I "inherited" a 1998 Jaguar VDP from my wife's grandfather who passed away a couple years ago. Paid $1,900 and replaced the fuel pump myself (terrible job; those fuel lines...) because it had sat for ten months with no fuel in the tank, killing the pump. Great condition all around, but the tensioners have never been replaced, so I'm having that done. I'm paying a trusted mechanic to do the job, simply no time any more to do these jobs myself, and I'm sourcing the parts for the mechanic.

Do sprockets need replaced? He recommended doing "everything," and at first I agreed, but now as I'm looking at kits, none of them include sprockets. Are sprockets unnecessary to replace?

Otherwise, is a kit like one of these two the right one? I assume the kit with more pieces, the 25 pieces? I'm going to ascertain the engine number tomorrow to be sure I get the appropriate set.

 

Sprockets are not normally part of the timing chain guide kits. If you find they are severely worn (unusual) you can purchase them seperately. If you do an advacne search for iming chains you will find recommendations from other posters have done theirs.

 

Thanks for the advice avern1! I won’t bother with the sprockets then.

And oops, realize I forgot to actually post the link with the two timing chain kits I was looking at, from motorcarsltd:

https://www.motorcarsltd.com/jaguar-...ing-chain-kit/

 

Christopher's Foreign Car Parts has the best quality complete sets at the best prices....

There are two different sets according to model year (AJ26 and AJ27 motors) I believe yours is the early one

1997-1998
https://christophersforeigncarparts....ing-in-one-box

1999-2003
https://christophersforeigncarparts....ing-in-one-box

 

Wow that’s fantastic! Your reply saved me a few hundred dollars, thanks for the link. I had to add a lot of pieces to my cart at motorcarsdirect in addition to the kit, and it was over twice the price of christopher’s website.

 

They recommend that you replace the crank harmonic balancer bolt, it comes pre-coated with loctite on its threads. And that crank bolt has to be torqued to a whopping 275ftlbs.

If you haven't already researched the tools, ..............

You will need a camshaft/flywheel alignment kit.

And some method of holding the crankshaft, and removing the harmonic balancer.....this kit contains both.
https://www.ebay.com/i/372639483590?...yABEgJrzPD_BwE


If it hasn't already been done you may want to consider changing your plastic thermostat tower for a new metal one, and also install a new water pump while you're there. .

 

Awesome, thanks for the tips. Added the harmonic balancer bolt to my cart. Already added the aluminum thermostat housing kit from welsh, and lightbulbs went off because my coolant has been slowly and annoyingly leaking since I got the car, so I’ll bet the housing is the issue. How likely is the water pump to fail? 107,000 miles

 

Forget it, just gonna throw a new water pump in there. Motorcars shows an aftermarket one and a remanufactured one. Any recommendations?

https://www.motorcarsltd.com/jaguar-...em-water-pump/

 

The one from Motorcars is probably fine, but I got mine from Welshes, and it has been perfect...............
https://www.welshent.com/Jaguar-Water-Pump-P26109.aspx

 

Good deal. Mine is a 98 VDP, do I need to stick with the plastic impellars?

 

You know, I'm unsure on the water pump debate, I think some swear by metal impellers, other say the impeller has to be black, I think it all went back to a time when an original plastic impeller\, that was a cream color, proved to deteriorate over time, and so there has been different opinions ever since. I think the truth is that any current impeller is fine.