Any trick to replacing the serpentine belt on an '02 VDP? Which pulley releases tension? On another car (Durango) the spring that provides the tension commonly fails and the tensioner needs to be replaced with the belt; anything similar?

 

See enclosed, I presume your car is N/A.

I found it the easiest to remove / install the belt from / on the waterpump pulley, but I am left handed and stand on the left side of the car.

There are cases where people advise to replace the tensioner, but I think that is more bearing than spring related.
Anyway, as long as everything runs smooth, without noise, I don't think there is a need to replace anything besides of the belt.
With the belt off, just check every pulley on spin and play.

 

If your idler and/or tensioner pulley are plastic, it's worth replacing them with steel ones, at the very least due to age, if not that the bearings are probably worn out. The replacement steel pulleys are interchangeable between the two, the mounting bolts are not. Tensioner pulley bolt is reverse threaded.

Agreed on the water pump, though I'm right handed and stand on the right of the car when pulling belt, I think I end up crossing my arms but it's easier to me to pull rather than having to push against the tensioner. A 1.5ft breaker bar with a 15mm socket, or a long spanner, also makes maneuvering easier than a short wrench.

 

Thanks, Guys. That couldn't be easier, and I appreciate the illustration you attached.

 

Can the hood be tilted past vertical by removing the strut clips to gain better access? I saw that done on an XK8 on You Tube.

 

I think it can be done, but I am pretty sure you will need to remove your grill surround, otherwise you will scrape the hood (and the leaper if you have one) on it.
You will also need to secure the hood from opening further than 90 degrees, cause I don't think there are any stops provided by Jaguar, they are just 2 hinges.

I did the same on my XJ-S (which opens much less then the XJ8), by having a rope on each side, working like catches, and a solid bar to prevent it from closing.

If you really need to do a lot of work, it is easier to remove the complete hood, not a lot of extra work.

 

+1 on replacing with metal pulleys. While they may seem ok (they are actually fiberglass, not plain plastic), plastic ages rapidly in the heat of the compartment, and if they shatter or break the belt or the bearing tightens up and messes up the belt...you don't want to see what a flailing serpentine belt can do underneath the hood (BTDT when the garage replaced one in a car a long time ago with a cheap 'autoparts store' quality replacement. Left my car stranded 75 miles from home...)

Use OEM or good quality from any of the usual parts suspects on the forum. If you're replacing the pulleys...go for the belts, too. Cheap enough, and 'you are already in the neighborhood' anyway.