I am getting closer and closer to pulling the trigger on a 2014 x351. I have test driven 2 different vehicles and love the interiors (wish I could get the 351 interior in my x308 exterior). But the two things stopping me from buying one tomorrow:
First I have been reading lots of posts here on the timing chains, and it seems like these might be even more a nightmare than my x308. One post even suggested the upgraded tensioners aren't good and they wanted to make their own.
Does anyone know the frequency of the need for timing chain/tensioner repair ? Most of the cars I am looking at have over 90,000 miles. is this like the plastic tensioners in the x308 where every car at some point over 100k is going to need this repair no matter what ?
Is the repair as expensive as the older x308 ? I have friends and family that have had Audi and VW timing chains jobs completed under $2,000. My x308 has had most shops refuse to do it (saying its too complicated and has no markings) while others quote $3-$4,000 twice as much as most other vehicles. is the X351 going to be similar where no one will have the specialized tools and give outrageous quotes ?

The other thing stopping me from getting the x351 is there are a few 2005 and 2006 xj8s with low mileage that are available (cheaper or equal in price to the x351) and even though they don't offer the modern feel of the x351 I think they might be more economical and more bullet proof for a daily driver type scenario than the newer car because of the timing issues.

Any thoughts

 

Edward, I think you are leaving out a key part to your question. Are the motors that you are looking at supercharged? The supercharged engines seem to need the timing chains done sooner. I had a 2012 XJ with 5.0L engine and was up at over 140K miles with no signs of needing to change the timing chain components. I am at 90K miles on a 2016 3.0L supercharged engine and so far the engine seems pretty quiet. I think part of it depends on the oil you use and how often you change it. I have religiously changed the oil in the XJ's at 7500 miles using the higher end full synthetic oils. DO NOT!!!!!! go the full 15K (some even say 20K) miles between oil changes. I think you will find that cars that do the longer oil change intervals have more issues.

The other thing that I would consider is the cooling system. I would consider that more of an issue than the timing chains. There are kits out there now for the motors that replace a lot of the plastic parts with cast aluminum. So far, these seem to be far superior to the factory plastic pieces. I have a set of parts sitting at my house waiting for when I need to do another water pump.

 

Very good advice - My wife's 2012 NA AJ133 has 163k miles and it's as smooth and quiet as when we bought it about 8 or 9 years ago.
I do plan on replacing the tensioners & tensioner rails maybe later this year.
I replaced them a couple months ago on my 2012 Range Rover with the same engine (also at 161k miles at the time), and they didn't look too bad. The only sign of wear was where the tensioner plunger contacts the rail. Chain contact surfaces of the rails looks perfectly good.




I have replaced all the cooling system parts about a year ago, before a failure could occur.
The only sign I saw then of potential failure (of all original parts) was at a seam on the rear "heater manifold"/cross-over pipe that looked like it had a slight weep, a potential failure.

 

Great pictures from Mark!

Tensioners are WAY less of a problem compared to the early engines. Especially compared to the 4.0L V-8. Very bizarre statement that those engines had no marks? Yes they did or you would have no way of timing the engine! But do note the cooling pipe problems and the after market Aluminum versions now out for the 5.0L and 3.0L engines. Those are a great upgrade on a very failure prone part of the car.

But I think you need to understand your buying an expensive luxury car that is now over 10 years old. Plus it sounds like you can't or won't DIY the repairs. At 10+ years repairs and maintenance are a guaranteed cost. I would get something with a warranty and newer with your lack of skills? Your going to be spending a LOT of money using dealers. That's IF you can find one that still works on Jaguar's! Jaguar has been slowly killing their dealer network in the US. How close is your dealer? Maybe even give them a call to see if they will work on what your planning to buy?

Maybe you have a good independent shop around? That's great but those are difficult to find too depending on where you live.

The dealership where I purchased my 2014 XJR has dropped Jaguar and is only a Land Rover dealership now.
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was this terminology just intentionally named to be confusing? Why is it called a '3.0L supercharged engine', when by definition an 'XJ Supercharged' is a 5.0 V8??

 

???
"by definition"?
The 3.0Ls are supercharged.

 

Thanks for the feedback, I unfortunately don't have much time to DIY major things. I have a two hour commute (1 hour each way) for work - so the only time I have for anything is a few hours on a weekend, and no garage - so only minor repairs for me at this time (Oil, Brakes, MAF sensors, stuff like that). Up until I bought a 98 jag I had great success with older luxury cars. An 08 Cadillac that was a dream, two Chrysler 300s that were very good, An 05 Volvo that was great for a year but then dumped its ECM/CEM, An 03 Benz that was ok - The Volvo and the 98 Jag have been my worst - the Volvo because none of the local indy garages have the Vida software to do any of the electrical module work and the JAG because every local shop has a nightmare story about working on a 70s or 80s jag and they refuse to do anything to mine. I was hoping the x351 might be more modern and like my Caddy or Benz where most of the work is more standard design and standard parts. Every local shop by me would work on my 03 Benz but only two would do anything to the 98 jag.
I had a local college auto shop that was going to do my 98 Timing Chain and Tensioners - they have done many Audis and Chevys --- but after he researched the 98 4.0 Job he said it was too complicated to do with the students (he is the one that said it had no marks) - So I was wondering if the x351 job would be similar story - too complicated, too many specialized tools or quotes that are twice as much as every other car.

The other thing I wonder - the 4.0 x308s could fail with no warning (no rattle, no check engine light, no loss of performance) are the 351s the same ? or is there plenty of warning before catastrophic failure ?

 

Also wondering if swapping the plastic coolant parts for Al - is this do able as shade tree (or backyard) Mechanic level ? Or easy enough for the kids at the local Auto college ? Does anyone have a recent ball park parts cost on swapping everything ?

Also there are two or three 2010s and 2012s near me with blown engines (hence my worry if these cars are bad by design) Has anyone heard of common engine swaps for the 351s ? I know people dropped Chevy 350s in the XJ6 and XJ12 all the time. I think I Maybe heard of people dropping ford Lincoln engines in these ?

 

Forget about an engine swap with an X351. These contemporary vehicles are computers on wheels.
My indy guy says that chain noise is very noticable and early enough to give ample warning. He says that most jobs (he's in the Baltimore/Washington corridor) run $5-6k, because "once you're in there...." replacement parts. As Chris and others mention, maintenance by PO's is the key to owning a 10-year-old luxury car.
Seductive as they are, perhaps an X351 is not for you. Unless you have another daily-driver, know that the Jag has 4" of ground clearance. While there are several members from Nordic countries owning this model, I can't imaging living in Rochester or Syracuse and having this as my only transportation. Second, it appears that you've yet to find an independent shop experienced in modern Jaguars. Like your Volvo, ours require specialized software, and unless the shop has enough potential Jaguar customers, they're not going to spring for this expense.
Before you abandon the idea of owning an X351 however, check with the local British car club in Alden. They might have some repair shop suggestions. And don't forget LandRover/Range Rover owners. I bet these are way more popular than XJs in your area. Who does their out-of-warranty work? If you can find a good shop within driving distance, you have a good chance of an enjoyable ownership experience, presuming you buy a car that's passed a PPI.

 

the model trim "XJ Supercharged" is 5.0L
thus the confusion
why is the name of the model with one engine type the same word as the descriptor of the other engine type??

 

All,

I don't want to enter the fray of which engine is which, just clarify a detail.

The 4.0 V8 DOES have timing marks. I should know, I've done the job on my old XK8. There is also a cam and crank locking kit that holds everything in place while you swop the chains and tensioners out. The marks come into play IF your old chain had jumped a tooth.

wombat

 

Yes listen to above advice and forget ANY engine swaps in these late model cars.
Yes you can do all the cooling part repairs and many have on this forum. That's why I recommended doing some searches so you can see what kind of a job it is and whether you want to attempt it.

As above I would rate the cooling system as the number one concern and the timing stuff is way down on the list. Plus again if your aware you will hear the timing chain rattle long before things fail. Not a guarantee of course but it takes thousands of miles for the tensioners to wear.

Now the cooling pipes are a definite big problem because they can and do fail quickly. Always remember with these all Aluminum engines you just can't run them hot! At the first sign of over heating shut the car down and get it towed. We have seen car after car ruined because they drove to the next exit or drove slowly home or even worse they got a high coolant temperature indication but it went away! So they kept driving the car until it was toast.

You can use who you want to work on your car BUT I would not allow students who are learning to work on my car.
What your seeing is that Jaguar produced way fewer cars than MB, BMW or just about anybody. So not much experience out there in the commercial world and many shops don't want the head ache of working on Jaguars.

Now I have to say that so far my X351 has been the best car I have owned. Reliable and not many repairs but I am now at 60K and 10+ years so things are starting to need work. But don't be afraid to work on your car. We have a good group of experienced people on the forum including several Jaguar tech's.
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You won't have anything to worry about as long as you do 5000 mile oil changes and replace your plastic pipes to metal these video's will help