I have a 1998 Jag XK8 with 109K miles.
The timing chains and tensioners have never been replaced.
I bought all the parts to do the job myself and I'm starting it this week.
I will keep you posted with lots of pictures.

 

Welcome and good luck. Look forward to seeing your photos. If you do find parts broken up, it's best to find the pieces in the sump or the oil pump strainer so you don't have future oil pressure problems.

 

Welcome to the forum. When you have time, please visit the new member area and introduce yourself;

New Member Area - Intro a MUST - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum

 

Not too bad so far. First thing I did was to remove the hood. It's not a very heavy hood. Then disconnected the battery.
When I got the cam covers off I did see that the tensioners plastic housing on the passenger side was broken off and pieces were lodged down in the cam. Easily removed.
I drained the oil and removed the fan housing and belt. Plan on removing the oil pan and checking the oil pump. Pretty easy stuff so far. The hardest part was getting my jack stands under the car. The frontend sits real low and my jack doesn't getting under it from the front. I need to do some work on the frontend but I don't know what is causing it.

 

Excellent post with pictures, I just got an email from UPS, the parts for doing mine have arrived. Couple week and I will be doing mine.

 

Looking at the photograph of parts on the floor it looks as though the primary guides and slippers are not the latest type - i.e. alloy with plastic overlays - or am I seeing it incorrectly? Could just be the camera angle?

 

Jagnutou, Make sure you follow the suggestion from Mike66!!
Drop the oil pan (very easy) and clean out the debris.
I just did that on my 98 XK8 and the oil pressure is now very good.
Before I cleaned the sump, the oil pressure was poor when the weather was cold and I would occasionally get a Check Engine Light for the VVT's due to poor oil pressure.
I had changed my Chains, Tensioners and Guides and there was a bunch of busted up parts in my oil pan restricting the flow. (mostly from the Guides)
I also removed the oil Pick-up Tube/Screen and cleaned it out.
Now I have great oil pressure and no CEL.
I dropped my oil pan by just removing the bolts. I didn't have to remove the X-Brace or anything else. Easy job.
Thanks, Dave B.

 

I found out that one of the cams on the passenger side jumped timing.
This is the side that had big pieces of plastic broken off from the tensioner.
I install the cam lock down tool and moved the crank to line up the flat spots on the cams. Drivers side is good and lined up fine. The other side is not. looks to be off by maybe one sprocket tooth. The chain is loose on this side and the tensioner is broken. Think I have found my problem.
One cam is slightly off timing. Does anyone know if this is enough to cause a bent valve?
The car before I started the project was parked for 6 months or so after I realized something was wrong when I had it out for a drive. It starts up fine and ran's but at 1500 to 2000 RPM's the rough sounds from the engine started coming out.
The large pieces of plastic from the tensioner housing was lodged into the cam that is off timing. More later!
Got the plugs out as well. They have white tips on the plugs. What does that mean?

 

Do a compression test to check the valves.(Once the top end is done) The cams won't line up if the chain is slack, so don't worry. The hold down tools and tensioning tool will make sure you're good to go when you're done. After you remove the hold down tools, the cams will turn a little because of valve spring tension. That's normal.
White plugs could be normal to lean fuel mixture. You can deal with that later.

 

If it is off only one tooth previous info on the forum says it will run rough but no valve contact or bent valve. Two tooth jump....pull the head and fix valves.

 

Here is a link to a thread where I discuss my experience doing the upper tensioners with pictures. There are a couple of tips in there that might help. Have fun and be careful.

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...ics-how-52653/

 

I made some progress this week.
I check the compression on all cylinders. All are good and hold pressure.
I made my way to the timing chain cover.
Removed the oil pan and screen. Picked out a few big pieces of plastic here.
Removed the crank pully nut by putting my ratchet tight against the frame and cranking the engine. Worked great! With the timing chain cover removed I see that the guides are cracked but nothing loose or broken off. Inserted the crank position pin in the flywheel. For some reason I don't remember seeing any pictures or reading how to do this... I figured it out though... Started to clean up bolts, pans and covers.
Here are some pics

 

A couple of weeks ago I finished the job. Put new oil in the engine and added coolant. It started right up! No problems at all.
For the last two weeks I have been going on short test drives and checking for leaks and still nothing. I'm happy.
Overall the job was very challenging. Some additional money spent in buying needed tools. one I over looked was a Torque wrench that went up to 300lbs. for the crank shaft bolt. I found a place to rent the specialty tools for $69.00 and that was for 2 cam lock tools.
Cars runs like new. Thanks for all the help!

 

Where did you rent the tools?

 

I found a great place to buy all the parts and rent the tools.
John's Cars, Inc.
Dallas Texas
214 426-4100
www.johnscars.com

 

Thanks for the information. John's Cars has been around for a long time. I didn't know they rented tools.

Brett