I'm probably one of the luckiest guys on here.

I did the tensioners job and look at their condition:



I only took a picture of one of them, but I do have the other one on hand. If you look closely, you can see a crack that runs down almost half of the tensor. They were both equally bad. I started the car and she's running perfectly.

It's rather unnerving tho that I can now hear the timing chains.

 

It looks like the plastic shoe had broken off your old tensioner also.

Is the car idling normally? Are you hearing more chain noise that you did before?

 

Yeah, the shoe fell off after I had inspected the tensioner, it's somewhere in the garage.

I'm only hearing chain noise when I carefully listen to it, the bonnet must be open, otherwise its pretty mute.

This weekend I'm going change the oil with my grandfather. I'm going to the oil pan for any plastic pieces just in case.

 

OK

I just want to confirm...you did use the new shorter tensioner bolts, right?

 

Yes, I did use the shorter tensioner bolts. I bought them new with the tensioners, I also compared them to the other ones just to be sure.

 

Congratulations! You will love driving the car that much more with the added security that the engine wont start smashing valves due to a timing issue caused by a tensioner problem.

 

Yes! I just gave her a test drive and I felt a huge relief.

Reports from the test drive.

Was idling normally, at about 600-700 rpm.
Engine response was good, in fact better than before.
No weird engine noises.
Butter smooth.

As a side note, this was probably a very bad idea. I was at a red light (it's midnight here) and these couple of dudes pull up to me in a '09 Mini Cooper JCW. He tried to coax me into a drag race, but I turned him down, saying I had just fixed the car and wanted to make sure everything was ok. He was persistent, and after much begging on his part, I gave in...


I won! By about 3 or 4 car lengths. She didn't disappoint. That's when I realized everything is working as it should. I've got no error codes, rough idling or anything. Runs better than I remember.

My next project will be the front suspension. I'm guessing bushings, shocks, and springs are in order. That will have to wait until I've saved up some money. Any idea how much I should save up?

 

We need a 'grill badge' of a broken tensioner announcing that the owner personally changed the tensioners.

 

you have escaped the funny coments about your grandfather..use castrol 10/30 instead

 

Congratulations! Feels good doesn't it?

 

Oh yeeeeeeeaahhhhhh! It does.

Test point, yes, that is definitely needed. I think it is a great achievement when one of us completes this job.


Dennis, castrol 10/30, got it. Thanks!



I couldn't have done this job without you all (the forum). This forum is, without a doubt the best tool/resource I could ever want! Without you guys, I wouldn't have even known that the tensioners are a problem on these cars. I would've kept on driving until it exploded. I just want to say, from the bottom of my heart, thank you, and I love you all.

 

Hi Test Point.

Yes, I am with you on that.

 

Congrats, and a job well done!

 

Well done. Your removed tensioner has the classic crack, shown by many others on this forum. You have set another fine example of the importance of taking this proactive maintenance step.

Enjoy the results!

Steve

 

You definitely Dodged a Bullet!!!

 

 

I just bought my dream Jag a 1999 triple blk XK8 w/50K miles, she a beauty!!!
After I bought her I started reading the Jaguar forum glad I did!!!!!
Even though she was in mint condition, after reading the forum I was uneasy driving her. she had no signs of the timing chain tensors being cracked, no noise at start up at all, just a soft puurrrrr. long story short I brought her in for piece of mind. sure enough ever single tensor was cracked and bad too. had them replaced with the metal ones. So a great big thank you for all your posting on this subject!!!!!!!

 

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