I have finally saved up enough money to buy the parts I need and have them installed. The Athletic Scholarship check finally arrived. I'm going to buy the tensioners from Ford since they're a bit cheaper that way. I understand that they are shared with the Lincoln LS1.

Before I finally take the plunge, I need ask, using the zip tie method, are there any special tools I need?

 

The only one that comes to mind is a 10mm ball end Allen Wrench. That is to loosen/tighten the bolt holding the cam sprocket on. Because the front cover is higher than the cam bolt you need a little offset to get to it. Not having one and not finding a reasonably priced one I cut 1" off a cheap standard 10mm Allen Wrench, gripped it with a 10mm box end, added a pipe for leverage and handled it.

Other than that it was all done with a $10 set of Ace Hardware sockets and a couple screwdrivers.

Some have also had a problem with the oil check tube. It must come out of the block in order to move off one of the bolts holding the valve cover on. Some have cut the bracket rather than remove the tube. My tube came out without a problem but it took a few minutes to align it enough to get it back in.

 

Tom...you maybe missed that he was using the zip tie method...he does not need to remove the sprocket....in fact he SHOULD NOT remove the sprocket without locking down the camshaft with special tools. No 10 mm wrench needed.

What you do need is a small torque wrench and metric socket set for the camshaft bearing bolts and cam cover.

Also, very important: Pull the fuel injection relay before starting the car after you do the work to pump up the tensioners with oil for the first time.

 

If you buy the ford tensioners I remember something about the bolts being the wrong length. I would search the forum and get the right bolts so you don't hit bottom. It's my understanding that the new tensioers require shorter bolts than the originals. I am sure someone will chime in and verify.

It also helps to remove all of the spark plugs and manually rotate the engine (use a large socket and get on harmonic balancer to rotate) to a point where the least amount of pressure is on the cam lobes. That part will be obvious when you get to that point.

Be sure to loosen the cam bolts 1/4 turn at a time and work from the center of the cam outward

Good luck.

I did mine that way in about 4 hrs total.

Barry

 

Steve, you are right. I read tensioners and relived one of the great successes of my Jaguar ownership. Boy, that was a number of years ago now.

Harbor Freight had their 1/4" torque wrench on sale, with a coupon, for $9.99 but that was Feb. Haven't looked up March yet.

 

Well, I feel like you guys are speaking in Chinese to me. I know all my tool names in spanish, but I'm a little lost when it comes to English names. I'll include a picture of the toolkit my uncle gave me, let me know if I need something that isn't in there.

Now about the bolts, could someone point me to the correct bolts I should buy? I'm also having a little trouble locating the pdf for the zip-tie method.

 

Try this one.

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...ics-how-52653/

You will want to add a torque wrench to your collection.

 

A torque wrench, ok. So I'm guessing neither of those two wrenches that make the clickety sound are it?


Thanks for the how to thread! I hope my engine looks that clean on the inside.

 

Perhaps a 1/4" extension or two and a 1/4" drive universal would make access to a couple of the valve cover bolts a little easier.

Here are the part numbers:

Ford PN 2W9Z6K254BA Right Secondary metal bodied Tensioner (1 required)
Ford PN 2W9Z6K254CA Left Secondary metal bodied Tensioner (1 required)
Ford PN W500301S300 Bolt (4 required)

 

You don't win anything for starting the one billionth thread, sorry.

Can't be too many XK8s on the island. Will yours be the first?

I changed them using the zip tie method this past summer and it was a piece of cake. The only thing that I can pass along is to turn the cams until they have minimum pressure on the valves. One of the long threads has pictures and explanations. I think (not 100% sure) that they are applying the minimum pressure when the flat piece near the front, top of the camshaft is flat/parallel to the ground. Does this sound right anyone?

A torque wrench is a must for this job.

B

 

No the clickety things are just ratchets, you need something like these Torque Wrenches: Amazon.com

 

No, I've only ever seen 4 other X100 XKs in the island. Two of them were XKRs the rest were 8s. Only one coupe.

Test point, are you sure that is the correct bolt?

The total is $120.85 + shipping when shopping from sunroadforparts.com

I won't check out yet. Does anyone have any experience with them?

 

Those are the part numbers that have circulated for several years. If anyone has different numbers please post.

The parts total is where we would expect. They come in Ford (JAG) boxes.

 

Test point, I'm only asking and hesitating because of what Barry mentioned earlier.

 

Those part numbers should be the shorter bolts.

 

Should they be the shorter or the longer ones?

 

The new ones will be slightly shorter.

 

Thanks RJ, I'm gonna proceed to check-out now.

 

Hi,
the zip tie method is practical if the timming is perfect. the Best bit of advice is to read the threads several times so you understand what you are doing before you even start.
incidently when you have done this, then the little bits of advice people give you will become clearer.

My tips are similar to others, rotate the cam till every valve is closed, then the camshaft lifts without any pressure at all on it.

Torque the cam covers in the correct sequence and only to the correct settings.

A very easy proceedure, but must be understood before going ahead.

I hope this helps

Best Wishes

Steveeasy

 

I expect my timing to be perfect, my car hasn't had any problems yet, and it hasn't broken the tensioners yet.