Hi all,

I've got a quick question. I have a 99 xj8 vdp. One night I was about to get in as my niece started the car and my stomach dropped as I heard clear as day the dreaded rattle. I then went and looked at the dash and saw the amber light and restricted performance. My stomach fell beyond my feet to the pits of hell at that point.

Well 2 different mechanics (who both started and ran the car even though I told them not to) told me there's nothing wrong and it runs just fine. Am I crazy and in the clear, or rightly paranoid and at risk of a major failure by driving it?


Ps: Oh and the amber light with restricted performance has since disappeared.

 

It's relatively easy to see if you have the old style tensioners, just pull the valve covers & check.

If you have the old style tensioners, you are indeed taking a big gamble running it with the rattle on startup! I go by the rule of better safe than sorry. Right now you can replace the tensioners for little more than the cost of the tensioners and gaskets, or you can go all the way and replace primary & secondary tensioners, chains, the plastic water outlet housing, old belts & hoses, etc.

If you wait until it fails, you will at a minimum need to replace all the above, along with replacing bent valves (providing the pistons survived), with a good chance of having damaged pistons. At this point, a used motor with the new style tensioners, or a rebuilt motor would be more cost effective.

 

If you were getting the death rattle from the secondary chain tensioners, it is doubtful that it would have any connection with the restricted performance.

 

Definitely a good idea, I'm probably going to tackle that within the next couple days. But the really odd thing is it only rattled that one time and has been fine ever since.

 

Ok so I've been doing some more digging, and this isn't making any sense. So i start the car hear the rattle and at the same time see the amber light with restricted performance. I don't start it back up and have it towed to my mechanic and he tells me he starts and drives it and there's no problems at all?

Based on what I've read and what Tima said above the amber light has nothing to do with the rattle, but will show up if it jumped a tooth on the timing, but it's driving just fine?

Is there anything else this could be? Cause I'm out of ideas and research. I can't find anything this fits.

 

Given the age of the car, if the timing hasn't been done, it needs doing, so number one is to have your guy pull the timing covers. It's a simple job to do the upper/secondary tensioners, then you can sleep easy. Until then you'll be fretting until it lets go and you've bigger problems.
Search for the 'zip tie method' on here, and show your guy. The one specialist tool required is the camshaft lockdown tool, this is to get the timing exact.

 

Take the valve covers OFF!!!! Takes less then 30min per side...
I did when my 99VDP hit ~140k, and I could see right away that the original tensioners were still there, and cracking... There were pieces of plastic lining all over.... I did drive the car for another two weeks before I found an independent mechanic to do the job for me, but every time I started the engine, I'd recite hail-marrys, with fingers crossed, and knock on the wood routine, knowing of impending catastrophe sitting under the hood. Thankfully, the car held up until replacement, but the mechanic said that once he took the chains off, both tensioners basically exploded and crumbled into pieces.... So again, stop guessing, and take a look for yourself...

Mike S.

 

No less an authority than Bobby Likis told me not to worry about the tensioners if my car was not showing any symptoms of them failing. It never did, and they were shot. I was one bad start away from trashing my engine when I had them replaced.