I'm thinking of buying a real nice black 02. The chain tensioner issues were they resolved by then?

 

Hi Stiffle,

Welcome to the Jaguar Forums! I have moved your post from the X350 forum to forum for the X308, which is the Jaguar factory code for the 2002 XJR you are considering. In this forum you will have a better chance of receiving helpful advice from members who own similar cars.

Cheers,

Don

 

Some late 2002 models had the metal tensioners, but some early ones still had the plastic. Engines and cars where not made the same day so there can be some confusion.

You can find the date of engine manufacture for the plastic to metal change over in the sticky section on the 308's, but the only way to tell for sure is to pull a cam cover and have a look. It's not hard to do, especially on the left side.

The engine date is not the same as the car assembly date so your car could have an early engine with the improved, but still made of plastic, secondary tensioners.'

Check the stickies for were to find your engine manufacture date and how to decipher it.

A plastic secondary tensioner can hand grenade your engine and make your car worthless, so it is worth knowing for sure if you have the 3rd generation metal ones.

The primary tensioners are usually quite robust and also give some audible warning when they are failing.
Vector