I have a 2012 XF 5.0L with 55K miles. Things have been great other than a water pump, some coolant system related plastic pipes/ hoses changed a while back. Been maintained at Jaguar dealership with regular 5k Oil changes.

Went for an oil change at the dealership. Since timing chain has been a problem area for these cars as miles go up, requested them to have a look at/ listen in. They didn't do any specific diagnostics work as there will be additional charges for it but as part of the multi point inspection gave their findings. As per the mechanic "Upon removing oil cap and grabbing chain it has small movement. Estimates quarter to half inch loose"

How bad these can get? My service adviser said it can go without any issues for another 5 years or it can break on your way home. I think he was trying to comfort me.

Should I be taking second opinion from someone? Spending a ton of money at dealership is out of question. Since I am not even doing an oil change myself, you can imagine how mechanically inclined I am to work on these. What are my options?

 

Is there a 'rattle' from the engine when starting cold?

It doesn't hurt to obtain a second opinion.

 

I’m gonna call BS on this. Never worked on the 5.0 L but I seriously doubt you can open up the oil filler cap and move a camshaft or touch the timing chain to determine if the timing chain is loose.

EDIT- maybe im wrong. I just pulled up a picture of the 5.0 L engine and the oil filler cap is up in front by the chain so maybe it’s possible. So ignore my previous statement

 

The Jaguar Land Rover V8 5.0 engine has a design flaw in the timing chain tensioners. This defect was fixed in 2012-2013 but the 5.0 V8 engines manufactured until then (including yours) will need to be repaired within approximately 100,000 miles. Your options are:

1.-Wait for the engine to start making ticking/ratling noises due to the timing chain being too loose. Noises may appear after cold starting or after warm start, mine for example made more noise after warm start.

2.- Since the defect of the tensioners is already noticeable when pressing the chain through the oil cap (loose chain), you could take the car to an official dealer or a good mechanic to change everything: chains, tensioners, guides and sprockets. This option is very expensive, especially at an official dealer.

3.- Take the car to a good mechanic or official dealer and tell him that you want to change only the tensioners and the chain guides.using the official zip tie method. This is the option that I chose for my car and is obviously much cheaper, I did it myself and now the engine runs perfect and very smooth. Attached the official Jaguar pdf file in which the whole process is explained step by step.

 

Thanks xfportfolio, I see the procedure requires the removal of the engine mount on the left side (as you look at the engine from the front of the car). Was that actually necessary? I also see that only the tensioned chain guides are replaced. Did you also replace the fixed sides?

Thanks in advance.

 

Good question and no, it is not necessary to remove the engine mount and the fuel lines, I don't know the reason why they say you have to do it but I skipped that part.

I only changed the hydraulic tensioners and the guide/blade on which the tensioner affects, because if you remove the fixed guide there is a risk for the chain to jump. I had some doubts about how to mount the tensioners but finally with the help of Davetibbs in this forum I managed to adjust them correctly. This is the forum post

 

Thanks xfportfolio. Appreciate your details response

Regarding option 2, Dealer already gave me a quote for changing everything $4k for labor and $5k for parts Total of $9k I will see what my options are regarding 3

 

Well, I spent in parts about 400 british pounds from lrparts.net + shiping to Spain (£20). Land Rover parts are cheaper and exactly the same.

Regarding labor I don´t know, you should ask the dealer for a quote

 

Always a good idea to put your location in your sig there are lots of people from all over on here that may be able to steer you to a good indy

 

so how loud or noticeable is this "noise" when starting?
and what kind if sound is it?

also would this type of repair be covered under extended warranty?

 

The noise is described here. In my case the noise was perfectly audible from inside the car on warm restarts.