So it's time to get serious about doing ALL the timing chains and tensioners.

X308 1999 3.2

Be very interested in your thoughts if any-one has been there recently.

Freight for this approx $50AUD.

Jaguar V8 1997 01 Complete Timing Chain KIT Everything | eBay

 

Holy smokes that guy is using my youtube videos in his ebay sale. Ha ha!

Compare the parts he has there to the ones i show you at the start of my video on my kitchen table. Things to watch out for are which "generation" of the tensioners you get. I believe i got the 3rd gen ones which were mostly metal.

I bought my parts from these guys
Jaguar V8 Secondary Tensioners - Preventive Replacement

 

I bought my kit from him, it was all good, no issues.

 

Yes, I purchased the kit from Christopher's, which was recommended to me on this site. It was very good quality parts, in the view of my mechanic, who did the job and hundreds of dollars less than what the dealer would have charged. My job was done about 10k miles ago. No issues. While you are at it, consider replacing the water pump if you havent already. It is nearby.

 

Doesn't look too bad at all!

I've always looked at this and wondered, re the chain, did some checking on my own as I supply chain, sprockets etc to the quarrying industry.
It was some time ago, but if memory serves it was a 3/8" single strand chain more commonly known as 06b-1 the 1 denoting it as a simplex chain
The only other thing you really need to know is how many links + joining link is needed?

These chains themselves are not expensive, to give an example

I supply a chain known as AP14P which is a 4" crank link chain , much much larger.
I buy this for around £7.30 per link and sell for around £10.00 per link, the supplier I buy from buys in at around £5.20 per link, but the true cost from the manufacturer is approx £2.90 - £3.20 per link

You can see how with so many middle men the price really ramps up!!

"3/8in (06B-1)Simplex roller chain is most commonly used for transmission of mechanical power. It is simple, reliable, and efficient. You measure from the centre of each link to get your pitch length."


So re the chain only, a 5M box c/w joining link is around £14.50 from my supplier, then to their customer, then to the dealer then the mark up = £££
My supplier is also buying it in and I estimate he'll be paying around £8.00 for a 5m Box!

 

JAGUAR V8 TIMING CHAIN/TENSIONER KIT XJ8 (£325 complete.)
jaguarsparesnortheast
Try this guy on ebay.co.uk Have used him for other items for 3.2 xj8 and have never had any problems. Does post to Australia. Cost unknown.

 

Thanks Len,good feedback is really handy. For the work involved in fitting it would be disappointing to use inferior parts,hence the question. Yes of course water pump and idler pulley and new belt.

Thanks again,appreciated.

 

Thanks Richy, Yes I have been in touch we northeast and all's good until it's gets to the freight.

I asked them if they had a cheaper alternative (slower) shipping method and they replied that if I didn't like the price of their freight maybe I should buy the parts locally. The parts here are worth more than the car!

I think the freight was $150AUDish. Free if you live in the UK. In the US I have a virtual address that forward US orders to me at a fraction of the sellers quotes.

 

Very unusual to get that kind of reply from him, he's usually so very helpful. But the freight situation is understandable. It's often the deal breaker for me too, even from UK as I'm in Channel Islands. Only way to avoid freight charges is to include UK in my address (which it isn't-but is part of British Isles) but then I get hit with 20% VAT added to bill. Channel Islands are VAT free, so that really hurts!! Good Luck anyway.