I’ve bought a 1998 xk8 with 82,600 miles on the clock,everythings running fine and it has a service history…. I asked the previous owner if the problem with the tensioners and timing chain had been addressed and he said all issues had been resolved by previous owner 2years ago, when I asked if there was documentation of the work being done he said no but assured me he was 95% sure the work was carried out by the previous owner I’m now in a panic because I have no concrete proof!! Am I worrying for no reason? Does it matter if the works was done or not HELP?

 

Apart from welcome aboard, I'm moving this to the XK8 section.

The guys will give you the correct advice.

Now, maybe post a personal intro in the New member area.

 

The secondary tensioners should be visually checked to see if they are the latest generation metal bodied versions by removing the valve covers and inspecting. It is not a very big job just to check this.

And welcome!

 

There's no need to panic, but you ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY must get visual verification that the latest generation, metal-bodied secondary tensioners are in place.

I bought my Coupe in June of this year, and got the same story you got...95% sure both tensioners had been upgraded, at least to second generation plastic (not good enough, but better than first generation plastic).

I drove the car for several months, knowing that I needed to upgrade to metal tensioners, but not overly worried because at least the first generation tensioners weren't in there.

Except one was.

When I popped off the cam covers to install the latest metal tensioners, I still had a first generation one on the left-hand side, and it was in the process of coming apart quite badly.

If you have bad tensioners in there, it's a problem that solved relatively easily, BUT YOU MUST KNOW FOR SURE WHAT YOU'VE GOT.

 

The '02 model year cars were supposed to have metal tensioners but mine did not as the engine was assembled before the conversion in '01. You will not know if you have the latest ones without looking at them and I am sure you don't want to be continually waking up in the middle of the night wondering. Here is a link to a pictoral of removing a valve cover for inspection. This is not a big deal unless it is not done.

 

Sorry, forgot to paste the link.

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/j...17/#post316489

 

Yeah, the secondaries may be checked visually by removing the cam covers. They are the ones that need to be replaced. The tops of primaries can be viewed by looking down the front cover when the cam covers are off, but you really need to be experienced and know what to look for. If it were me, I'd being only concerned with the secondaries. gordo

 

I recently stumbled upon this website and found some really good info related to my family's well kept '97 XK8 coup at around 60,000. The timing chain broke and caused catastrophic engine failure, and so we are currently researching all the available replacement options in hopes to find the best type of engine replacement for the best cost. I was wondering if anyone has been through this before or has any suggestions on different approaches that can be taken to find a low cost, reliable replacement engine. Any suggestions would be very much needed and appreciated

 

First off, you should create a new post describing your issues. Attaching a new post at the end of a 5 year old post is not going to get you the attention, and information that you need. I read through the entire post before realizing the post was 5 years old, then came across your post at the end, which was posted an hour ago, and was not related to the original poster's tensioner problem. Quite confusing, especially since the original post regarded the secondary metal tensioners, and not an engine swap.