I bought a 2000 S Type, 4.0 V8 with only 48K miles last week. I am curious if I should replace my secondary tensioners or is there a way to find out if they are made of metal?

Do you think the main timing chain tensioners and guides are also made of plastic like in older models?

I can do the secondary chain tensioner work myself but i don't have proper tools to do a complete job of changing the front guides. I know jaguar made some changes to correct this problem but not sure if they addressed the main timing chain guides and tensioners as well on this model?

Any help will be appreciated

 

They are very unlikely to have been changed so will be plastic. They and associated parts will fail, it's just a matter of time.

There are existing threads, some with pics. XK8 has same 4.0. Example https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...ailure-126567/

JTIS is free download for workshop manual, be sure to get it.

 

No. Your only solution is to change all secondary and primary tensioners as well as all the chains. Anything less and you are still a ticking time bomb.

Yes the metal tensioners still have some plastic in them. Just a whole lot less than the earlier ones. You need some plastic so the shoe can push on the chains to keep them tight. If that part was metal you would get metal shavings all thru the engine which would destroy it in short order!


These are the 3rd generation ones that so far seem to last.






.
.
.

 

I helped a friend do his but I was really more just a watcher. he also had the NA Jag service director helping him do the job. None of us were practiced technicians for this job including the director! He had to call a couple of his top notch guys a few times. It took us 10 hours, the use of a couple of specialized alignment tools (I don't remember which ones) and a boatload of parts which got a dealer wholesale thnak god. Lots and lots of gaskets and all sorts of little bits. Almost everything that's plastic that had to be removed even if just for access broke!

I had to do this on another car, 90 Q45 and that was at 120K miles. All kinds of other stuff was done like water and oil pumps etc. That was $7K at a shop.

Same exact issue too.

Moron design engineers.