Hello,

I have 2 Jaguars, actually my wife does. One, a 1997 XK8, 54K miles, and a 2002 XKR, 33K miles. Is the chain tensioner on either a potential issue? We are selling the XK8, and someone is asking me if it has been fixed. We do not have service records on either car, and both were purchased used. I have been told that it was an XKR problem, and not as bad after the 2000 year. I have read that a metal tensioner was manufactured in '04 or '05.

Thanks Dan

 

Without maintenance records, you'd just about have to pull a camshaft cover (valve cover on a non-Jag) to visually inspect the camshaft tensioners.

If still plastic, they'll be a red plastic color.

You need to do this on both cars, unfortunately.

Remember that Ford LS or TBird V8 tensioners are available at your local Ford-LM dealer for far less than at other sources. FelPro gasket set is very inexpensive @ RockAuto.com.

Good luck!

 

Hello and welcome
Read the posts in the "Will all tensioners fail prematurely". You will find what you need to in the posts within the thread.

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/j...64/#post191406


Also here is what forum member "test point" says in another post:

"Careful about the VIN and Nikasil. There is no documented correlation between the VIN and the engine serial number. The first steel sleeved engine serial number was 0008181043. Any dealer can look up your engine serial number from the VIN. Look at your assembly date on the driver 'B' pillar. The serial number above represents an 'engine' built August 18, 2000 at 10:43.

My '02 was supposed to have the metal tensioners but was assembled in June '01 before the August conversion. Plastic it was."

Here is another quote - this one from QuadManiac:
Check the engine number - it is the only true way to tell, using the changeover number described by Testpoint:

"... the transition date was August 13, 2001 at the engine plant. The engine assembly date is the only way, short of pulling a valve cover to verify the status. Plastic or metal has no direct link to the VIN number. The engine serial number has the date encoded in it. The above date would produce a serial number of 010813xxxx. Your engine serial number can be obtained from a dealer using the VIN."

I found this article on xk8-parts.com about the XK8 & XKR engine serial number location:

The physical location of the the engine number on an XK8 / XKR is a vertical rib on the left side of the block, viewed from undrneath, just above the steering rack. It will look something like 0008182310. This means the following:
00= year
08= month
18=day
23=hour
10=minute
That's the built date of the engine, which has no direct relationship to the build date of the car. Just for your info, if the engine number is before 000818xxxx, it has Nikasil bores." Really important if you want to know the history of your engine !!

I deleted the VIN to Engine number decoder because:
I am not sure about this engine number lookup decoder - The resulting engine number does not seem to represent any valid date and time information?????
I think it justs breaks down the VIN number into digit identifiers, last 8 digits giving vehicle serial number.

Hope this helps


Jim Lombardi

 

Thanks for the help.

I called the Monterey dealership, engine #PA0111121242, for the XKR.

Thank You
Dan

 

If it were me... I would definitely take the cam covers off to have a look at those tensioners; esp the 1997 XK8.

My 99 XJ8 did not have any symptoms of a problem but given the history and advice on this forum I decided to look..... I discovered my tensioners had nearly disintegrated with most/all of the plastic the chains ride one completely broken off (found pieces in laying in the top of the cam head) and the chain was riding on bare metal! In fact is had started to wear grooves in the metal.

Luckily mine broke in a "good" way in that it didn't skip teeth. Considering the potential damage that could be done, it is worth a look.

My 2 cents....

 

The good news is the the 2001 XJ8 I'm looking to buy has the steel-lined lined engine (LL010329xxxx) but it appears it has the plastic tensioners.