2000 VDP. After seeing and reading all the posts from forum member Will P in Montgomery AL about selling his VDP due to secondary Tensioners and miss firing. as the car was in such nice condition, I had my Brother inlaw who happened to live only 20 miles away from Will P go and look at the car for me. when he got back to me saying how nice the car was with No engine rattle from tensioners and how quiet it was, I shipped my tools down to Alabama hopped on a plane had car towed to his house. so when I opened the hood and started to remove coils from bank one then valve cover to my surprise the secondary and primary chains and tensioners had been already been changed .could not believe my luck so took out the spark plugs which were totally crap the electrodes were non existent and burnt they had never been changed!!!! started ON BANK two there was a notch cut into oil dipstick tube flange so just had to pull to one side. removed coil cover and found all four coils rusted and full of water cleaned out the water removed plugs same condition as bank one. removed valve cover every thing as it should be turned engine over by hand all flats lined up engine in time. !!!! put new in plugs changed the four rusted coils and buttoned everything up .changed oil coolant then fired her up purring like the cat she should be took her out for test drive. came up with fault codes p0171 p0141 low coolant temp so went back changed thermostat and coolant sensor. checked for air leaks non so decided to change fuel filter, it was full of water most likely due to drain being blocked at fuel cap. back out for another test drive ran like a dream. speakers intermittent front brakes shuddering which cleared up after 200 mile test drive. due to car sitting in the Alabama humidity for a couple of months .so I was confidant the car would be fine I drove it back to Rhode Island 1268 miles without a single problem, now car has 84700 mile on it what a score. It shows how important it is to do preventative maintenance on ones own car

 

Well done,jrb53 nice result.
Always worth saving,especially the VDP model.
Your drive home was further than if I went from one end of the country I live in to the other end.
Which I haven't done,yet,but I will one day.
Amazing.
Well done again.
Take care.
Enjoy the luxury which is the X308.
Andy

 

Nicely done, and lucky you had family near by. Enjoy, Enjoy the new find.

 

Great job!

How much do you think the 2000 VDP is worth now?

 

From earlier posts when Will P was selling it on forum a lot of members were suggesting around $5000 after it was fixed. the car has 84700miles interior is near perfect, body is great a few minor paint blemishes a small dent on the trunk lid. tires only have 2000 miles on them .So my problem now is I have 4 Xj8's so I need to sell one of them...….

 

I just picked up a 2001 VDP with 84K Runs Great. I knew original owner but limited service history. When were upgraded Timing Chain Tensioners implimented?

 

Hi 01XJVP,

The updated timing gear (metal) was installed in engines built after a certain date in August 2001 (13th I think?). None of those engines likely went into 2001 cars. The 2002 model year started getting the new engines somewhere during the year they were made. In other words, some 2002 cars have the updated timing gear and some don't. You'd have to check the engine number. Presumably all 2003 model year cars had the updated timing gear.

Your 2001 is not likely to have had the updated timing gear from the factory. It may have been updated since, but you'd have to remove the valve/cam covers and check.

 

That is about what I thought. I will probably sell my 2000 XJ8 early 2019 when my new car is delivered. I just do not have room in the garage. Has 88K miles & body & interior immaculate. Now that I fixed the TCM/Transmission Fault issue, it drives perfectly. I'm the original owner & replaced the secondary tensioners in 2011 @ 52k miles since the Jag dealer was already replacing both valve cover gaskets & it only cost me an additional $430 to have them do the tensioners even though the original plastic ones had not failed. It was worth it for peace of mind to me.

I have complete, detailed maintenance & repair records.

Too bad these beautiful cars are not worth more. I think most people think Jaguars are unreliable from the days when they were, b4 being bought by Ford.
I hope you are able to sell yours to an enthusiast who will drive & appreciate it.

 

If I remove the valve covers to see if I have the metal or the plastic, I am guessing I have to replace the gaskets?

 

If you remove the covers to check the tensioners it would probably be smart to have new gaskets on-hand. If the gaskets on there are fairly new and still pliable they could possibly be re-used. You just won't know until you take the covers off. Someone may have gone RTV crazy and the gasket will get destroyed during removal, you never know. If the car can be out of commission for a few days without inconvenience then you could open the covers and if the gaskets are shot then just order new ones and wait to put it back together.