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From what Ive researched prior to purchase of my 2001 XK8 Coupe, my car probably has the second generation tensioners and possibly has the 3rd gen metal ones?
In the service history documents I can't find anything to show that if it had 2nd gen it's been upgraded to the metal ones.
Its done 67000 miles
Ive already pretty much decided that when I put it into service to maintain its history/stamps I will have the cam cover taken off and we will find out exactly what it's got.
Question then: is it as imperative to change 2nd gen ones to metal as it is the first ones? Or are they perceived as a reliable upgrade by jaguar and will be fine?
I only evet seem to find stuff about the 1st gen ones, which is why I wouldn't look at a pre 2000 car when I was looking for mine.
Im planning on keeping my car for a long time so I want to do preventative stuff if possible as well as general maintenance
The signal that the 1st generation tensioners were failing was a rattle on start up which brought a lot of cars into dealers for warranty service. As a solution to the warranty service issue, not the failing plastic tensioners, a spring was added that reduced the rattle . . . but did nothing to address the failing plastic.
So, yes, all plastic tensioners must be replaced.
Last edited by test point; Feb 19, 2017 at 06:14 AM.
These are my 2nd generation tensioners after around 60k miles. Would probably have been OK for a fair bit longer, but you can see where the cracks are just beginning to start so they would have disintegrated eventually. Much worse photos than this if you do a search !!
I wonder if the 2nd Gen tensioners might be worse. The startup rattle was 'lessened or eliminated' giving you a false sense of security when in fact the plastic is just as 'sh!tty' as the previous.
Adding a spring does NOT make the plastic stronger.
Chiming in that my 00 XKR in 2010 and 68k miles the tensioners had maybe 3/8" cracks and my 98 XJR in 2015 with 84k the tensioners were immaculate and like new. Both cars they were replaced immediately.
I did my secondary tensioners on my XJR on Easter 2015 and it was a nice easy afternoon; and I included doing cam cover gaskets and spark plugs while I was there. I did the zip tie method and only changed the secondaries. I will likely do the whole shebang sometime down the road, but less immediate concern.
I did the same as 80sRule - gaskets, plugs, zip tie with the new metal bodied tensioners, on my 2001 XJ8. The old ones both had cracks in the body of the tensioner and there was no warning noise. The date the engine was manufactured is often before the build date of the car.
I bought my X100 in July of 2014 and in the first month it developed the "death rattle" - the closest way I can describe the sound is this: Imagine a piece of heavy chain about a foot and half (or half a meter) long hanging over the side of the back of a pickup truck, pull it off quickly, and that is the sound you hear you'll hear from your engine when it turns over. Don't let that happen more than a few times or you're chancing the timing chain running off the broken guide.
Did the Secondary tensioner zip tie method on my 2000 xj8, cant remember which version of tensioners was in it but they had some serious cracks in the body.
Reckon I got there just in time, no real noises on start up either, just did as preventive measure.
I have a question, should I ever have to replace my tensioners again or more importantly for those about to replace theirs. (I replaced my primary and secondary tensioners, so did not use the zip tie method.)
However, most folks talk about the zip tie method, which I believe requires removing a camshaft from each side. Could you not use the flex plate/cam locking kit, loosen the cam sprocket and slide the new tensioners in? I did primary and secondary tensioners on my car, but had a bit of difficulty in removing the camshaft (to repair some other issues). If I could have avoided removing the camshaft, I would have.
You can buy the cam locking kit for less than 50 bucks on eBay and keeping the cams in place should save you an hour at minimum or a lot more time if you have problems (as in bolts that strip upon removal).
Am I missing or forgetting something?
It would seem that using the locking kit instead of zip ties, would make this a two or three hour job.
The removal of the exhaust cam sprocket is the correct way to renew the secondary tensioner. Most people don't want to 'mess-with' the crank/cam timing so they leave all that alone and pull the exhaust cam to slip the tensioner into place.
The exhaust cam should not be difficult to remove if you rotate the engine to the point where it is not opening the valves. Obviously, the flats on the cams will not be lined up at that point, therefor the zip ties.
Pros like motorcarman would probably not want to just replace secondaries from a liability standpoint, therefor the cam locks, etc.
Timing Chain Tensioners Advice Required
