I have NEVER removed a camshaft to install the holdown kit EXCEPT when the head was ALREADY off and on the bench for repair. I have done the job with the engine STILL HOT from the customer dropping the car off at the repair shop. It is actually easier to SMACK the tappet guides back into the head (engine HOT) if they are 'PROUD' (sticking UP) from coming loose and 'nicked-up' by the cam lobes cutting the edges.

I'm with Tar. The job is easy and should not take very long or require extraordinary skills.

It is not difficult to remove a cam cover and look at the guides.

Assess and decide.

bob

 

And, of course, check the tappet clearances. Any very wide clearances may show there is a bent valve. This can happen when a car is left for a very long time, and on starting the engine again, a valve is a bit 'lazy' coming back due to lack of valve guide lube. This actually happened to me !!

 

I may invite you in the Bay Area for a week end and learn from you how to do the job.
I have the impression that here in the bay area no one is going to ask less than $1000 to do this job...

 

I just can not come up with the name of the guy that bought a great XJS from the Jaguar outfit on International in Oakland. Were I in your shoes, that is where I would go. And, more, go to Oakland and pick up 14th circa Broadway, it becomes International and go east. On the left, ie East is the place. When I was last that way, I saw a passel of cats on the street !!!


And, yeah, shop rates hover about $125,00 per hour around here. And, I understand why !!!!


For old cars, DIY needed...


Carl

 

Yeah been there... but still $1500 seems like a lot of money.
I will go to another mechanic in Berkeley next week. I Also have other issues to fix...
I am about to open a new thread

 

here's the two garages that maintained my '65 S type in San Francisco, please note these are addresses from 1980's and 1990's, I don't know if they are still in business:

Karl's Service Center (Mercedes / BMW)
1259 9th Ave.
San Francisco 94122
415-731-0277

Bradley's Jaguar
1098 Folsom St.
San Francisco 94103


don't try to do that job if you do not know what you're doing.

 

thank you for the mechanics shop hints

 

So Continental Imports of Oakland had this noise inspected.
in His opinion it is not about valve tappet guides but the timing change needs a little tuning. This is what he told me. Anyway this mechanic asks $185 hourly... OMG
He is very reputable in the bay area but... maybe taking care of a Lambo is cheaper.

 

is that the only opinion you have so far? Get two more.

what is the mileage on the car?

 

mileage was 70000. I used it a little bit and now its 71500. I really like driving it.
the noise did not get worse, always the same. But not sure if it is really a timing chain that needs to be adjusted or not.
I have some other option but. The first mechanic I went to had my car for 3 weeks and did nothing to it. So I took it back and went to Oakland. I will try to go to another mechanic next week but they are "european cars" mechanics, not really something like Jaguar specific. The Oakland Mechanic he does only Jaguar.
Unfortunately all of the mechanics you kindly wrote me are all gone apparently. I Realize it was a long time ago.

 

my '84 has 83k miles and has never needed timing chain work, or any other engine work, only the tappets, and I paid $600.00 to get the job done overnight because I was leaving for Philly the next day, otherwise it would have been $400.00

Get a second opinion and then a third. Drive it to L.A. or Oregon, there are other mechanics there.

Check online for JCNA. Go to their website, contact George Camp at Technical Help and ask him who he can recommend in L.A. or Oregon.

 

thank you very much I will subscribe

 

you don't need to subscribe, just go to the JCNA website and contact George Camp

 

Chain tensioning from memory is by hydraulic tensioner so automatic, until the nose disappears, not that I have heard that happening on the AJ6 engine. Is it possible to post a sound track on here?

 

yes it is posted at the beginning of this thread.
this is a guy with the tappet valve guide problem.
the noise looks much different from my engine. Here is much more loud and pinging.
mine is softer and less metallic.
This is the tappet valve guide noise

this instead is mine

I Read on another thread on this forum that someone solved the problem removing the Cat converter,
and that in Europe this problem never showed up because without Cat (EU) the engine runs with lower temperature.
I do not know if this is a reputable information or not...

 

Yup/


1. $185 an hour I guess, everything costs more than I estimate. But, it is the bottom line that counts. I learned that in my former career. Selecting
defense lawyers. They bill by the hour. Get a cheap one? But, oh, oh, he is slow and the bill comes pout more. Get a more expensive one. Works fast, doesn't drag the case out. Seems it might apply here.


My knowledge of the valve train on these cars is fuzzy. Not sure if chain tension is adjustable. Do an archive search here and on the J-L forum.
And/or a generic Google or You Tube search.


And yes, loose junk in the catalyctic converter can rattle. The one in my Jeep did. Hope not. CA specific cats ain't cheap!!!


Carl

 

the first video is a Series 2 engine.

is the second video, YOUR car?

we want to hear YOUR engine, not someone else's.

in Calif. you cannot remove the cat converters, (illegal), and I doubt that if you did, the noise would go away.

 

Opps my bad, I was think of the XJ40 engine, the top chain can be adjusted via the eccentric the lower chain is by the Reynolds hydraulic tensioner. The second video clip has a number of noises but non that stand out terribly, I would be lifting the cam covers and checking the clearances to start with,

 

yes the second video is my car. here is again. this is the noise .


it does not sound like to me a timing chain to be checked (tension).
Aside form this (I Cannot even say rattling because it is not really a rattle) noise the engine is running great apparently.

thanks

 

my advice to you XJfourty is:

1) do not try to repair what you don't know needs repairing.

2) if it is the tappets, and you have no experience doing a job like
that, don't mess with it, there are considerations that need to be
kept present, you could easily cause damage to the cylinder head or the engine.

I have been messing with cars since 1969, and I don't mess with engine internals, I let the experts do it. Sure, the job is easy, for those who know how to do it. Even I would not dare drill into the aluminum cylinder head, not me thank you.

If I have to replace a belt, a power steering pump, a hose, an alternator, a starter, a water pump, a radiator, new valve cover gaskets, a heater valve, oil & filter change, and many other things EXTERNALLY, I will do it, but messing with the engine internals? no way Jose.

If the engine is running fine, be gentle with it until you find someone who can pinpoint the noise and fix it within your budget.

Keep checking the oil.