check this tensioner out, she was a banging around.... 1998 with 124,991 miles on original parts..

 

I think that you should buy a Lottery Ticket. With your luck you'll be sure to win!

 

I bet you're glad you didn't go to buy beer to drink while you were working, you might not have made it.

 

Wow Dragman you must be living right. As Paul suggested, time to buy a lotto ticket.

Every time I see pics of the tensioner issue I am nonplussed as to why the engineering team at Jaguar would use such inferior materials in so critical an area of the engine. These parts are not a big weight issue nor a major cost issue. Most plastic/polymers do not fair well when bathed in oil, subjected to high temperatures and further insulted by a varying vibratory load and, if you study the design...potential shear.

 

How about filling in some details? When did it happen? Where were you driving? Did you hear something bad? Did you immediately pull over? This is definitely a bar stool story.

 

I feel the so cal on-ramps with spirited right foot for most the blame. It happen on the way home from work, around 50 miles is all.

It sounded like an old Ford farm truck with a rod knock. the rocker cover was also messed up some, I fixed it with JB weld.

 

Way to stay on top of it dude!! Nice catch!

 

Wow, scary stuff.

Plastics within engines are always a tad mystifying to me. Although I do remember back in the day, some U.S. auto mfrs would use steel timing gear sprockets with fiberglass teeth (!) just to make the cars run quieter when new. Factory warranties were shorter back then.

It sounds insane but every time I turn around I encounter a new product designed to sell rather than to perform. The underside of capitalism is marketing

 

I agree with you Goldlion. It seems that considering how much these cars cost new that Jaguar would have conducted more in-depth research to see how the plastics/polymers would hold up. I can't imagine that the savings they realized in cheaper materials could have possibly offset the loss in credibility and reputation.

 

A few years back I took a course in business ethics and wrote a paper in which I discussed the problem Ford encountered with the Pinto gas tank. The bottom line is they recalled the cars and made the change at quite an expense to stockholders. In that case they were not legally bound to take the action, but Ford management decided it was morally and ethically the right thing to do. They even recalled Pintos that were not owned by the original buyer. Sometimes businesssurprises us.

 

These tensioners were used in the LS and Thunderbird also, I'm assuming they failed there too.
Did Ford ever do anything?

 

As I recall the chain tensioner in the XK120 was all metal. Even the rail. Am I wrong?

 

What is the issue? Bmw and mercedes have got simmilar problems with cheap parts failing in their engines. Does this harm the reputation?