Hi.

Having owned some jaguars from the 80's I am now looking at a 2001 XKR. Skimming thru the forums it looks as though this has an updated though still bad set of tensioners.
Am I correct that this car would just need the easy to reach tensioners under the valve cover replaced with metal ones? Thanks

 

You are sort of correct. The primary tensioners are not subjected to as much heat and do not fail as quickly. Also, when they do fail it is not likely to result in catastrophic engine damage. The chain guides are subject to cracking and may fail also.
Most of us have replaced the secondaries and will do the rest when they fail, if ever.

 

Thanks

 

I have a 2001 with 90k miles and bit the bullet last year and did all chains and ramps. I found one chain had jumped one sprocket over the years and the ramps were cracked. plastic just degrades with time and heat

 

This is a job I am looking at doing this year as the car approaches it's 15th birthday. Did you do the job yourself and how long did it take?

 

While an experienced hobby mechanic I had never worked on a Jaguar engine before my tensioner effort. It took 4 hours to do the secondary tensioners using the Jaguar specified cam alignment tools. That included engine detail along the way.

 

well, several days as other things got my attention. I think you can do it in two days. be sure you have all the tools necessary before you begin.

 

I don't understand why anyone would use the special tool, Jaguar method for changing the secondary tensioners. The zip tie method is so easy and well documented with photos and description.

 

zip tie is fine for secondaries

 

Zip ties had apparently not been invented when I did my tensioners or at least not applied to this problem.

If there is any question on cam to crank alignment the hold down tools are absolutely necessary.