My 1999 XJR with 40,000 miles originally had the plastic tensioners. In 2005 after routine 30,000 mile maintenance my Jaguar dealer over torqued the balance pully. Four miles out of the dealership the 9 pound pully fell off and basically destroyed my engine. I am assuming it killed the synchronization. Jaguar took responsibility and repaired the car at no cost to me. It took two months! My question is, "Would such a repair require replacing the timing chain tensioners with the new metal ones which were available in 2005?" The dealer no longer exists. How can I verify if I have new or old type tensioners today?

 

Did they install a 'REMAN' engine?
If they simply repaired your original engine, the way to tell is 'PULL A CAM COVER'.

If the engine was damaged severely, they may have opted to replace it.
If it was a 'factory reman' (doubtful) it will have updated internals.

If it was a 'salvage-yard' engine, probably has original old style timing components?

 

They repaired the original engine at the dealership. Had my car for two months. I will pull a valve cover and see if I can tell which type of tensioner is in there.

Thanks!

 

Discerning the engine number could be a helpful tool to determine the status.
The engine numbers are a date and time code, the last 4 digits being the
time (24 hour clock). So, a 98102106XX engine number translates to
21-10-98 @ 0600 hours.

FYI, metal tensioners were factory fitted from engine number 0108130000 (13-08-01) onwards.

 

Thanks.
I know that the car had plastic tensioners based on the vin and year built. The question is were they replaced with metal ones six years later when the engine underwent a major repair caused by a 9 pound belt balance pully separating from the engine and severely damaging it.. This would have been in 2005. Your note says new production models used metalic in 2008 so maybe not,

 

Perhaps I did not pose the thought adequately. Either by the receipt from the
dealership or by actual inspection of the engine, you can discern whether the
original engine was repaired, or another engine was dropped in, by means of
engine number. This could give you an indication of what tensioners are installed.
If it is the original engine, the only way to tell is by physical inspection.

 

I believe that (13-08-01) is in the format MM-DD-Year so 13-08-01 is 13th day of August 2001 not 2008.

 

Thanks Randy,
I know with certainty that it is the original engine repaired. I do not have detailed documentation of the parts they used to do the repair and the dealer is no longer in business.

 

That s great news. There is still hope that I have the new tensioners! I guess popping the valve covers for observation should be the key. How will I know visually if they are metallic or plastic? Are the old ones orange?

 

Here is a pic I took in 2011 of the 3 generations of secondary tensioners.

 

Thanks, that is helpful. I assume the one on the far right is the latest and greatest.

 

I can’t imagine a dealer would update your timing setup from the kindness of their hearts unless the damage from a rogue pulley went through the timing cover and damaged the chains. It’ll likely be the bare minimum part(s) to remedy the situation and a fake smile as an apology to send you on your way.

A deep concern I would have is an over tightened crank bolt, damaged snout of the crankshaft due to coming off while going down the road (hopefully no JBWeld is present) once the harmonic balancer is removed and let’s pray no other surprises.

 

The cause of the problem was that the dealer over torqued the pully during routine maintenance. The whole pully came off after only a few miles and caused significant damage. Corporate Jaguar was involved before the dealer took responsibility. They did not just quickly fix it and send me down the road. They took two months to fix it at their shop. Even after that they had to fix the power steering which also was a casualty. All of this happened in 2005. The Jag has run great since then but I am worried that I am on borrowed time if I still have the old timing chain tensioners. The car is in great shape and only has 40.000 miles. I am the original owner.

 

I still don't understand what bolt/pulley is serviced at 30K miles.
At the dealer I performed dozens and dozens of 30K services and did not torque bolts unless it was a TSB or Service Action.
Nothing in your VIN range would require this.(1999 XJ8)

There were some instances of checking for loose fasteners but not for the 1999MY.

 

Well here's the deal. The Jaguar dealer had done something that resulted in over torqued belt tension. They admit so. The end result was that a 9 lb balance pulley ripped out of the car and landed on the road. It killed my engine and Jaguar corporate took responsibility. They also took responsibility for repairing the power steering rack which was also damaged by the pulley. The dealer "removed the time cover, polished crank & installed new balancer" among other related things. The question is did they replace the tensioners with the updated ones. Maybe they should not have done anything with the belt tension or related bolts but they did.

 

Sounds like a lot of BS from the dealer. The most likely reason for the crank pulley (harmonic balancer) to came off, and so soon after the car left the shop, is - they forgot to torque it.

 

That could be. It is a part they previously replaced!

 

There no need to touch the damper bolt during a 30K mile service.

The 'split-cone' damper retainer needs no maintenance. (the very early dampers for XK8 VIN 001001-006380 are the ones that were suspect)

 

So are you saying you believe I still have the original plastic timing chain tensioners even though the balancer was replaced? Here are some of the parts they listed:
Bolt, damper-crankshaft, ring-sealing, collet-split, bush, seal-crankshaft, seal water outl, nut-flange, filter-oil, plug-drain, oil, antifreeze, ATF

 

Sounds like the front timing cover was NOT removed.(no timing cover seal/gaskets, probably no guides/chains/tensioners?

The front crank seal can be renewed without removing the timing cover. It is easier with the cover removed but it can be done in situ.