My 1998 XK8 been sitting for a while now, but had a metal to metal noise on startup that disappeared in 30 seconds. Happened right after oil change, in which, I posted on a while back; we all came up with a couple things, like tensioners, oil filter, etc.. Now I'm going to change the tensioners, which have previous been replaced back in 2017. My question is: Should I buy the
sec. tensioners from RockAuto, which are about $40 each (like I did in 2017) or SNG Barratt, which range from $70 to $275 each? Also RockAuto doesn't have the valve cover gasket, but does have a Mann W7197 oil filter.

 

Your Tensioners seem very new to require changing again.
Q1. Are they currently the metal body tensioners installed?
Q2. How many miles have you done since they were changed in 2017 ?

 

They are the metal once, both sides; the new primary and secondary tensioners have about 15k mile on them. This noise happened right after I got an oil change at one of those fast oil change shops; it took an hour because they had to make a run to get the oil filter.

 

Do I understand correctly that the car sat with the oil filter removed while they went for a new filter? If so, there's probably nothing wrong with the tensioners. All the residual oil in the system drained out because the check valve in the filter was not there to prevent it.
If the engine still has a rattle on startup that may be because the replacement filter does not have a check valve. Find out what filter was installed.

 

Hi RJ237,
Not sure if they left the oil filter off while they went to get a new one, but that is a possibility. I'm going on Thursday to where I store this car, I will get oil filter name and model number then. As I remember, and its been awhile, that the noise didn't happen when I left the oil change shop, but a day or two after. It could of been that day, but it did seem to get louder each time I started the car.

 

Have the primary tensioners been changed? They could be at fault

 

I'm not sure, but I think so... <grin> I included below, an image of my engine, back in 2017, with the new guides and the two primary tensioners, in which, I think those tensioners in that image are new? But the next image below, is the old parts I did change out, but what looks like the primary tensioners in that image, is just two flat metal pieces shaped like the primary tensioners. Was the old primary tensioners made up of two pieces of metal, each respectively?

The oil filter on my XK8 now, is a ProTune Autopart International Manufacturer Part Number 5001-200186, that the quick oil change shop bought at Advanced Auto Parts, down the street form where they are located. I looked that part up online, and it says it has anti-drain valve.... Do those valves go bad?

 

Possibly not your issue since they've been in there for a while, but I think you have the wrong primary chain guides. The metal-backed ones were introduced in 2001 when the switch was made to Morse primary chains.

 

Hi michaelh,

I didn't do the work, I farmed it out to what I thought was a good engine rebuilt repair shop... He took those pics and charged me something like $1000.00 for the timing kit, he said he bought at Jaguar; and when he gave me the old parts back, which I requested, they didn't include the secondary tensioners, so I went in and changed those red plastic tensioners with Rock Auto metal ones myself. I don't know for sure if he replaced the primary tensioners, because in the parts he gave back, there where 2 flat metal objects shaped like the new primary tensioners. I tried to look up what the originals looked like to see if they were made up of two parts, a flat piece and the body, but no luck. Maybe you can tell me from that pic of the engine opened up? Oh, he didn't change the chains that were in the kit; he said there was no need to, but he did return the new chains to me that I paid for.

I found a repair shop that specializes in foreign cars on Car Cod, where I live; He has lots of old jaguars come in for repairs and says he's done timing kit replacement on two older XK8s and the cost of putting in the whole kit would take several weeks, starting in November or December, because he's really busy, at a cost of Approx. $5,000.00.

I was just going to relace the secondary tensioners, oil filter and oil myself, but now learning that Jaguar parts department may have sent old guides from 2001, and maybe the primary tensioners where never replaced.. Maybe the $5000.00 is the way to go here, because if I do the secondaries, filter and oil, and I start the car, it could pop a chain.. <grin>

 

The primary tensioners in your picture are the metal bodied later versions, so they have been changed. The metal shapes you see are just spacers, no longer required.

Your mechanic may not be entirely to blame as many of the suppliers were (and probably still are) selling kits with the wrong guides for early cars.

However, leaving the old plastic secondaries in place while the motor was apart is totally unforgiveable. They are the major fail risk.
I wonder if he didn't have all the kit for timing?

At 45K, I'd be tempted to keep the original chains unless there's signs of wear/damage.


Here's a thread from Colquan1066 which discusses the chain guide issue, and contains information on the correct parts:

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...8/#post1057298


edit: $5K sounds expensive.

 

michaelh, Thank You for that reply. At this point, and it may not be a good idea <grin>, but next week, I'm going to change the oil filter and oil; and see what that does... Maybe the cheaper brand oil filter that's on there now, has a defect anti-drain back value and the springs on my current sec. tensioners aren't enough to put tension on the chain during startup. If that doesn't work, I will get oem tensioners directly from a Jaguar dealer and replace them myself. And, if all else fails, does anybody know of a good engine rebuilt shop in New Engine.

New primary and secondary tensioners just don't go bad within the first 15k... <grin> Besides the maybe defective anti-drain back valve, maybe plastic pieces of the old primary chain guides are blocking oil from getting to the tensioners during startup? The 2017 repair shop guy, said to me, that those pieces that broke off the primary guides are not in my engine, but...

 

I guess I did go a little off-track with the guides, since the issue arose immediately after the oil change. In my defence, m'lud, I did only say 'possibly'

AFAIK the metal-bodied tensioners have some sort of ratchet mechanism to hold the piston when the engine is stopped and oil pressure drops away.

If you're draining the oil for a refresh then you could drop the pan while you're in there and check for debris from the old slipper guides still in there. It's not a big job, although there's a crossbrace on the convertible that you may need to remove first.

The oil filter is one of the parts I would always advocate using OEM (EAZ1354).

 

If you do drop the pan look for trash in the oil pickup screen. For many years those of us living in the states specified using Ford T Bird/ Lincoln LS tensioners. They are identical and often came in a Jaguar box but cost half the Jag price. I no longer have the part #s.

 

When I worked at the dealer I remember opening some parts boxes and finding MOTORCRAFT parts inside. (especially the 3.0 V6 oil filters FL 400S)

I got an account at the local Ford dealer when I ran my own shop and bought the Lincoln 3.9 tensioners at a better cost.
Many LS parts fit the Jaguar S-Type and some parts fit the V8 engines.

 

I'm going to drop the oil pan... Just watched a five minute video on YouTube; a person dropped the pan (XK8) to check for debris in the pickup screen, and about 3/4 of the screen was blocked with big chunks of plastic.


Thanks For All The Help! Updates too follow... :-)

 

A couple weeks ago, I dropped the oil pan, and found metal shavings caught in the oil pickup mesh screen. I'm no expert on oil filters, but they look like pieces from the springs in the image below. Well, I installed a OEM (EAZ1354) oil filter that, michaelh, recommend, and tossed the Autozone oil filter, which only had a couple miles on it. Been driving the car for a couple weeks now, and no chain noise at startup!!!! I didn't change the secondary's or do any other thing to the engine; and the car rides better than it ever did.

There is one thing I did, that does concern me a little,,, I picked up Mobil 5w-20 synthetic, by mistake, and put it in the engine <grin> Maybe that's why the performance is so good; never had this much pickup before! Along time ago, I was told by a Mercedes deanship service manager, who owned a LTD that had the same engine as my XK8, that he used 5w-20 in his car, instead of 5w-30. It really doesn't get that hot on Cape Cod, maybe low 80s... So, do I need to go back to 5w-30 oil????

 

Personally, I think the 5w-20 is too low of a viscosity for driving more than a short distance in a 75+ F environment. Can you “get away” with leaving it in the car for simmer driving ? Probably. But as delicate (and old) as these cars are, why not do every little thing possible to extend the life of them ?

it would only cost you $40 to put a quality synthetic oil in the factory recommended viscosity. Then you can sleep easier.

Z

PS: FWIW: even in sub zero conditions the thinnest factory recommended oil is a 0w-30. For driving in 50 F to 100 F weather the recommended viscosity is 0w-40

PPS: Unlike the XKR’s, the XK8’s have a variable valve timing system and are therefore even more reliant on a proper viscosity.

 

I replaced the 5w-20 with 5w-30. The performance of car went down and engine at idle is more noisy (sight tap), this was how the car sounded since almost new. 5w-20 oil really has its short term benefits, but like you say, I can now sleep better at night!!! Might change to 5w-40 when milage goes up. I really don't trust Jaguar specs on this car sometimes, because of all the inferior design and parts they first put into these cars; and I owned a couple Jags in my life, besides the two I own now...

I want to buy an F-Type so bad, but... <grin>