Jaguar XF 3.0D Cam Belt Change

[KevNoble]

I sold my XF 3ltr D to my son with nearly 200k miles and we recently did a cam belt change at 210k miles (first change was done professionally). We learned a few things on the way which I thought I would share. Changing the belt is not that difficult, but there is a LOT of gubbins to remove to get at it. The full procedure "by the book" calls for the starter motor to be removed to insert a crankshaft locking tool, which in turn requires the steering rack to be unbolted. Having looked online and talked to a mechanic who changes cam belts for living (and who has done plenty of XFs), we decided to omit that bit. First we drained the coolant, removed the airbox and all the trunking, and all the coolant pipes, including the thermostat. The air trunk that leads to the left bank (from the front looking back) can be left attached - it is almost impossible to reach to undo it between the engine and wing. There are plenty of wires and little brackets to remove along the way, so make notes (or take photos) of where they all go. There are also multiple spring clips on the coolant hoses to remove - I used a large pair of plumbers' water-pump pliers, but some of the clips are pretty tricky to get at. Removing the pulleys and cam covers are straightforward. We then carefully rotated the engine (clockwise as you face it) with a large spanner and socket to get the holes in the camshaft sprockets to line up exactly with the holes in the heads. You then insert locking pins, (6mm drill bits or screw-drivers suffice). Again the "book" way is to loosen the cam sprocket adjustment bolts, but we did not need to as both sets of holes lined up and we figured if it was good before, why mess with the cam timing if you don't have to. The mechanic who had done this before had already painted alignment marks on the cam sprockets, but we also painted accurate alignment marks one the crankshaft sprocket and block. We then undid the belt tensioner and idler pulleys and removed the belt - which all looked in remarkably good condition. We found there easiest way to get the new belt on was to leave the tensioner pulley off, then, starting at the crank, engage the belt pulling it tight to the top right cam sprocket and continuing anticlockwise, the left sprocket and idlers etc; one person kept the belt engaged on the sprockets, whilst the other then inserted the tensioner pulley and bolt (with loctite). The first couple of times we tried, the belt kept springing off the sprockets, but eventually we got there. The tensioner is then turned with an Allen key until the cut-out in the front plate is exactly lined up with raised lump on the body - this puts the correct tension on the belt. The tensioner bolt is then done up to hold it but not to final torque. Check the cam shaft and crankshaft marks are still all aligned, then remove the pins/drills or screwdrivers from the cam sprockets. The engine is then carefully rotated a couple of revolutions (clockwise) to settle the belt - if something jams - STOP! Once the belt is settled, the tensioner bolt is loosened, tensioner re-adjusted as before and the bolt done up to the final torque. We then rotated the crank a couple more times just to check before final reassembly. As a precaution, we fitted a new water pump and thermostat with new (orange) coolant. Reassembly again took a while, before we refilled the coolant and started the engine and bled the air out (via the plastic screw on the header tank). The whole job took us about 6 hours ands saved perhaps £250-300 or so. Satisfying to do too!

[steve.pritchard146]

Interesting write-up, and always good to share experiences especially where they vary from the,’prescribed method’

[jamiescrobertson499]

Hi, I am looking to post a new contribution to Timing Belts on Jaguar XF 2.2D 2013 year

I have spoken to local Jag Specialist in West of Scotland who advises me to get timing chain/belt changed asap- or next service -due in Autumn 2025.
My car has now done 92000, and am aware this should be done before 112k miles/ (before 12 years old which is the cars age) I do 4000-5000 miles pa
Dealer has quoted around £700 to do this plus a water pump ( I believe) although not an expert.

can someone advise what a Timing belt change should cost and are there any tell tale signs it is about to fail?
Thanks