All,
As the Jaguar gods would have it, my son's XJR's rattling sound is the result of a partially broken chain guide. Thanks to all the shared wisdom on this forum, I have changed the secondary tensioners on both my XK8 and his XJR, earned my man badge, and have acquired a boost in my mechanical confidence in the process. However this appears to be a far greater endeavor, and I am very worried about over kicking my coverage and opening a can of worms that cannot be closed.
He loves his XJR and I would love to make it healthy again for him, but I am not sure of my capabilities and the possible need for any special tools IE crank pulley puller, cam locking bars etc.
I would welcome any/all feedback as I contemplate this project.
Thanks again guys.
98 Black/black XK8 vert
89 black xjs
98 black XJR (is there any other color?)

 

Let him do it while you supervise.

If you guys have the time, go for it. Always a learning experience if you like to work on your car. I always try to do it myself before I'll pay someone else. Figure that way I pay myself $70-$100/hr. The guides and lower tensioner replacement won't change your timing, so you only need a puller. Chain replacement would warrant the timing tools. Good chance to think about hoses, water pump, etc. Good luck.

 

My suggestion would be go for the whole job & be done with it. Here's the pic from mine, where I had the chains, guides, and tensioners replaced along with the thermostat & housing and water pump.

Notice on one of the guides, the fiber shoe on which the chain rides was completely broken into pieces, and all of the guides have cracks. There was no particular noise to indicate the problem. And yes, the prior owner had changed only one of the secondary tensioners, and the other is cracked, in addition the immense amount of crud indicating infrequent oil changes.

 

Just checking to see if you attempted to do this job. I just replaced my secondary tensioners and now I'm onto worring about the primaries. I'm thinkin just do the guides and tensioners and leave the chains alone, that way I won't need to take the top half off and all I'll need is a crank pully removal tool, and start the work, let me know.

 

What did you do about the crud?

 

<p>Thanks to all the help from everyone on this forum</p>

 

<p>Guys I was able to successfully change primary and secondary tensioners and guides on my son's 98 XJR.I decided not to replace chains as I felt it un necessary and would add to the time and expense of the job. The reason for changing the primaries and guides was because of noises indicating things not right. Sure enough, pieces of guides were all over inside the front cover and required dropping the oil pan to get the rest. As was indicated by most on the forum, the crank pulley posed most challenging to remove. Air ratchet proved ineffective. Breaker bar just turned the engine without loosening the bolt. Had go resort to back on the farm techniques for removal. Put breaker bar and 22mm socket on crank bolt and rotated breaker bar to driver's inner fender. Put block of wood between breaker bar and fender,held breaker bar steady while son turned key in ignition to rotate engine (fuel pump fuse pulled so no ignition). Bolt broken loose and easily removed after that. I had a stout puller in the toolbox and two 8mm bolts. It fought back but came right off. With the advice from all the generous people on this forum, I'd say go for it. They'll have you covered

 

Since physical removal would require an impraticable total tear down, I watch the color of the oil via the dipstick. All quality oils contain detergent, so more frequent changes will erode the crud over time. The more frequent fresh filter should pick up any particles.

 

Yes, I imagined physical removal wouldn't be an option.

So, frequent oil changes do the cleanup trick. That's good.

I checked mine today, since the last oil change, it's still a very pale color compared to what I've seen it become.

 

I agree with you 100%, just replaced secondary tensioners, my car has 50k on the clock, my thought is to remove the engine timing chain cover, replace the 2 tensioners and 4 guides without messing with the top end, replace gaskets and seals and drive on. The car runs quite with no indication of guide trouble however it remains on my mind and will eventually get the job done.

 

I was wondering, when you ordered your replacement primary tensioners were they they same? Left bank/right bank? Thanks

 

When the project got upgraded from the secondary tensioners to a complete chain/guide/primary & secondary tensioners, I gave up on attempting myself & turned it over to my independent mechanic that I've used for 30 years. He's always done right by me, as well as being the best mechanic I've every known.

I did add to the project, because of their proximity, the thermostat, it's housing, and the water pump, changing them during the tear down was practical and inexpensive. With a coolant flush & refill, oil change and new plugs thrown in, several issues were addressed at one time.

 

As you can see in the photo above, they are mirror images of each other.