I am looking at a 2001 XJ8 VandenPlas with 190,000 KMs (118,000 miles) and do not yet know the VIN # for this car. The owner does not know if the tensioners have ever been replaced - he has owned it for seven years, and it may not be possible to trace the prior owner(s) With this many miles on the engine, is it reasonable to presume that either they have been replaced, or the originals if in place are unlikely to fail having survived this long without a problem. ?? At what point did Jaguar stop using the bad tensioners ?
thank you,
David in Brighton, On. Canada

 

I read on another thread that the problem was corrected on engines built on August 13, 2001 onward. You need to check the built date on the engine.

 

And the engine number is located on the left side engine block and visible through the left side wheel arch.

The engine number literally spells out the build date. My engine # is 010201 02:41 (01=year 2001, 02=month Feb, 01=1st day, 02:41= time of day) My engine was built Feb 1st 2001 at 2:41

There have been reports of the plastic tensioners degrading at very low mileages, but also reports of them lasting over 100,000 miles. If the car in question still has the earlier plastic tensioners the owner would be well advised to upgrade to the metal style tensioners and guides.

Removal of a valve cover will reveal the secondary/upper tensioner type, but this is not absolute proof of if the primary/lower tensioners and guides have also been replaced.

Engine Number Location