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I am going to have the tensioners done on my 2000 XKR in a few weeks.
It currently has 86k on it.
There seems to be a lot of consensus here that the secondary tensioners
are the major issue although I have seen scary pictures of cracked guides and primaries as well.
I do not have the time or facilities to do the work myself. Nor, having gone over the descriptions and videos of how both procedures are done, the mechanical ability.
That being said, should I pay to do the full tensioners and guides and chains or would the secondaries be sufficient?
Just trying to get opinions although I am leaning towards the full Monty.
I would spring for the primaries too, I did my 2002 XKR at 86,000 too and had cracks in the guides for primary. Plus the piece of mind is worth it. You should also consider supercharger maintenance also.
I am going to have the tensioners done on my 2000 XKR in a few weeks. Just trying to get opinions.
Another opinion: park the car for now, and tow it to the repair facility when the time comes. If you have in fact confirmed the tensioners are original, your engine is on borrowed time, so to speak. All it takes is an unfortunate startup with a failed tensioner, a skipped tooth, and the valves hit the pistons. Then it is a completely different repair bill.
If you search the forum, there is a picture somewhere of a literal pile of those failed Jaguar plastic guides and tensioners, all collected by one of our resident pro mechanics. You have probably already run into it...
From what I have read on the forum here is that the secondary tensioners can go at any time without noise or warning - an be catastrophic to the engine given that they are directly tied to the camshaft and valves...
Supposedly you can hear when the primaries are failing and take care of it then... I don't know for sure.
I did my secondaries myself and didn't feel the need to do the others...
I had done the secondary tensioners at 102,000 miles. About a year later I found that I had an oil leak at the oil pan. Removed the oil pan to put in a new gasket and found plastic parts in the oil take up. They were parts of the primary guide.
I ended up having to replace the primary tensioners and guides. There was no noise and the engine was running very smooth before and after the change.
I would say if you can afford it, do it all. If you can't, at least do the secondary ones. I also replaced the chains while in there. Might as well.
I wish I were. I used to DIY back in the day when cars were simpler.
But I have a good mechanic. He will do it after hours at the shop where he works.
The upper hoses were all replaced by the PO.
I'll check and replace the hoses under the SC while it is off.
And a new thermostat and a water pump if it needs it.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it looks like the kit you bought has the wrong primary chain guides. The longer ones are for post 2001 cars and will interfere with the upper sprockets on the older engine. Some have installed them inverted, but that does not permit the intended movement as the elongated slot is now in the wrong place. I had the same problem with the kit I bought but SNG Barratt fixed it by sending the correct bits:
Thanks for the heads up.
It encouraged me to find my engine number, (001014 1658) Thank god for the endoscope as I would never have been able to find it without it.
On another note, does anyone know if I just need to replace the guides that I have in this kit or are there other other parts that are wrong? I can get the proper parts from my local Jaguar dealer, if necessary. At a premium. of course.
I just want to get this done.
I have searched all over the interweb and the only links that I have seen say that this is the wrong part is the SNG site.
Others seems to say that these parts fit.
My XKR...Secondary Only or Full?
