This is likely being overly paranoid, but I pick up my 1999 XJR on Friday morning. This car is a one owner, meticulously maintained vehicle, with everything done mentioned in this forum short of the thermostat housing and secondary tensioners, with current 99K miles. The water pump failed 8 months ago, replaced along with all the hoses. It did overheat at that time, but it was towed and fixed immediately. The only problem that it had, according to the owner, was a slight "tick" on cold start, that went away at idle in approximately 30 seconds. That did not concern me much, at that time, and I applaud him for telling me (FYI, he is a well to do fellow, and did none of this himself, but always had his mechanic do the work - he has all the records and gave me the mechanics contact info, who has confirmed the car has no known issues and was spotlessly maintained).

Doing my due diligence on this XJR on this forum and the net in general, I quickly discovered the potential cause of the tick; the secondary tensioners could be the culprit. I went back and did a cold start with him, and was underwhelmed by the severity of the sound, it was not loud at all. Yet, after reading all the info on the tensioners, I know that does not minimize the seriousness of the situation.

I have ordered the tensioners, the chains, etc. but have yet to receive them. I also cannot book time in my bro-in-law's garage (with a lift!) till he gets back from Mexico in two weeks. By then, all the parts will be in hand, and I will get to it right away.

Well, naturally I want to drive my new ride while waiting. The thought of letting it sit would drive me mad. Yet... to drive or not drive? Sounds like Shakespeare, and the agony of not driving would be nearly as great. Yet if the worst happened, I would kick myself in the rear, hard.

So, do I let it sit and go mad? Or drive it for a couple weeks, with this tick in the back of my mind? Words of wisdom, anyone?

 

It sounds like the secondary tensioners. In that case do not drive it. You risk totaling the engine.

Replace them ASAP.

 

Thanks Dan, clearly the prudent thing to do (though not what I was hoping to hear). Though I may not have the wits left to do the job after it sits for two weeks...

While on the subject, I found an interesting alternative method of changing out the tensioners on another forum, involving tie wrapping the chain to the cam gear and removing the exhaust cam bolts and caps and lifting it SLIGHTLY to relieve tension on the tensioners. Remove and replace, torque the cam, and put it all back together. No timing issues. Sounds like a good way to go, if the existing chain is still good. Based on what I read here, mostly they are. No expensive tools, quick and easy. Thee is a written procedure available.

Any experience with this method here?

 

Yes. It's called the tie-wrap method around these parts.

Some like it, some don't.

 

And, FYI, one of our members recently broke one of his exhaust cams in half using this method. Not sure what the mitigating circumstances were, because many have done it successfully... just thought a warning was in order.

 

Paranoid......

it's more likely to be an idler/tensioner pulley and belts making the ticking noise. Mine did it and that's a gen3 engine with metal tensioners. You can drop the supercharger belt very easily, put a 1/2" drive breaker bar into the lower tensioner pulley and rotate to slacken. Remove the belt and start the car. If no noise on cold start - you've found your culprit.

Easy way to check the upper tensioner situation, pull the cam covers and have a look.

 

I would no be able to stand a new Jag-u-wah that I could not drive for three weeks. So, I would not do the prudent thing. But you asked what YOU should do. I can't say!

 

Thanks for the comments, guys. (are there any women here?)

On the one hand, it has gone 99,000 miles and did not break, so what is two more weeks? On the other, I just read the Blown Engine thread and it sent chills up my spine.

Here is what I am going to do.

I pick it up tomorrow, and drive it home. I will park it in my garage. It will sit there till my parts arrive. As soon as they get here, I will proceed with the tie-wrap method of changing my tensioners, as this requires no tools nor the comfort of my bro-n-laws stately garage (though I will miss his company and beer).

This will reduce my down time to something less than a week, as the parts have shipped. In the meantime, I will go over the car with a fine tooth comb looking for things to fix, and perhaps install an aftermarket bluetooth stereo with the faceplate that should arrive today.

The only other issue that the owner knows about is the lumbar bladder does not pump up on the driver's side. So I will dive into that to see what the case is.

Then I shall drive my fat cat Jag through the twisties of the great Sierra Nevada mountains up to Lake Tahoe (assuming the roads are clear) and enjoy this fine piece of machinery.

I know there are a lot of people that have problems with this motor/car, but I sincerely believe that happens to any car. Forums do attract problems more than praise, and I have learned not to be scared off unduly. Do the right thing (tensioners, water pump, etc) and the chances this car will last me two, three years. Then I sell her, and get a 2005-6 model. I will never buy a new car again, and I like working on them (to a point).

I will let you know how it goes... wish me luck!

 

Good luck Michael. I'm sure you will love the car. I agree with Sean B. in that the ticking probably isn't even the tensioners. Also, from what I have seen, the XJRs weren't as suseptible (sp?) to secondary cam chain tensioner problems due to the fact that they don't have VVT. Of course I wouldn't change my plans for replacing them, if I were you. Oh yeah, my lumbar thingee doesn't work either. I just never have gotten around to looking at it. If you find anything on that, let us know !

 

I've used the tie-wrap method with no problems. I was all set up to use the official method but this seemed easier. Just loosen and tighten the camshaft gradually and slowly.

My tensioners were shot, cracks and slipper gone, and they made no obvious sound at start up.

 

I know the feeling. I just got my 01 VDP last night. Brilliant!

I wouldn't take the chance. Can you image how angry you'll be at yourself if something happened? You'll regret it something awful! And, don't forget the $$$$$$$$$$$$$. Baby that cat and she'll repay you after you fix her up!

Cheers!

SirJag

 

Thanks for the good advice. At least I get to drive it home!

 

Aren't these cars gorgeous? I swear when I sit in it I start drooling. It just exudes class and luxury. So beautiful. Good luck with yours!

 

You are perfectly right to seek to replace the secondary tensioners at the earliest opportunity, but a clicking at cold which then disappears when hot does not seem to be to be the shot tensioner syndrome, which can go at any time.
I suggest before setting off home, you use a "mechanics stethoscope". Get a fairly long screwdriver, place the tip on the front of each camcover and listen. If you just hear a quiet sound of chains on sprockets all is OK, Just keep the journey home short and don't try any "heroic" motoring !

Get the new tensioners in asap afterwards, though !

 

WWWHHHHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !

 

What an awesome machine!!!! I have never driven a more spectacular all around car in my LIFE. This cat has enough of every kind of car to make it a joy to drive, a bit sports car, muscle car, luxury car, status car, but maybe not economy car though it gets damn good millage for the beast it is!! I LOVE this thing. WHEEE!

I changed the oil, detailed it, drove it some more, and my cat is a thing to behold. I will be posting pictures of this beauty very soon. There has been, shockingly, some mildly bad weather here in Northern California, so that kept it in the garage late in the day. She is already my baby. But a definite beast in manual and the RPMs high!! How the wide stance handles the weight so effectively... WHEEEE!

I just hope she doesn't screw me in the end.

But in the meantime, I think I made the most brilliant automotive decision in my life by buying my 1999 Jaguar XJR, Special Edition (maybe). It is love. I mean, Bravo!!

Any of this sound familiar?

 

Gosh, your enthusiasm is almost communicable. It's great that you found a car with such good documentation. And, to have a brother in law with a garage/lift is great.

It sounds as if you have a good game plan. If you go through the tags on this forum for what repairs you're making, you can save alot of time in your Jaguar education. Thankfully so many members have spent the time and effort to find more than one way to do repairs on these fine motorcars.

 

Had the same thing on my 01 XJ8 after my wife got home from a road trip from TX to VA and back. I took it in for an oil change, and parked it after that didn't eliminate the knock. We've had an abnormal amount of snow in E. Texas so she set until the first of last week waiting for temps to warm up a bit. The car set for over a month and a half and at least once a week I would start her up and allow her to run for about 10 minutes on idle just to warm up and I took her for an easy lap around the block to rotate the tires. I pulled down the front end mid week and found exactly what all the DIY's and related help articles show- Secondary on passenger side is in pieces but mostly in place, all the guides show multiple failures at least 4-5 full cracks each. Chains are snug, exactly where they are supposed to be and show no signs of wear, but I found a great deal on a full component kit and will be replacing all the components, water pump, thermostat, and send off my ABS module while I'm in there. Like I said, mine took a little gentle operation with no issue, and I have no idea where in the 2200 mile round trip my wife took that the knock started, but I'm impressed with the resilience of the motor and components. With that said, I'd park her, find a full timing chain kit and settle in for the job. One thing I'm pretty comfortable telling you is that if you have one of the timing tension components on its way out, it is a good bet the remainder - secondary, primary and guides are just as bad or not far behind. I received my new components Friday, and they are night and day different from the OEM parts.

 

I have been driving it, and it is as quiet as a mouse, no noises whatsoever. Apparently the XJRs don't put as much stress on the chain mechanism due to the absence of VVT.

So much for all my caution and hand wringing.

Blue, if I get in there and the secondary tensioners are shot, I will tear it down all the way. But if they look as good as I expect/hope based on how well everything else has held up, and if the rest of what I can see with a mirror and a light looks good, I will button it up and run it, without worry.

What looks different on the parts? The metal tensioner seems pretty standard from what I can see from all the pictures I have seen, the gaskets are the gaskets (gotta have the right colors), so are the chains different?

I will take it out occasionally till the parts arrive. It is such a nice ride...

 

The only way to confirm upper tensioners are cracked is to take them off to inspect. The light and mirrors is just to confirm if they're plastic, and if so need changing. The reason you have to take them off is the crack starts at the back of the tensioner against the engine so you can't see anything until it's in your hand. By the way, I'll bet they're cracked.