I bought a 2001 S Type in 2006, in mint condition, low mileage and full service history. Within a few weeks it began misfiring on one cylinder, so I took the car to the Jaguar main agent in Cape Town and was told it wont take long to sort out and I could wait. A couple of hours later I was told my car was ready and presented with a bill of R650 (around $60) for one replacement spark plug and labour. I was charged R300 (about $35) for the spark plug! I nearly fell over.

A year later my car was due a major service, I dreaded to think what the main agent would charge, so I approached a local garage if they could give my car a full service including all the filters, specifying platinum spark plugs and a certain grade and type of engine oil, yes they said. R3000 (about $300) and later that day my car was ready. that's when my problems started.

I got the car home and began to check the car over and found that the air box hadn't been properly closed, and then the car began to misfire on tick over, running around town and on the highway. I phoned the garage and related the problems and was told to bring it back, yea right. With their poor standard of workmanship, I dreaded the damage they would do and refused.

I was told by a friend of mine of a local garage that works only on Jaguars, he does good work and fair (read that sensible) prices. I found the garage in a back street and was amazed at the cars he was working on, original 3.8 S Type, Mk10, XK8, Mk2, series one E Type coupe. I was in Jaguar heaven.

I left the car with him and went home, and hour later he phoned and said that he had found the problem, the fuel filter had never been changed in the life of the car (a filter I had paid for at the previous garage) and was blocked solid.

At present I am waiting for a phone call to collect my car, and hopefully the end to my problems.

 

Good find , I am happy for you . It is very surprising how on earth such a replaceable part was not changed , keep us updated .

 

Sounds like you found a good guy now, good luck!

 

Some people don't care nothing besides putting cash in their pocket. Even if that screws someone else.

Glad you found the fix, and your new shop.

 

Hey that describes my ex-wife perfectly. Especially the "screws someone else" part ...

 

ha ha ha, now that's funny... er I mean that's not good.

 

Sometimes it is hard to find a decent and trustworthy shop. That is the reason I started to DIY my cars, I trust myself.

 

Yep, you gotta be able to DIY the majority of maintenance and issues on these cars in order to keep them affordable. With the correct documentation and the assistance of this forum, it can be done by most guys who own a moderate set of tools and are willing to get their hands dirty....

 

I use to do most of my own work on various cars over the years, however, nowadays thanks to the effects of various injuries when serving in the military, I can no longer do so.

 

Sorry to hear you can't DIY so let's hope you've now found a good technician.

You could read up on typical failures to get an idea of the most likely jobs.

Maybe start by reading about tensioners. A hot topic for the 4.0 engine!

Chances are you can ignore Nikasil issues but that depends on current fuel quality so at least do a bit of reading and thinking.

 

I was reading about the timing chain failures and the Nikasil issues and began to panic a bit, when I went to the Jaguar main dealer (where the car was bought new and serviced) in Cape Town to sort out the original misfire, I spoke to a service tech who stated my engine was a later type that didn't have those issues.

I also did a bit of research and found that steel lined 4 litre engines started at engine number 00 08 18 10 43, mine is 01 04 19 19 49, but thank you for the warning.

An update on my car. I went to collect my car and was shown a very rusty fuel filter that was taken off, he then up ended the filter and brown sludge came out. I was told that a full diagnostic test was carried out and mentioned a hiccup once in a while with the fuel pump. To cut a long story short an upper cylinder lubricant was added and told to drive the car 350 miles, then bring it back so that the injectors and pump can be rechecked and if needed serviced. On the drive home the car behaved and drove like it should. All in all I think I've found a good tech to work on my car

 

I thought NO 4.0s were made with the revised tensioners. If that's the case then you've been misled. I hope someone can say more (or it may be in old posts).

I'd be wary about the Nikasil issue but what matters is what the fuel is like now. Low sulphur and you'll be OK.

 

Now I am starting to panic again.

I'll get the chap to check the tensioners when I take the car back after I have clocked up the 350 miles that he requested.

I'm not sure about the low sulphur petrol, I do know however, that its only recently that diesel changed to low sulphur

 

I think that the later 4.Os did have updated tensioners, a date has been mentioned but I beleive that the engine number is the only accurate way to tell.
IMHO the best way is to pop the covers off.

Read this thread. https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...defused-61468/

 

Thanks for the info.

I've been checking google to find something about the engine serial number that tensioners were changed. It also appears that even the 2nd generation also gave trouble.

 

Yes. You are correct. It took three generations of tensioners before they got it right. Your car should have the 2nd generation. Don't get too worried but pay attention to engine noises. Nearly everyone who has problems noticed noise and uneven running. Remember as the tensioners lose grip it starts to effect the valve timing.
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The 2nds were the same as the 1sts with a spring added, allegedly these are prone to letting go without any rattle warning.

 

My 2001 4.0, which was built late 2000, had spring on the plastic tensioners. What I remember reading somewhere here in the forums, the metal bodied tensioners appeared August 2001 in some 0081xx engine.

But according to this post in XJ forums those were already for 2002 model year.

 

You can change them yourself and others have. Attached is a complete history of the timing chain tensioners and instructions on what parts to order and how to do the repair. Yes the metal body version is the latest.
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You should take the original fuel filter with you and go back to the repair facility that ripped you off and got your money back. I hate scam artists.