Engine number is not there, but in front, near the thermostat, very well hidden. You have plastic thermostat housing, your F12345 number (in the VIN number) is more important to track how old is your car. F 20645 to F41862 is clear a 2001 car, trouble free.

My label is also X300 s no problem.

 

..and I forgot...all of my two X308 XJR's (1998, and 2000) stickers say X300. ??? Strange.

 

Nothing I can add to Sandys problem but just had to google " opthamologist" as my education must be lacking so I see! I'll keep an eye out for that word..proves I have read the whole thread!

 

Sandy,

For 70'000kms/year I would suggest an S-Type with the 2.7L Diesel.

There are ~100 for sale in Germany at the moment e.g. 2006 model with less than 100'000kms for €15'000.

A friend of mine had one here, it had something like 400'000kms on it in the end, very strong driveline.

They are comfortable, and more than quick enough for the autobahns.

Here is a 11/2004 model with 119'000kms for only €9'995

http://www.autoscout24.eu/Details.as...000000&asrc=st

 

I am exactly 191kms from Stuttgart, and I have to sell my X-Type in the next week or two...

At the moment it will probably go back to the dealer for stupid money, be lucky if they give me €10'000 for it...

 

ok i will look again.
Body is F43xxxxx but maybe engine was swapped?
why i have plastic housing?!

ok at x300

 

It's been a daily driver for me. The XJR is for weekends.

3.0L V6, 231PS, automat, allrad, 69'000kms

Actually I have an appointment with the dealer tomorrow to check out the car & if he want's it he'll give me cash on the spot.

For an import you'd have to pay the MWSt so it wouldn't be worth your while...you'd be better off buying in Germany...

 

You have plastic thermostat housing (as in the picture posted), not plastic tensioners , so, you should be relaxed on the timing problem.

Following Jaguar's evidence, your car looks like a 2002, but why is it 2001 in your signature? You think that your original engine, non-nikasil, non-plastic tensioners was changed? I bet it's original, even if the German's favorite single is "No limit".

Try a new shape XK (2006-), perfect car if you want to live your life.

 

XJR doesn't have the VVT system, so no problems there. It also has the aluminium thermostat housing, so no cracking plastic to worry about.

Now for the big one...

The XJR was fitted with the Mercedes gearbox, which is a strong unit & doesn't have the 'A' clutch drum flaw of the ZF gearbox in the XJ8's.

The addition of the Supercharger didn't reduce the reliability of the car overall as it's a simple unit which is basically just a big rotating air compressor & not known for poor reliability.

The XJ8 had more complicated fragile technology, while the XJR had simpler, stronger, unsophisticated technology for the Supercharging system so the reliability wasn't compromised.

A lot of the tales of woe on these forums are from XJ8 owners with failed gearboxes, cracked plastic thermostat housings, VVT noise & problems etc. The XJR has it's share of problems in common with the XJ8's (secondary tensioners, suspension joints, rust etc), but doesn't suffer from VVT noise or outright catastrophic transmission failure due to gearbox design flaws.

The addition of the Supercharger did not make the engine highly stressed as the specific output is still under 100bhp per litre & not massively increased over the XJ8.

There are no Turbocharger bearings to wear out from high rotational speeds in excess of 50,000rpm as you'd get in a Turbocharged installation-the Supercharger is just a big, relatively crude & relatively slow-speed air compressor (compared to the very high rotational speeds of an exhaust-driven Turbocharger) driven from the crankshaft via a simple belt arrangement.

Because of all the above, the XJR is actually a more reliable car then the XJ8...

 

Like me. Never, until I can get (and pay) gasoline!

 

2001 cars are not completely trouble-free, as they can still have the plastic secondary tensioners fitted. Jaguar started fitting the metal tensioners to engines built from 13th August 2001.

So unless you've got a very late 2001-registered car, it will probably still have the plastic secondary tensioners.

As an example, my own XJR was registered in the UK in October 2001, but the actual engine was manufactureed in June 2001, so I had the plastic secondary tensioners fitted. I verified this by removing the cam covers, which showed the orange buggers sitting there in all their plastic glory-although they weren't the original set & were a relatively recent set still in excellent condition.

However, I have the metal tensioners ready to fit when the UK weather finally gives us a break

 

Sandy,

The important information is which month in 2001 the engine was made?

Jaguar started fitting metal tensioners to all engines manufactured after 13th August 2001. However, you won't always know how long it took to get from the factory to the first place of sale & registration with the dealer or new owner.

That's why it doesn't matter if the seller says it's a 2001/2002 car-it could have been sitting about in the middle of 2001 before being registered in late 2001, or even early 2002.

The important information is the ENGINE MANUFACTURE DATE AT THE FACTORY ITSELF, as this will tell you whether the engine has the last of the plastic tensioners fitted, or the first of the new metal tensioners.

Do you have the actual ENGINE number anywhere on the registration documents in Germany? The engine number appears on UK registration documents, which is how I knew when mine was made.

The picture below is from my engine with the cam cover removed-if you look at the top of the engine in the middle, you can clearly see the orange coloured plastic tensioner. If it was the later metal tensioner, then you would see a grey metal item instead of the orange plastic item.

 

Take the cam cover off then-that's the only way to be really sure. You only need to take one of the cam covers off & the easiest one is the RH cover (as viewed from the passenger compartment looking forward).

The LH cover can be a pain to remove, as the dipstick tube clamp is in the way...

The cover is easy to remove-just remove the smaller bolts holding the centre cover piece on, then disconnect, unscrew & remove the ignition coils. Then unscrew the bolts all round the cam cover & remove it, so you can see the top of the engine & camshafts.

This is how you 'bond' with your car-by covering yourself in it's 'blood' & learning to love it's oily, metal parts

 

Well done!

Now get yourself a 2002/2003 XJR & your life will be complete

 

Hi Sandy,

for "eating kilometers" I see three preferable choices:

• a used Mazda 3 or Mazda 6. Not the most comfortable choice but cheap and reliable as hell. Especially the engines are extremely robust. However, some series have serious rust issues.
• an E-Class Mercedes. You can get 1990's and early 2000's models for little money. This would suit your comfort needs.
• An elder Audi with the Quattro drivetrain. This would be a very good "winter beater" as Daniel named it () and also a good choice for our rainy springs, summers and autumns

 

Red October,do you have any official document stating August 2001 for the metal tensioners ?A TSB or something? The only August reference is for the end of Nikasil era, and it's 2000 no 2001.
The good thing about Sandy's car (I remember you are very active on her threads ) is that being post F4xxxx the main problem of first generation tensioners is over, and the chances to have the metal ones are higher. If the car was serviced in Germany, the chances to be replaced by the rich first owner are better.

Coming to the thermostatic tower, the XJ8's have plastic no matter the manufacturing date.


PS : I am looking on the parts program, the latest secondary tensioners are for the engines starting 0108130000.
Sandy, you can ask any TUV station (or the biggest in town) if they can enter in the computer for your car's details and they can find the engine's number. They did it for my car, in Munich.

 

Funny thing - I don't like Audis too much, too. It's maily because their interior use to be dead ugly plastic tombs, sharing parts with even with VW Polos (at least they did in the past). That's not a bad thing as such but looking at the prices that's not what I regard as value for money - rather it's money for nothing

Besides of that I dispise the insufferable front grille. It looks like ventilation grilles of ugly concrete buildings.

But as a mile eater with its Quattro drive ...
OK, no Audi, got the message!

 

I'm not aware of any TSB issued regarding the change to metal tensioners, as it was a production line change at the factory-although they could be obtained & retrofitted to earlier engines.

The only official documentation is from the Parts Catalogues for the later models which show the changeover to Morse-style primary chains & metal secondary tensioners from 13th August 2001.

There were 3 types of secondary tensioners-the first 2 were plastic & the final type was metal. The 2nd Gen types were plastic, like the 1st Gen types-but they were spring-loaded to stop chain rattle on start-up, while the oil pressure built up in the tensioner body.

The 3rd Gen types were metal bodied, with spring-loaded plastic 'slippers' that rubbed against the chain & were able to move laterally as well along the metal plunger, which avoided the slippers cracking due to stress.

 

I feel she needs a full 'education' about the benefits of getting an XJR & to learn all about the people from the country that conceived such a car

 

As I woke up in CA, I see this thread took a life on it's own,....again! From "what to buy as a DD/winter beater", to "tensioners".

Second generation plastic tensioners were OK, and I heard people reporting changing them after 150K miles, and finding them to be fully operational.

The first generation plastic ones, are the ones you should be worried about, and they are the ones that gave this whole model line a bad rap. The rap I actually like! (as posted in another thread) If people would not be affraid of these cars, we would not be buying them so cheap. ANYONE capable of changing a wheel, and using a torque wrench (you know that lug nuts should be torqued to equal number all around, don't you?), can change tensioners. There are numerous write ups on the subject, and Youtube videos showing how it's done. This is a non issue.

Thermostat housing? Sure, why not changing it, and a water pump while you're at it. Anyone that ever changed spark plugs, can performe this task,....again, following the write ups on this (and other) forum, and Youtube. The expense is minimal. There are discount Jag parts dealers all over the web, and one should shop around.

So you buy a cheap X308 (with tensioner noise and all!), tow it on the flatbed to your mechanic (or your garage), and spend about 8-900 USD on parts, and my mechanic told me he would do it all for 300. Now I have to decide whether I want to "bond" with my cat, or sit in the shade sipping some Weitzen, and watch him do it.

Once all this is done, all you have to "worry" about is the gearbox. But why worry? When it goes bad, get another one (rebuilt, not used, with upgraded parts). You can find one for about 15-1700, and the labor of about 600 (all these are CA prices, and MY grease monkey's labor rates!) My mechanic is a friend, and he doesn't mind when I call him a "grease monkey", so don't get your panties in the wad over this, ok?

Now you bought a 3-5K USD Cat, you stuck another 3500 in to it, and you have a car that will be TROUBLE FREE for at least 150K Miles (mine has 83K now). Take a calculator,......150K miles divided by 15K driven a year, that's TEN years in the Cat for eight grand! That's a cost of about 66USD a month!!

The best of it,.....none of the upgrades need to be done immediately. That's why I suggested to listen to the cold starts (tensioners), and if you are on the Autobahn, and all of a sudden you see the steam from the hood, DO NOT THINK! Pull over RIGHT AWAY, and turn the Cat off! Lets say you are in the passenger's seat, and your boyfriend is driving. You are having some fun, and you can't see the steam, ....and he doesn't care. The Cat overheats, and the engine is toast! Low miles used engine can be had for less than 2K in CA. About another thou for labor. That would turn into a 3K experience, but still CHEAPER than buying ANYTHING new from the Far East. Right?

Oil changes, tires, belts, hoses, brakes, and other minor stuff on the top, and this Cat still costs less than 100 bucks a month! I spend more on a bottle of Scotch.

And there you have it. A "Daniel's formula" that will tell you what you should buy, and how to manage your windfall (you can use this formula for pretty much anything, and I won't ask for anything in return either!). If it makes sense (or cents - American wordplay), go for it! Whatever it is.