Telling it like it is.

 

Ok, I may be new here, but I need to weigh in. I'm In process of buying my wife's '02 S-Type with 93k miles (long story there) only because I know the maintenance history, and would like to save the car from an untimely death. The high failure items have already been addressed (water pump, thermostat, hoses, belt, rotors, coolant recovery tank, battery, and an even longer list of wear and tear items). The body and interior are mint! Since I needed a vehicle other than a truck, this is it. It just happens to be a Jaguar. Better than picking up a stranger's unknown basket case....like a Caddy Seville.

 

Cam chain tensioners if it's 4.0L?

 

Not that I'm aware of....but this one was dealer serviced for everything except rotors...and I'll get all of the service records. Head gaskets are Achilles heels on Northstar Caddies....as are GEM modules in F-150s....so are the tensioners a DIY project?

 

If it's a 4.0 you can be almost sure they have not been done so need doing - engine's on borrowed time to destruction.

 

Paging Abonano??

He is our top tensioner guy and has done it himself. It's about as far as a DIY'er can go. Takes some special tools and I would not try it unless you are a pretty good mechanic.

Yes it's mandatory and I am sure yours are already worn and cracked.

As was said above. Don't delay in fixing this if you want to keep the car.
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yes, this job is not for the faint of heart for sure.

You need specialized tools. As JagV8 said - your engine is on borrowed time for sure. The good news is once you get the tensioners, chains and guide rails sorted before the old ones give way your good to go...

PS - My 2000 4.0 V8 engine is now closing in on 234,000 miles (with the newest generation tensioners and guide rails) and I'll put it up against any engine w/ half of the miles showing for durability.

 

I appreciate the advice! I'm No slouch with electronics or audio...but I'll leave the tensioner job to a real Jag man. If a Ford built 4.6 can go 200k and an Infiniti 4.5 can go 250k (or more....I sold that one), why shouldn't a Jag 4.0?

Anything else to address at the close to 100k mark...and while it's apart for chain and tensioner work?

 

They can and do. The 2003 and up Jags have redesigned tensioners, excellent design.

I wouldn't go boasting too much about the 4.6L Ford engine (at least the 32V DOHC version). It had some horrible durability engines when first relased. I have one in a Lincoln SUV and made sure it was the later design.

 

That old pushrod 4.6 (2v, no coil on plug garbage) has been a proven performer...but remember it's in a mass market truck. Torquey but not fast...nor fuel efficient....but it works. For the '03 and up tensioners...if I go to a Jag specialist (not a dealership), will I get an upgrade kit...or replacement crap for my '02?

 

I paid 300$ for my 2000 stype put some money in it and been driving it since..while replacing things as needed.. cheaper than a car payment plus mt wife hates it so don't have to worry about her driving it.

 

I am very sorry to hear that you are disappointed in your S type. The next few lines i write may seem a bit off topic but still... As far as reliability goes i would not say that the Jaguar is any better or worse than your standart premium car. Other than the S type I own 2 BMW s fifth series- e39 and e60. They are nice cars but as far as problems go I would say that they certainly are not maintenance and trouble free. BMW`s electrics are horrible and their steering racks brake at about 150 000 km. Some e60 models have timing chain, turbo problems, etc. The main problem with a second hand premium car is not its initial price tag but the maintenance costs later on.

 

Bang on, which is why DIY is the only way these things make sense. What the OP showed was that you would be far better off leasing a new premium car than buying an older used one if you can't do the work. My suspension needed a complete rebuild, which I did for less than $500, while I was quoted a price of $6,000 by a non-dealer shop. When you start dropping several thousands of dollars into repairs, they don't make sense, which is likely why the well-heeled get rid of them in the first place. I doubt many people who buy $100,000 cars have the time (or interest) to do their own work.

 

There are a small handful of shops that will do the work - if you supply the parts. That worked with some of the old, premium cars I had (Infiniti, Cadillac). So you can still save money with one of these. Just labor costs (no guarantee on the parts, but at least its not at dealer mark-up). And, there's another thread in this forum with a cross-reference to some Ford parts, since they're shared with like-year Thunderbirds and Lincoln LS'. I bought this car (from Der Fuhrer) only because some of this work was already done, and I'M the one who found the parts after it was hit - where the bumper sensors were FORD badged. Rockauto and Craigslist will be your friends.

 

And the wreckers. I discovered to my great chagrin yesterday that the only local wrecker who had an s-type had it crushed sometime this last month!

 

Sounds like a similar tale to mine. I bought a 2001 4.0 off a small town east Texas used car lot last summer. The ABS and traction control were throwing warning lights when I got it, but I bought it anyway, since most of the cars I've owned haven't had those features anyway.


I drove it for 3 weeks, and the transmission went out.


Embarked on the ambitious project of rebuilding the gearbox myself.


I now had a disassembled 5R55N in my shop, a tax refund check, and a line on a professionally rebuilt gearbox.


When I get it put back together, I'll still have to inspect, and most likely replace the timing chain tensioners.


And replace the leaky sensor on the power steering pump.


And replace that pesky spring in the AC compressor.


And get rid of the hideous 18" aftermarket wheels the PO put on the car.


And there's still that little ABS/TC fault to deal with.


As the old saying goes, there's nothing quite as expensive as a cheap Jaguar. I still wouldn't trade her for a Civic., though.

 

I've owned four cars, 2 T-Birds and 2 Grand Marquiss, with that 2V Ford 4.6. Three of them (including the 1996 T-Bird I'm driving now) have gone over 200K miles on those engines, and the fourth, a 2004 Grand Marquis, was totaled when I hit a deer, otherwise it would still be running strong.


None of them have struck me as being all that fast, or all that fuel efficient, but if you want an engine that will outlast the apocalypse, I heartily recommend a 2V Ford 4.6.


Oh, and the 2V engines are SOHC, not pushrod. The 1990s and earlier 5.0s and 5.8s were Ford's pushrod smallblocks.