Hi,
I have a 97 XK8 with sub 50K miles, I have removed one valve cover and notice I still have the plastic secondary tensioners. I would like to change the primary slippers, tensioners and the secondary tensioners. My question is can the primary slippers and tensioners be replaced without changing / removing the timing chains as this would save a lot of effort and I am guessing reduce the need for specialist tools other than the pulley tool. Or should I just bite the bullet and do the lot. I am planning on this work as preventative maintance the car is behaving well at this time.
Thanks
John T

 

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...ioners-214569/
Here is a link to my thread from last year when I did the primary and secondary chains, guides, and tensioners. I just reread the thread and I can see that I was often tired when I wrote it. I confused left from right and a made few other errors, but the message is there. If you take the time to read the thread, understand what is in the pictures, print the instructions, and make notes as necessary, 20 hours should be plenty of time to do this job.
People have done the secondaries only. I did them all. If you're doing the primaries, there are no short cuts. Read the thread and you can see everything you'll need to do. Read what I wrote, I wrote it for a reason. Get organized. Get your tools and parts together and take it one step at a time. You'll be fine.

 

Hi,
Thanks for the reply, I read your thread with great interest it is thorough and informative and has spurred me on to do the whole job properly. I am awaiting the pully tool and the locking etc kit which I have ordered but things are kind of slow here in the UK with our enforced lockdown. I have plenty of time on my hands so can take it slow and be sure it's right. Thanks for the motivation to get on with the job, I will post the results of my efforts.

Regards
John

 

Here is a link to the Engine Course:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/vqpy3bbjzd...e_168.pdf?dl=0

Pay particular attention to the instructions beginning on page 72 of the PDF (page 23 of the course). Note the correct cam timing is 45 degrees ATDC.

Two other important points:

1. Under no circumstances is the crankshaft holding tool to be used to stop the engine rotating whilst removing the front crankshaft pulley.
2. Rotate the engine in a clock direction ONLY when viewed from the front of then engine to avoid damage to the main and rod bearings.

 

Thanks for the document it is very useful and allied with the in depth writeup from stu46h has got me chomping at the bit to get started and do a thorough job on my pride and joy.

John

 

I'm glad I was able to help. Since you have time, don't rush. Do a good job, and definitely give yourself a break and a second look at everything before you close up the engine. Clean parts thoroughly. Use the proper tools properly and you will be fine.

 

Doing mine at the moment and recording the process I used in a series of short YouTube videos. See playlist attached. Pick whichever video helps. Mine is an early 1996 car with VVT units. Jaguar XK8 (X100) Cam chain tensioner removal and replacement
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...qTmi-il_fx1OC7

 

The tendency is to rotate the pulley back and forth just a little bit while wrestling it off (its never easy) and wrestling it back on (says you're not supposed to use the crank position pin to lock it during this procedure or risk damaging the flexplate so I guess you just have to be careful not to turn the engine). I read the warning above but couldn't imagine how it would damage a bearing tho (surely they wouldn't spin out unless they are just about shot anyway and spinning the engine over backwards multiple rotations), but what it does do, even rotating it back ever so slightly, is it puts pressure on the back side of the chain where the tensioner lives. That can collapse the tensioners leaving the chains effectively slack until it builds oil pressure and it could jump a tooth on startup in that condition. I learned that the hard way. So be very careful not to rotate the crank backwards at all, especially on reassembly.

 

I remove the crankshaft damper before the 'locking' tools are installed so no chance of damage to torque converter drive plate or cam tools in the heads.

You can thread the crank bolt back in to turn the crank without the damper and then remove the bolt when you are done with the chain install.

 

Hi, it is me, the person who tried to jam something into the flexplate to stop it from rotating while I was removing the pulley.

I had to order a replacement flexplate after that.... oops.

 

Hi Everyone,

Thank you all for the valuable input apart from valuable knowledge you all gave me the confidence to go ahead and tackle this job. Although I have been an engineer most of my working life when it's your favourite toy that is at risk it puts a different slant on things. Today I buttoned up the Jag and after cranking without the fuel pump fuse in to build up some oil pressure (another hint from this forum) she fired up slighty noisy then almost immediatly settled down into a lovely quiet tickover. One of my secondary tensioners had broken up on the friction surface and the two tension side primary guides had multiple cracks in them. So very grateful for the support I found here and hopefully at some point I will be able to make a positive contribution.

Thanks
John

Happy not to have these in my engine any longer

 

Well I thought the car was sorted, when I first started it it was sweet but now I have a voise from the front of the right hand cylinder bank. I thought it was an idler or loose pulley so I took the serpentine belt off but the noise persisted. I am wondering if the VVT units can make a noise after being disturbed. I have not driven the car yet only idled it on my driveway. Is this somthing anyone else has experienced ? Feeling pretty fed up right now but need to get it right one way or another.

John

 

What type of noise? You need to be more descriptive.

 

Very good point from mhminnich
I have attached a recording of the noise it's a kind of tapping not massively loud but it's got me worried.

John

 

Quick question - does noise change/get louder when you Rev the engine? Where does noise seem to come from?

One thing I’ve done in other cars is to take off the serpentine belt, check pulleys, and BRIEFLY run engine with no belt to see if noise persists.

 

Hi,
I have had the serpentine belt off and the noise remains the same. It does increase with engine revs and seems to to come from the top front of the right (uk drivers side) bank. From cold start the noise is not present but appears after a couple of minutes it is not really severe as you can hear in the recording but it is worrying.
This morning I tried an experiment and with the engine idling usiing a motorcycle battery I disconnected the vvt solenoid plug from the right hand bank and energised it manually this made the noise go away ! Does anyone know whats happening here?

 

Hi
Today I drained the oil, removed sump pan and oil pickup. Cleaned up everything and reassembled including a new filter, The noise is much reduced and quietens down even more when the engine has been running for a couple of minutes. It is still there in the background so I am wondering if I should open the engine up again and pull the VVT unit.
Do they wear ?
Is it repairable ?
Or can I just live with it.......could it have terminal concequences?
Any advice would really be appreciated

John

 

I'm pretty sure this is not your problem because only I could do something this stupid, but, did you pull the retaining pins from the tensoners?

 

Fair comment, Yep they are definately out as I have them in a box with the old parts I jut cant decide if it's ok to drive the car or not :-(

 

I have just finished putting my engine back together for the second time and it seems to be a sucess, I bought a second hand VVT unit online from a Jaguar breaker and fitted it to the right hand bank where my knocking noise was coming from and the engine no longer makes a noise. In case it is of help to anyone with similar problems what helped me decide on the VVT being the source of the noise was using a seperate battery (from my motorbike) to energise the VVT solenoid manually while the engine was running and making the knocking noise. When the VVT was energised the noise went away which I assume was beacuse the unit advanced and tightened up. Maybe this will help somebody else in the future.

John