Hi,
Newbie here again. I had a post on the newbie forum asking what to worry about on the 2001 XK8 that I purchased. The number ONE thing was the primary cam tensioners which from the factory were plastic (weight reduction) which doesn't make any sense. How much reduction could you get from plastic on something that small? LOL. Well I don't know about you but sometimes customer service is as important as price. I have NO idea what the new upgraded aluminum ones cost from the dealer but because of the GREAT service from Carlos of a Jaguar repair shop in San Fransisco I will be ordering the Aluminum upgrades from them. Thanks to everyone who gave me the heads up about this catastrophic weakness. Here is a link to their website about the subject: Jaguar V8 Secondary Tensioners - Preventive Replacement his phone # is: 510-532-6603
They sell kits to gett-r-done right.
I haven't inpected yet but will this weekend and will keep U posted. 2001 XK8 Vert 103K mi.
Talk to ya soon.

 

Hey Mike, thanks for the heads up.

I know what you mean on the tensioners....lol
I'm just glad that you took the advice as I'm sure it'll help save what could be a really costly repair

Please keep us updated as to how you get on

 

Actually it's the secondary timing chain tensioners we are talking about.
Vector

 

Hi All,
Yes to the above post. I goofed sorry Of course it is the (Red ones in the picture in the above link) secondary timing chain tensioners. However according to the technician the primary's go bad too. The same thing they crack at the base and the springs get weak. This comes from the repair center in San Fransisco. The link is in the post above. They seem to have it on the ball. If you call Carlos he will tell you how to tell if the Primarys are bad also. I will do the check and might have to do the complete (fix your XK8 package). Incidentially this is NOT our first Jag. We had an XJ6 and a XJ12. Both of which had Lucas electronics. EEK! Like everyone says when they are running good they are one of the greatest cars on the planet to drive and own. As a side note I own a Corvette and my wife has a G Wagon and we are members of the corresponding forums and so far this forum is seemingly the friendliest and most helpful of the lot.
Thanks a lot.

 

Mike the following thread which is not a sticky might help. A few tips to solve the problems I ran into.

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