004

 

You are going to need to get close to the area circled in yellow with a bright light to see the table and the embossed dots.

 

Reedmtn
Look at the fourth vent from the top on the back I can see the date code is there. but can't read it. I agree with all of the others that the PO added these options after it left the factory In all of the books written about the XK-8 and XKR there is no mention of any prototypes such as yours. The prototypes that are mentioned Jaguar listed all of them. I'm not at home and I can't check right now but I think they list the vin #'s. The British market received these vehicles a year earlier than state side.

 

Not to bring this up, but this car looks really really great for a 97. Are the brakes and suspension right for an XKR. What type of transmission is in the car, because that is the one piece that can't be swapped out of an XKR. Is there still the factory sticker on the latch post? The engine can, be swapped and sold, with a few wires left over. Not that I want to lay my cards out, but I was working in a body shop, when I was 14 thru 17. We would get cars in, and pull the engines, because back then the engine numbers matched the chassis, and could be explained that the engine blew, and was replaced. We would buy the title and Vin from the dash of a wrecked car at a salvage yard, and had a car, that could be sold in another market for like 95% profit. We always had a supply of rivets for different manufacturers. This is how I got a new purple 73 340 4spd Challenger(in 74) I had 3/4 of the money saved up for it, and my boss bought the car in his name. I didn't want a stolen car. I figured things out, when I was 15, but the money was real good for someone my age. We put some used brake and clutch pedal rubbers in it, and I told my folks I put it together from a wreck. We sprayed it with the purple color on the dog house, so it smelled like a rebuild. I paid my boss back the balance, and things were Jake. Where are the hidden numbers on the body of an XKR? Everything I have seen can be easily replaced.....Be cool....Mike

 

And....


... makes one think that the trunk was possibly modified around 2001, or the trunk lid was taken from a 2001.

It will be interesting to see if that date lines up with the hood. If so, that may be the time frame that the car was dressed as an XKR.



Reedmtn, the "plinth" is the chrome piece above your license plate.

Also, have you thought about tracking down previous owners and asking them for any important info they may recall/know about the car?

And, respectfully, based on many of your responses, it sounds like you have a lot of opportunity to learn about the terminology and "issues" related to your car that are important. I'd suggest reading all the "sticky" posts in this forum, spend some time just reading various thread topics and come up to speed with suggested items to check for a first time buyers. That will help you enjoy the car long term and relatively trouble free

For example, the timing chain tensioner issue is a major concern and one you should verify as soon as possible as it is an almost guaranteed eventual engine destroyer if not addressed after all this time. As mentioned earlier, your car seems to have been well taken care of, and if someone went to the trouble to update it to look like an XKR you have a fair chance that it was also mechanically well maintained. But you don't know unless you check.

.

 

Here is the engraving....hopefully you can read it and tell me what it says. I'm feeling more and more like, as everyone has said, this car has had numerous modifications. That is certainly alright by me as the beauty of this car and the way it looks and rides was the reason I chose it over numerous others available. It appears the PO put a lot of love and money into this car to make it look as it does and I'm happy with that. THANK YOU EVERYONE for educating me. The frustrating thing is what the 2 dealers had told me.....that nothing had been changed. That obviously was the opinions of 2 who did not really even care. I have been a Cadillac enthusiast for many years and we

love Ritzy and are happy to be a part of the Jaguar family!

 

Should I be concerned about the tensioners in a 97 model? Is there anything else I NEED to have checked right away. The car has 45673 miles on it. Thanks....Jeff

 

Yes, you should be concerned. It really doesn't matter the miles, the cost to fix a destroyed motor is huge compared to the cost of checking and then possibly replacing the tensioners.

 

The other thing you need to check is the water pump and thermostat housing. The early housings were made of plastic and are prone to failing, same with the water pumps.

 

hard to see in the photo but the date code looks like an April 2000 to me.

 

You bought it at a used car dealer in Jupiter, didn't you? I gave it a quick lookover on behalf of a friend who's interested in buying an XK8. Fantastic condition - zero wear on the seats and the canvas top looks brand new. So new that I suspect it's been replaced. The dealer was asking top dollar because of the condition and low miles. By the way, take everything he says with a grain of salt. Oh, and it's not "Moroccan" Red, which is a black cherry (I know the dealer called it this, and I corrected him). It's Carnival Red.

Enjoy it - she's a beauty.

 

Exactly right. European Auto in Jupiter. Did you notice all of the different changes to this car and what did you think about that. I am not a collector or purist, so I wasn't looking for original and I loved all the differences this car has. It does bother me that they swore everything was original as it didn't make sense.....thus this thread and the questions. I was able to get a Carchex warranty on it so I drove it away with peace of mind and believe it or not, it was less expensive than the ones I looked at over here on the west coast. I have a hard time believing it's an 18 year old car, but the car fax shows it clean with 3 Florida only owners. It drove well and was beautiful and made it back to Naples without a problem so we are pleased. Thanks for the clarification on the coloring.....Carnival red. Sounds good to me. I'm glad you did buy it for your friend.

 

Yes, it's been modified to look like an XKR. And as someone previously pointed out, this is a relatively simple modification.

Like I said, don't trust the dealer. He'll tell you the tensioners have been done. Ask to see the paperwork on it.

 

Did you ask specifically about anything like the tensioners? I had several recommendations about the dealership and the auto work they do on expensive cars so I trusted them. But my trust only goes so far....thus the extended warranty which was expensive but a great piece of mind.

 

Yes, and he said they were done. But you should verify this. And I just remembered one fault with the car. Have you tried using the vanity mirrors? They both need repair - a common flaw with these cars.

Incidentally, my '94 Vanden Plas is Moroccan Red. Here's a shot of it when it was still on the showroom floor: