I've been putting off changing the secondary tensioners on my 2001 XK8 for long enough and think I have been pushing my luck, so it's time to do them.

I'm planning to do them myself using the zip tie method (mainly because everyone on here keeps saying it's easy, and the £2000 quote from jaguar ******* puts it out of my price range at present).

I've read over as many threads as I can and know that I will need the 2 replacement tensioners and the bolts for them but I'm not really sure what gaskets etc need replaced at the same time. Anyone got a list that they can share as there is nothing worse than getting started and realising that I am a part short.

I suspect this would be a good time to do the water pump as well (92k on the car) so which one (of the numerous available) would be best if there is such a thing as the best water pump ?

Thanks in advance

 

You can buy all the parts needed for the tentioner replacement in a kit.

 

Iv'e seen the kits available but they come with everything for both the primary and secondary tensioners. Due to limited funds at the minute I am trying to avoid buying parts that I (hopefully) won't need right now

 

hi mate,were in the uk are you,my local indi jag replace my upper tensioners water pump and thermostat houseing £460 but i did buy my own parts,that was around 18 months ago

 

Hi Graham. Unfortunately I'm in Aberdeen and the only place with the correct tools are the main dealers (that's all that I have found anyway) and no one else want's to do it without buying in the tools and charging me for them (at a premium price).

 

ok mate keep us updated on how you get on

 

Tberry6686
Call Sng Barratt, +44 (0)1746 765432
Mention the forum, you get a discount
You need:
2 Secondary Cam Chain tensioners, left and right
4 Tensioner bolts, the shorter ones
2 Cam cover gaskets, left and right, get the set with the o-rings
Tube of RTV gasket sealer, you only need a small amount for the seams
(I used the fel pro set, wish I would have bought the jag gaskets, the jag are thicker and mine are weeping slightly)
Might as well change the plugs as you need to take the coil packs off to change the tensioners.
Tube of anti seize for the spark plugs
Tools:
1/4 in socket set, with long and short sockets, various extenders and wobble socket extender
Open end spanner set, 7mm for the coil packs
Good quality torque wrench, JTIS has a search feature for torque specks, trust your wrench, The bolts for the covers are "mouse tight" as my Japanese friend says.
Pack of Zip ties
Magnet on an extender for the bolts you will drop.
Camera, laptop, and this forum. Just in case
3 fingers of a good quality Single Malt Scotch, to toast Sir William Lyons when you are finished.

The hardest part of the job is getting the cam cover bolts off, the rest is quite easy.

 

Fulton: I believe your car has the AJ26 engine, and requires the thicker valve cover gaskets. tberry has the AJ27 in his 2002 and can use the fel pro set.

 

I stand corrected, you are right.

 

You can order all parts from "partsgeek.com". The job takes abt. 5 hrs. Good luck.

 

We generally keep all these items in stock and offer kits aftermarket & OE for the timing chain job you mention. Give our UK team a call (01746 765432) and mentioned Jaguar Forums and I'm sure they will honor the same discount. Regards William@SngBarratt.Com

 

I also need to do my tensioners one of these days and I think I need to replace the octopus hose under the intake manifold (I think I need to do it... occasionally I may get a whiff of coolant smell but I never see any signs of a leak and then maybe every 1,000 miles I will get a low coolant warning - and since the car is 2001 and I am going to have it for a while, why not?) From reading some of the other posts it seems that this can be the culprit...

SO, would it make sense to do the octopus hose at the same time - would it make things easier since I will have some of the engine already torn apart? Or is there no real advantage to doing them at the same time (i.e. no time saving compared to doing them separately)?

 

Blindside,
Get yourself a coolant pressure tester, and a small mirror on a stick. with these items you can isolate the leak. If it turns out to be the tunnel hoses (2). Then the intake manifold and throttle body will need to be removed. There are several small hoses on the throttle body and vacuum hoses that can be replaced at the same time. Yes you will have easier access to the octopus hose at this time. Might consider the thermostat housing also, it's much easier with the manifold off. Lastly don't put off the secondary tensioners too long, there are lots of horror stories on this Forum about total engine failure. One of mine crumbled in my hands when I removed it. I was on borrowed time (52,000 miles) However it is a totally separate job and no advantage to doing the tensioners and tunnel hoses at the same time.

 

If you have the original plastic thermostat housing then definitly do this at the same time. I had to replace mint last year as my thermostat failed and the original housing pretty much crumbled when I tried to undo the bolts holding the cover on. It will be easier to get at the rear bolts on it with the manifold off.

 

Before I got the chance to do the XK8 tensioners I started hearing an ominous rattling on startup on my XJR so thought that had better be the priority and so ordered the parts for it but decided as I had 2 cars to do I would invest in the correct tools for the job. Managed to get the tools from US for about £170 including import fees etc so was not as bad as I expected.

Started doing them on christmas eve and finally finished on boxing day. The hardest part of the job was getting the oil dipstick out of the way, took a few hours before I gave up trying to lift it and cut one side of the tab holding it in place and bent that up to release it from the bolt and then just moved it aside.

2 things I learnt from doing this.

If you are going to undo the cam sprocket bolt then a 10mm stubby hex socket is the way to go. Getting them out was a pig as I didn't have the stubby. After I released them I realised I would not be able to torque them up without a stubby so a quick run to my local tool supply place managed to get one just before they closed for christmas. Putting them back was a breeze.

The other lesson I learned was that swearing can help at times.

I put it all back together and then crossed my fingers and turned the key.

As soon as I turned the key it just burst into life and purred like a kitten, then I noticed the coolant warning light was on.

Thinking I had maybe damaged a pipe or connection I left the engine running and started checking all the pipes I could see for a leak, Finally noticed at the coolant reservoir the sensor was just hanging down so I must have dislodged it when putting back on the cam cover and not noticed.

I've been using this car all week now and checking daily for any leaks at the cam covers and there is nothing.

Changed the oil, filter, air filter and sparkplugs at the same time so hopefully it will be good for a while.

Without this forum I would never have considered doing this on my own.

Now I'm ready to do the XK8 but this should be a lot easier as there is no supercharger to get in the way.

Thanks for everyone's input, it is really appreciated.

Just for Info the old tensioners were not in good shape both had heavy scoring on the top plastic and cracks were forming (worse on the left bank than right) so can't help but feel I dodged a bullet. The XK is not being started again till I have done them too.

 

tberry, Glad to hear all is complete, after the XK8, you will have the experience to go in the tensioner replacement business. I'm sure you will be able to add help to many others. Happy New Year.


Wayne

 

The hardest part of the job was getting the oil dipstick out of the way, took a few hours before I gave up trying to lift it and cut one side of the tab holding it in place and bent that up to release it from the bolt and then just moved it aside.
Just for Info the old tensioners were not in good shape both had heavy scoring on the top plastic and cracks were forming


I had the same dipstick problem and arrived at the same solution. An English mechanic friend from our British Car Club actually did the work, with parts and tools which I purchased from Welsh Enterprises in the USA. I had this work done within sixty days of buying the car, at 120,000 KM, and the plastic parts were showing cracks.

 

I don't think that Mileage is any indication of how good or bad the tensioners are. The engine in the XJR only had 50,000 miles on it (replacement from Jaguar in 2002).

 

Good result!

You don't mention (or may not want to) what it cost you. Sure it would beat the 2K pounds quoted. Plus you can keep/flog off the tools as well.

 

All in it cost me about £300 but that included new gaskets, tensioners, the locking tool kit, oil, oil filter, air filter, sparkplugs and a stubby 10mm hex socket so can't complain and I will reuse the tools for the XK8 as well