So guys I am finally taking the plunge and having my tensioners replaced. I decided to have it done by a mechanic. I found a 28 year veteran mechanic who worked for Jaguar here in NY. He's retired and still works on these cars for a fraction of what the Jaguar dealer charges. My car has 100K on it and the motor sounds great. The only way I can know for sure is have the motor opened up. With that I decided regardless of what he finds I am replacing everything new. Timing chains , tensioners the whole thing. Now I will have peace of mind and drive the crap out of this car. He is also going to chase down my dash light problem I posted earlier. I took my entire dash apart and could not find the problem. He has a good idea of what it might be. So I said fix it. Balance and rotate tires and this Jag is good for the summer and then some. I decided that this car is such a pleasure to drive and looks great I will make this investment and keep her for some time. I still plan on buying a second one a little newer but will keep this one as well. Thank you for all the great advise here which has helped me make this decision. I will update when I get her back this week.
Thx.
Jim

 

Ok guys. Just got my car back from the mechanic. 100K on the car with original tensioners. Mechanic , who is a 28 year veteran was surprised the uppers were in such good shape. Needless to say I had everything replaced. Uppers , Lowers , timing chains , everything. Then I had him chase down the dash light issue where I blew the fuse everytime my headlights were turned on. It wa the plug for the radio that someone spliced in a wire incorrectly and affected the lights. All fixed. Balanced and rotated tires and changed spark plugs while he was in there. Car purrs nice. cruised home with the peace of mind that this engine is solid. I followed alot of good advise here and I want to say thanks.

 

pass on that good karma, brother - best of luck during the summer motoring - and good to know about the radio wiring

 

For anyone who is not sure if the tensioners were done, I have to say that my engine was running great. Quiet and smooth. I almost did not pursue the idea to check. Even when I had my mechanic listen he said it sounds great but you just don't know till you open her up. This car will see alot of road time tihis summer. From Manhattan to the Hamptons. Thx Guys.

 

Well done!

 

Did you look at the old tensioners and see if there were any cracks? How lucky were you ?

 

The upper tensioners had no cracks. My mechanic told me that he was surprised and expected them to be cracked. The motor was so quiet before this was done and ran very smooth. But I could not sleep easy until I knew. Today I drove her over 200 miles. Top down in Manhattan all day. Then out to the Hamptons for the weekend. Runs like a dream. It was worth the peace of mind. Now I will drive her all summer every weekend without a care.

 

There is a possibility that the Original Tensioners were already replaced in the past under the new car warranty.

Replacements at that time would have been Gen 1 or Gen 2 Plastic units.

 

Anything is possible. I got lucky. I like not thinking twice about them.