I've read conflicting information on when the last "bad" tensioners were installed. Does anyone have authoritative information on build dates or engine numbers?

 

The engine plant converted to metal tensioners on August 13, 2001. That converts to an engine serial number 010813xxxx (YYMMDDHHMM). There were certainly engines in the assembly process with plastic tensioners for some unknown time beyond that date. Engine serial numbers are very difficult to read in the car but are available with a polite call to the dealer with the VIN.

 

So engine numbers aren't shown on registration documents in the US?

We have the full VIN and full Engine Number on the UK V5C (and EU) Registration Document.

Graham

 

You can get a 'build' document from a dealer with the engine serial but, no, the engine serial is not provided in any other documentation normally delivered to an owner.

 

If I have the engine out, where can I find this serial number?

 

Mine is sorta under the water pump but apparently there was another location based on some unidentified date of manufacturer . . . perhaps the change from AJ26 to AJ27.

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...ocation-70577/

 

If you have the engine out, simply pull off a valve cover and look at the tensioner directly, this gives THE most definitive answer.

 

^^^ This probably makes the most sense if I am going to go ahead and replace the VC gaskets. If not, I will have to wait on a set of those. I am going to look for this serial number when I get some time! Thanks for the info!

 

My engine number is on the LH side of the block. It's not hard to see with the left front wheel off under the exhaust manifold. It starts with LL then YYMMDDHHMM. I thought the 010813 date was when they changed from Nikasil to steel liners. I had the red plastic tensioners on my 2001, but engine build was before 2001 and it's definitely Nikasil.

 

I copied this from a post at sometime in the past, with apologies, author forgotten:

"The first steel lined engine was numbered 0008181043 which equates to a manufacture date of the 18th of August, 2000 at 10:43am. But, don't assume that a car manufactured after that date has a steel lined engine as, Jaguar still had stock of Nikasil engines and were fitting them at the same time as steel lined ones until their stock ran out. That is why you cannot rely on VIN alone."

 

Thanks everyone. Just got back to the Forum after too many days without power due to the storm.