The belt was not the fix. The tensioner and idler are next.

 

I replaced the tensioner, idler and belt again and this time I did it myself. What I did not have was the value to torque both bolts. I have the old parts and although not evaluated completely I feel the tensioner and idler integrity is in question. I will let you know when I look at it again. Replacing them in the driveway at night @ 24f, I do not feel like looking at it again.

Again today I was on the internet trying to find a cause for the tensioner. What I found was that Toyota and Chrysler had the same problem and Toyota has a TSB on it. What I did not know was that on our forum the xj8 had 2 posts on the same problem. At this time I am banking on the Gates trouble shooting for this problem is correct. We will see!

http://www.gates.com/brochure.cfm?br...ocation_id=544

13 out of 21 posts are mine! I guess I like talking to my self!@#$%^&*()()

 

Yes i'm one of the XJ8 owners that has the same problem. I have a new belt I just got havent put it on yet. I kind of figured that wouldn't fix the problem to be honest. I have replaced the idler pulley, belt tensioner, and belt once. It appears the 'updated' pulleys are actually the lip-less version, they don't put the lipped pulleys on the belt tensioner's anymore check online.

I just poured a cup of warm water over my belt tensioner area and it didn't do it at all, in fact it was pretty durn silent in general.. it's been 12F here so no clue. I've always had squeals with this ride unfortunately, with both old and new pulleys, nothing really changed.

Something I did notice two days ago was that I actually get a full squeal when above 2k ONLY if I use the fans (heat/AC/whatever) in anything below 40F or so. It still squeals even if you turn them off. On the interstate it squealed the whole time (70mph over 2k etc) Any clues on that? lol besides a lil belt chatter the blasted thing runs like a bat out of hell.

EDIT*

wanted to say Gus that my drive belt is about 10 months old, belt tensioner is 2 weeks old and the idler pulley is about 8 months old..new stuff.. I doubt thats your cause it wasn't mine, even for the squeals.

 

I just got around to looking at the photos of the old tensioner and I think it is the problem. I need to get the tensioner back in my hands to look at it again to be sure (I am working today).

 

I doubt that's your problem bud since my tensioner is 2 weeks old, straight from Jaguar and it did EXACTLY the same thing as my old one. Last winter this did not happen, so no clue.

Too bad I didnt see this thread at some point I could have told you it had nothing to do with what you replaced beside the actual belt tensioner. I already replaced all the parts you are now installing. Goodluck man.

BTW Yes, crazy it's the belt tensioner completely moving from the horrific mysterious force on the belt. spoooooooky! haha but equally annoying as all hell

 

You may be correct in that the problem is not resolved only time will tell. What I did find is that the belt would attempt to come off the alternator; it would over correct and force itself back. This sequence of events would cause the tensioner to do what it is designed to do and that is to force the belt back into its normal position and causing the clicking noise. In observing this sequence of events and the only movement of the belt is on the tensioner, idler and the alternator. The direction of the belt is from the tensioner to the idler to the alternator then up to the water pump. I checked the water pump and the crank pulley and both were sound and without movement and had a lip to prevent the belt from moving and I was unable to see any movement of the belt in that area. I also checked the pulley on the alternator and it was without movement. What is causing the belt to want to come off the alternator?

 

The Technical Service Bulletin is JTB00045. I replaced the idler pulley and belt for this problem, it has a flange on both sides of it. Although I did it on my 05 XJ8, the 4.2 pulley system is the same in the XK8.

 

This TSB "JTB00045" is not listed for my 99 xk8 however if the problem continues I check into it. Thanks for the info!

JAGUAR: 2002-07 S-TYPE, 2003-07 XK8, 2003-07 XJ, NEW XK

SUBJECT: Several owners have complained of noise that is usually diagnosed as squirming drive belts. The noise is especially likely at cold-start. Jaguar has revised the belt routing and released new tensioners for both naturally aspirated engines and supercharged engines. The bulletin includes part numbers but no instructions.
Bulletin JTB00045

 

Can't be the same tensioner pulley if yours has a flange/lips. Ours on the 4.0L will not, I was told by numerous techs on here and at the dealer that the updated pulleys for these are lipless. That would make sense since my old belt tensioner had the lipped pulley (it made the same noises as well) and all the new ones I see are lipless.

All the ones they sell now (updated ones referring to in that TSB) are the lipless versions, which I have anyways not sure about Gus. Mine will only squeal on cold start. But if I turn it right off, apply tiny dab of di-electric grease on the belt, turn it back on, it will NOT squeal at all, in the least. The application lasts about a month or so, then it will squeal again on cold start. How's that explained, my squeal is also in the belt tensioner pulley area I can hear it precisely, yet my belt tensioner is brand new. 98 XJ8

 

I do not know if this will help. But I was getting noise from the belt area. It was the idler not the tensioner. The idler was replaced. noise was gone but inherited belt travel with the new idler. new one was lipped. complained to dealer. They replaced the new lipped idler a with non lipped idler.

All this was done this summer. No noise until now. But noise goes away after warm up. Temp here has been in the teens. Todays temp at 32F no noise.

99XK8 coupe.

I does get lonely out hear sometimes!

 

I have a video and additional information that I will post on my page to help others but my grandson seems to take all my extra time. I recently replaced my tensioner, idler and the belt. I have not had a problem to date and I hope that this issue is resolved. I have not had time to check it. Does anyone know the torque value for the two bolts?

Ken, thanks for the parts…

 

It was just being cold in my opinion, I can confirm that because I replaced all that stuff months ago and mine still did it at the same time yours did. Mine hasnt done it since either, key is it hasnt been that bitter cold. Well hopefully the rough $250 you spent on pulleys does something at least. Try Drivewire.com an partsgeek.com they ship a lot faster than motorcarsltd a lot cheaper in most areas, and they have a lot more options for each part in my opinion. goodluck

You can easily find that idler pulley for $50 shipped

 

No problem! As for the fix only time will tell. As for the parts, thanks for the direction. I have been dealing with Ken and Mike at http://www.motorcarsltd.com/ from when I had my 93 xj-s and right now I like the service I get from them. I am not sure where you are but we have had several days as low as 18f and this was after I changed my stuff. I do feel that everything will work just fine for at least 2 weeks after being installed, it is after that is when we will know. Thanks for your input and I will keep you posted.

 

hey there Gus, ive still got the same problem, my car is still doing this every overnight cold start. It ONLY does it on complete overnight cold start for me. I went ahead and replaced the belt again like you did and it didnt help. It has been back up in the high 30s low 40s here so it cant be the cold weather for me.

You're totally right, popped the hood today real quick on coldstart today to see the belt tensioner slight moving and knocking back over about 5-6 times then stopping, then closely looked to see the drive belt actually getting to the very edge of the lipless updated idler pulley.

It IS indeed the belt wanting to 'jump off' the lipless 'updated' idler pulley. As the belt tensioner was knocking I watched the other side like you said and saw the belt gets to the edge of the lipless idler pulley and is pulled back on track by the belt tensioner.

I'm wondering if an older lipped IDLER PULLEY would relieve this for me? any thoughts guys?

 

Well let me tell you what I did. I replaced the idler, tensioner & belt all at the same time and I did the work. Only took about 30min in the evening and to date no chattering and no jumping of the belt wanting to jump off the alternator. I plan to do a write-up on this and put it on my page. I am keeping an eye on it and post the results. I do not want to mislead anyone but this worked for me!

 

I was told that it must be one of other pulleys making the belt walk on coldstart. So odd it only does it for about 10 seconds and walks across the IDLER pulley only, then is back on track. so it must be off the alternator eh?

10 seconds belt is back on track, what could 'warm up' and straighten up? How is that possible anyways? I thought everything only rotates besides the belt tensioner and it only pivots slightly. How common is it for stationary belt pulleys to actually move out of align, only causing belt walk on complete cold start?

BTW my 98 XJ8 does this everyday now, cold or not. I've already changed the belt tenisoner, idler pulley, and belt. All updated lipless versions. So my problem must be something out of alignment when its cold? (how is this possible when everything is stationary?) I obviously have a different issue.

I'll call the dealer today but im sure they will have absolutely no clue like 99% of the time.

 

I can only tell you that when I changed all three parts, the belt, idler and tensioner at the same time the problem went away. My best guess is that the tensioner or idler (the old new ones) were not aligned properly. According to the Gates Information http://www.gates.com/brochure.cfm?br...ocation_id=544 I feel it was correct. My old tensioner had residue of the belt that leads me to believe that alignment or tracking was not correct. I changed the belt because of the residue and the concern of wear and the idler because it was easy to get to and why not. I did not want to deal with this again.

I just posted additional information on my page.

 

I changed the idler pulley to an older one I had on my old belt tensioner. It doesn't quite run off the edge but its running to the edge still like the other one then scooting back after about 1 min. If yours has zero belt walk then As noted of course thats not my problem, something is off.

Since it has stopped for you, have you actually watched the belt system on cold start after it to see it's still walking? It won't try to jump off but mine still walks. Yours might not be fixed completely, and when that idler wears down a bit in the front i'll do the same thing of course.

 

Yes I have checked it and I still have 0 walk. I did take a measurement on the removed tensioner and the wheel was .024 from the mounting arm. I was not able to get a reading on the new one I installed to compair. Not sure that makes and sense but hope to update my page soon to show you.

 

Thanks for your advice and information, very helpful Gus.

Dealer says check powersteering pulley might look straight but the bolts might get loose has happened a lot before?

Im guessing you (Gus) Have the original thermostat plastic housing? I don't, I have Motorcarsltd "aluminum" version
METAL waterpump from motorcarsltd? I do, this car ate plastic ones up very quickly.

If you have Jaguar Branded original thermostat stat and waterpump that could conclude my hypothesis. I have both "updated" Metal and Aluminum Thermost and I think it might be misalignment on my 'new updated' aluminum thermostat or waterpump, which would indicate imporper machining. I had to RMA and replace a METAL waterpump after less than a years use, it started leaking. This new one seems to be doing ok, no coolant leaks as to date, just this odd pulley situation on cold start, more of annoyance rather than a total problem, as it straightens right up very quickly.

As well the dealer told me a lot of those 'aftermarket' parts from a lot of different 3rd party companies are vary a lot on clearances and can cause a lot of problems overtime. From 10 mins of research online, It's not a marketing ploy by dealers, a lot of those parts vary too much when machined.

I'll update when resolved, i've read people have so many REAL problems that i've never experienced, yet the tiniest stuff I get doesn't seem to happen to anyone :P