I am in the hell of "didn't do it in time" and would strongly, vehemently, encourage you to do it now.

My XJ8L ran like a top and then one day stopped with no warning. My tensioners looked like new with very little wear, but a chunk broke off and snapped a chain.

 

Thanks all.

Will I get much resistance from the mechanic if I ask him to use the Lincoln parts? Is it pretty well known that they are interchangable?

I think his estimate was to do all (upper and lower) to cost around $2400...

I will be able to do it in the next few weeks, I do love the car and appreciate those of you who shared your stories of pain.

Joolz

 

We bought a '98 VDP in January with 37k on the odometer and had the chains and tensioners replaced. At $2400 they're probably replacing the upper and lower tensioners. (If not, you're getting ripped off.) If so, they'll be taking the whole front of the engine apart and it is a good time to do a bunch of other preventative maintenance for the cost of parts only. Like the water pump with the little plastic vanes that can become brittle and break off and get ingested into the engine and also cause you to need a new engine. We also to the opportunity to replace the hoses (swollen) and serpentine belt as well. If you need, I can go try and dig up our repair bill and let you know what we paid for all the related bits...

 

Thanks for your input QuadManic. Are you certain MY 2002 engines past the engine number you gave have metal tensioners and not just upgraded plastic tensioners?

 

My MY2002, was built in July 2001, just before the magic 010813xxxx engine #.
Have never yet found my actual engine#, but have just replaced my tensioners @61k, they were the 2nd generation, not badly cracked, but I can see how they get brittle and little bits falling off would not be pretty.

 

The Ford sourced upper tensioners and the lowest pricest internet/fleabay Jaguar spec units look the same, work the same and cost about the same. So, other than the Jaguar replacement genrally coming with the two shorter bolts, they are the same. If you have to go find the bolts, or have to grind yours down and re-thread the end, then 3 or 4 dollars more for the Jag part seems worth it, if they come with the bolts.

 

I'm considering buying an excellent condition 1-owner 01 with 46k miles for a good price ($8k) but with $2400 in repair costs right off the bat should I keep looking?

 

The $2400 quote was for both upper and lower tensioners. It is the uppers that cause the big problems when they break. Fortunately, the uppers are the ones that are easy to replace. Replacing the lowers requires a lot of work.

 

cstu:
You did not ask, but I will offer my opinion anyway- If you cannot do a reasonable amount of maintenance yourself, plan on about $1000. per 15,000 miles. And make sure you have about $2,500 squirelled away for "unexpected" problems. And I agree with the others, the secondary tensioners are way more important. The cost to change them should be about $500.

Other opinions will vary-

 

I concur with sparkenzap. You need to be handy at repair or have some money to spend, sometimes without warning. Or you need to be willing to just walk away if something really bad happens.

 

CSTU,
did you ask the current owner if the tensioners have been replaced? And what model is it? If it's just a base XJ8, compare the fixed price to a similar mileage '02 or '03. If you really like this one, you can use the data to try and get the current owner to reduce the price. On the other hand, if it's a supercharged VDP, I'd vote "buying" it for $10.5k* and getting everything upgraded.
*Again, if you decide to take the conservative play and replace the lowers, you can replace the 10 year old hoses and get the upgraded water pump and thermostat for the cost of the parts.

 

The thing I love about these cars is that they are affordable and to me $1k or so a year isn't too much for the value I get out of it.

Besides the secondary tensioners is there anything else I should replace right away?

 

Has anyone seen a 2001 with an engine past 010813xxxx? I've looked up quite a few and haven't found one yet.

 

Good observation. You discovered something the OP failed to mention. Think about it - In the US, MY 02 cars are available in September of '01. So a car BUILT after August will be titled as a MY'02. Hope that clears it up. If a MY 01 had a later engine it would be a replacement.