posting as new thread though linked to "what could it be",First i wish all a happy new year and appreciate the feedback received thus far....this was a no start though crank condition.possibilities from the members ranged anywhere from bad battery, water getting into gas,cylinder wash,bad fuel pump (plus a few other possibilities)

a buddy mechanic gave the car a look over (this is not the guy that usually services my jag).stayed for about a half hour and had to leave.got a call as his wife just going into labor.before he left he said no compression and strongly hinted a tensioner problem.

i mention this only because i did get one compression related suggestion re cylinder wash. he believes the car fuel is ok, but that the battery was a tad week....despite my just charging it for the previous two hours. when the no start first emerged...my battery was down....i charged up ....tried starting..... ....it cranked and started/ran for about 5 seconds shimmied and cut out. i have not been able to re-start since.

i don't expect to see him for at least a few days, but what he wants to do next is pull number one plug/others to see their condition .....are they wet? and check as well the timing mark/arrow alignment to see if the setting is where it should be in attempting to establish the source of the no compression.

i bought the car about two years ago, don't know if tensioners were replaced. the car has 111,000 miles on it(i bought it with about 109,500) and is a 2000. i may be mistaken but i don't think the replacements with aluminum did not take place until 2003.

does not have a lot of experience working on jags....lots on fords...and as you know the cam secondary tensioner set up the same. or at least that's what i have been reading.

i see a lot of problems associated with tensioners on this forum. before the problem happened....the car ran fine....drove it home. that brief start and shimmy i spoke of occurred while the car was in park...in start mode....i haven't heard of any case where the car was in park and on start up the tensioners broke up but i guess its possible...and i know its an engine and transmission related problem...
so at this point i see no problem( or harm) with him pulling the plugs and checking the timing mark set up.......Do you agree?

 

If you do not have documentation or knowledge of the tensioners being replaced that is the first thing that needs consideration.

The only way to check the valve timing is to remove the valve covers and there the tensioners are. Brown plastic desperately needs replacement. Cam alignment is verified by looking for flats ground into the forward end of the cams. Turn the engine clockwise by hand (socket wrench) until the flats line up as parallel as possible. Correct alignment on the right side is for the flats to be tilted slightly down to the middle due to spring pressure. The left side flats should be dead even.

Only after you have verified metal tensioners or replaced the plastic ones and checked cam alignment should you move on to all the other potential issues.

Fuel pressure actually measured (42psi)

Compression check. Make sure the throttle body plate is held open. No compression, add a half teaspoon of oil to each cylinder and measure again. The cylinder wash is more reported in the early cars and at some unknown point Jaguar corrected that problem with modification to the ECM fuel management programing.

New plugs.

Good luck, let us know.

 

You NEED to pull the cam covers off and check the cam timing .
Doing anything else that involves turning the engine over runs A VERY HUGE RISK OF DAMAGE.


While your in the engine, check if the tensioners are metal, not plastic.
Swap them out if they are plastic, because they will break !


Trying to do quick fixes on these engines runs a high risk of damage, especially if you do not know the history of it.


It costs nothing but time to check these things out.

 

test point.....great feedback......i am definitely leaning towards tensioners....but i hear you saying ok to check plugs......starting with number 1. since we need to take off cam covers to check timing issues....i assume (and since we are right there), we can check on tensioners....brown or metal.....so your saying even if the timing is on mark....if i see brown plastic in there i should be changing them out pronto. how much time/work involved in getting under the covers, check for timing and tensioners?.....i am thinking of letting him do....as he has done many times on other cars.

i have also had good results with him on my other cars.....other wise i can go to my other guy who will charge me more and i will have to get a flat bed and have to have the car towed. even if it turns out to be non compression related....and he can get it to run.....its worth me paying him to check the tensioners....i normally do not use the car in jan,feb,march and about half of april.....so i am in no rush...for now.... however, i am not going to drive that car......if the tensioners are not metal.......thanks for all the info.....i know there is a sticky on this which i am going to look at next.......

 

Considering the issues you describe I would not make any attempt to start the engine or even do a compression test before you remove the valve covers to verify tensioner condition and the cam timing.

There are a large number of links to 'how to' threads on tensioner replacement. Here is my 'notes' list:

Cam Chain Tensioners
Help - sudden fail - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum
I just changed my own timing chain tensioners........HOW TO - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum
Ford tensioners for Jaguar??? - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum
Tensioners, when are they a "must replace" item? - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/a...eplacement-pdf


Cam Chain Tensioners Lincoln LS Part Numbers
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/j...34/#post330655

JTIS .pdf files on Chains/Tensioners replacement
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/j...prokets-54603/

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...xtracts-66696/

While I had taken the valve covers off a previous car the first time tensioner replacement start to finish on the current one took 4 hours and that included some detail clean-up along the way.

The valve covers and the oil dip stick takes more time than anything else. Once you are in front of the actual tensioners that is the easy part.

Check out the zip tie method but remember that only works if your cams are in good time to begin with. You will be putting them back just like you found them, good or bad. If you find them out based on the earlier description then the use of the cam alignment tools are really necessary.