Forgive me if this topic has been covered before - I am new to the forum.

I bought a 1999 XJ8 last May. The car had about 52,000 miles (has about 56K now), and it has been dealer maintained up until the time I bought it from a used car reseller. I recently had the car in for oil and transmission fluid changes and other servicing, and the repairman said that the car looks to be in excellent shape apart from a minor oil leak around the left valve cover. My concern is one that faces many owners of XJ8s built prior to the 2000 model year: The infamous plastic timing chain tensioners. I did not discover the existence of this problem until after I bought the car. The car does not currently show any signs of broken tensioners (i. e., rattling at startup, failure to start, etc.)

I am wondering whether I need to get these replaced as a preemptive measure, or whether they will be all right as is. I posed the question to Bobby Likis of the Car Care Network, and he told me that "These are simply rails that the chain rolls over and do not break - as long as the tensioner maintains adequate pressure." I admit to a bit of confusion. I thought that the tensioners were the plastic parts everyone is talking about. He also recommended that I contact my local dealer regarding a TSB on my vehicle. I have had all manner of advice on this. One person told me to get them replaced at 60K regardless. Another said that there is no reason to replace them at all unless there is evidence of a problem (the symptoms I mentioned above). I don't know what to do.I certainly don't want to spend 10K on a new engine down the road, but I don't want to pay two grand for an unnecessary repair either.

 

There is a common problem with the car where the timing belt tensioners break, then the timing guides break, and if you are unlucky, the engine is ruined.

If the engine isn't damaged, this is a very expensive repair. I had it performed after mine broke at about 60,000 miles. I am now having possible transmission problems at 72,500 miles.

By the way, Jaguar has completely redesigned the timing belt tensioners and guides, so they know this is a problem. They have not and will not issue a recall, however.

 

I appreciate the advice. Since I posted this I have managed to get a warranty for my vehicle which covers the engine and all internal parts. The ironic thing is that it does not cover any preemptive repairs. If the engine totally crashes the warranty company will put a new one in (for $100 cost to me), but if I have the tensioners and guides replaced to prevent it, I'm on my own.