Left bank guide was totalled.

Secondary tensioners were toast.

Cracked guide on the right bank.

Random floaters in the timing case



Last year, on an impulse, I bought a 1999 XJ8 with 220k kilometres on it for what I still believe was a very good price. It was a cheap car, nice and clean and straight, the interior was immaculate and it seemed to run OK even if a little under powered. I would have preferred the 4.0 litre engine but this was a 3.2 L and a small V8 has it's own charms, so I bought it home.

I've owned a Jag before, my last one was a 1969 series 1 XJ6 4.2 that broke my heart - I loved that car but it didn't love me back. Always loved the shape of the X300 series so figured it was time to dip the toe again. I had it serviced and given the once over by the leading Jaguar independent garage here (who charged me nearly $1000 for what was basically a glorified oil change but that's a whole other story) who gave it the thumbs up. Sadly it wasn't too long before the gremlins started making their presence felt. The "performance restricted" light would come on randomly, sometimes with no affect on performance and no readable codes but sometimes with a temporary lurching that would last 30 secs and then disappear. A couple of times if I drove a little more enthusiastically than usual it would cough and run rough for a while, then cough again and run fine.

Anyway, this is where you guys come in. I joined the forum and researched the incredibly helpful archives to diagnose what might be troubling my car and learnt all about the timing chain tensioner problems, and resolved that one day, when the opportunity arose I'd take off the valve covers and have a peek to see what generation chain tensioners have been fitted, or whether they have been upgraded. I could certainly hear the death rattle on cold starts. Much respect and gratitude to all those who have contributed to this wonderful resource for Jaguar owners!

A few weeks ago that opportunity arose, the radiator sprung a leak from the plastic side tanks and will have to be replaced so may as well tackle the tensioners as well all the other things that need doing while I have the rad out and the car is laid up. Had bit of a struggle to undo the crank damper bolt, and a mighty tussle to get the damper off the crank gave me an excuse to buy a 10 ton hydraulic puller- made light work of the damper. Took a few weeks to gather all the nessesscery special tools, but then dove in.

Under the timing cover was a real horror story! I have the original failure prone tensioners that are in awful shape. every single one of the guide was cracked and split, with the left bank outer guide broken in two with random chunks of plastic scattered throughout the timing case. I think I got to this just in the nick of time before they gave up the ghost entirely. The sump will have to come off as well to fish out and stray bits of chain guide.

A couple of questions: The 3.2 AJ26 doesn't have variable valve timing but all the forum posts and written procedures seem to be for the VVT 4 L. Am I correct in assuming it's the same procedure just simpler? My power steering is very heavy, it works but the assist is pretty lame. Is this likely to be a pump or steering rack issue?

Trevor

 

Hi Trevor and welcome aboard, we're glad to have you. The procedure is the same, the main thing is locking down the cam flats, once aligned as you have them, so as not to loose time or break a cam. Just follow the procedures by blackonyx here on this '98... Tmingi chain and tensioner replacement

I do have to say, it does look like you caught it just before she let loose and could have done some major damage. Its quite easy to remove the pan and get out all the pieces from the pickup. Be sure to run your finger around the inside of it also.

You may only need to flush your steering, though there are some instances where the seals may be bad and fluid is pushing by? If your seals are bad, I believe its Gates (an Aussie company I believe?) that makes a rebuild kit for it. That's about 1/10 the cost of a refurbished rack and something you can do yourself.

 

Excellent write up, so pleased you caught those tensioners just in time!

If I remember correctly, the A26 does have variable valve timing, but it is a two position system operating through 30degrees of intake camshaft advance, not "continuous" variable valve timing of the A27 which operates throughout 48 degrees. But as for reassembly, I believe the procedure is the same. The VVTs naturally return to their fully retarded position and should be reassembled as such. The torque settings for the VVT retaining bolt is different for the A26 and A27, the A27 bolts are hollow and require a lower torque setting. (The Supercharged XJR does not have VVT)

 

Hi everyone new here also and new jaguar owner.
I picked up a 2001 jaguar xj8 VDP just to save her from sitting under a tree another year.
She's got 97**** miles on the clock and looks good in and out.
Now so far I've flush out 13 gallons of 2,3 year old fuel, refilled half the tank shell Nitro for its high detergents, it's finally clear at the fuel rail connection.
Got a new fuel filter, more new fuel ,and injectors have been sent out for testing and cleaning , one new cheap ignition coil, new battery.
My question is Should I Remove my timing chain cover and replace all the Plastic bits???? 97k miles doesn't seem like a lot to also replace the timing chains to me...
Dont want to invest to much into this car if the drive train is going to milk me dry...

I hope it's ok to ask these questions here... This post scared me after the seen those pictures.

Thank you
Jay

This is what was in the tank...

 

Remove one or both cam covers and inspect the secondary tensioners to see if they're the latest metal version. If not, you need to replace both the primary and secondary timing chain guides and tensioners. Do not just replace the secondary tensioners as you can see from the OP's photos, the primary guides and tensioners are probably also about to fail.

 

Before the weekend I'll have the injectors back and get her running to see where I'm at... so far compression is all in the 160s cold and dry, 170s with just over an oz of oil in each cylinder again cold engine.
Then I'll order cam cover gasket kit and take a look at the tensioners.
If i can get.away with just the tensioners and guides I'll be a happy camper.
Thank you for you input.

 

I would add to drop the oil pan and clean the pick up screen. With that much crumbling, there will be stuff there.

The pan is easy to drop, and you can reuse the gasket, a 30 minute job, and I assume you would change the oil at this time anyway.

Rob

 

Well that didn't go as well as it might have. The pivot bolt on the left hand chain guide suddenly snapped flush with the head as I was removing it, with surprisingly little pressure. I can't believe how easily it broke and was surprised how it just folded like a stick of cheese, no snap or clunk or release of tension. It looks like the inside of the threaded section is hollow?

So now I've had to figure out how get the broken thread out of the hole, began by drilling the end of it somewhat to centre the hole that was already there but then in an act of stupidity (with the benefit of hindsight) whacked a 3/8 Torx bit in there thinking I could unwind it like an easy-out. Of course the Torx bit snapped off and compounded my problem tenfold with a chunk of broken hardened steel stuck in the pilot hole.

I'm so mad at myself, I did an apprenticeship as a camera technician and should know better. Subsequently I've spent the last two days with a dremel fitted with a tiny grinding tool hunched over the engine at an awkward angle digging away trying not to cause any more damage like a dentist performing a root canal. Thankfully looks like we're finally back on track. Once my back recovers and the new pivot bolt arrives I can start buttoning this up.

 

Thanks, I'll have a look for Gates kits. Is there anyway of telling if the pump is good but the rack is not, or vice versa?

 

Yes for the most part...if your having a hard time turning from lock to lock and you have a whining sound, it can almost assuredly be the pump. If yours is kind of sticking at certain points or in one direction, its most likely the seals in the wrack. But, if its not a consistent issue, I would suspect the fluid is met its maker.

Just looking at the fluid should help determine that. If its a dark murky color, flush it and see what you get. Be sure to follow a standard power steering flush method, there are plenty of instructions and videos to view. Which generally is, have the wheels just off the ground, siphon out of the resevoir as much fluid as possible (instructions at the end for this), this includes turning the wheel to one side, siphon some more, then turn to the other side and siphon again if you can see fluid. Refill it, follow that process, which again includes moving the wheel from side lock to side lock only doing one at a time and checking fluid need.

You'll then want to repeat that a few times until you've burped out any air you may have accumulated. Again, read and watch what you found on the interweb search. Your fluid should be rather fresh pinkish looking and your turning should be clean and unencumbered. Put her back on the ground and give her a ride with the weight applied. If your still noticing issues, then the seals will need done. Its kind of a sucky process to determine it, that's why some simply just rebuild the wrack and do the process. You may also see the fluid get a little dirty after use, but that is just some of the excess you couldn't retrieve and won't hurt unless you see it looks heavy.

Siphoning a power steering reservoir (similar process for the supercharger)....this link if for doing a supercharger, but in my post on #35 I show where I used the brake bleeder... https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...y-85828/page2/ ...I think you'll get the idea.

 

Well that really sucks, or sucked, not the easiest access to deal with such a thing either!

But glad that you managed to get the remains of the thread out and can move on!

 

I was going to fit the new chains and guides today but I was sent the wrong parts, the guides look nothing like the originals even though they were specified for this model so will have to delay that for a few days. Pulled the sump instead and found lots of flotsam floating in the pan, and a very full oil pickup screen that has thankfully done it's job. Disturbingly there was some very thin strips of metal rolled into tubes, looks almost like spring steel. Not sure where that came from.



The guides are from a later model. I did read in the forum that some were using the longer guides without problems but I decided to return them and get the right part.

All sorts of detrius here.