It has been often stated that the '02 MY had the metal tensioners. That is absolutely true if your car was assembled in late August '01 or later. My '02 was assembled in June '01 and had the plastic ones, now replaced. Both had a crack up the tensioner body at 46k miles but the chain slippers appeared tight. They probably wouldn't have failed for another 30k miles.

The conversion from plastic to metal occurred at the engine assembly plant on August 13, 2001. Your engine serial number provides the assembly date. The critical date for 3rd generation tensioners thus becomes 081301xxxx, where the xxxx is the hhmm (hour/minute) of the day. The engine serial number is very difficult to read in place. Any Jaguar dealer can provide a report of VIN/engine/transmission serial numbers upon polite request. That will tell you about your tensioners.

 

OK here's the final. Bottom line, my vin number was well within the danger zone of the issue. I decided that replacing the secondary tensioners qualified as a sleep aid and asked my mechanic to replace them (whatever they were) with the third generation tensioners.
I picked the car up today and the job, including tensioners, gaskets, an oil change and a new set of plugs was $998. He showed me the old tensioners. WOW! Both plastic, both starting to crack and one noticeably worse than the other. I don't know how much time I had left but it proves the issue goes beyond the 1990s. My car was built in the fall of 2000. It now has 58000 miles. So my advice? Check your tensioners or have somebody check them. $998 beats a new motor. Oh...and I expect to sleep really well tonight. Thanks everyone for the advice here.

 

That's a bargain!
Brian

 

Yeah, I thought so. I've got a terrific mechanic in Palm City, FL. The guy is good and reasonable. Can't beat that combination.

 

If you haven't put a link in the regional area for your mechanic, you migh want to do so. Sounds like a qualified and reasonably priced guy.

 

Good idea. I'll add it.