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Hello Everyone. As a brand new member of the JEC can I first say what a superb forum this is. I have had my 97 Anthracite Coupe for 18 months and I still get a kick just looking at it. It was an impulse buy and I knew it would be expensive to run but one of the reasons that I went for it was because it had over two years left of an aftermarket warranty. It cost me £25 to transfer the warranty and it proved to be money well spent as two months later the gearbox had to be replaced! A couple of weeks ago I decided to get the cam chain tensioners replaced and, reading the forum, I think it will be a wise move. I've got it booked in for early December and I'll report back on the experience. But that's enough about nuts and bolts. The main thing is - what a fantastic car. Are all my friends jealous? Oh yes!

Welcome to the Forum. We're all fully paid up members of a club where glancing over the shoulder with a smile is second nature after parking! We will all be interested to hear about your tensioner experience and any other comments on XK8 motoring. Keep smiling! Mike.

Welcome to the Club and Forum, Mike Doggard
A good move to have your tensioners replaced.
I had my secondary ones done last year (at 59k miles) and they just had the beginnings of a split, so I was very happy to have taken the step and not wait 'till its too late.
Happy motoring

My '98 went in a few weeks ago as I had a rattle on cold starts, it turned out to be the VVT unit and they said while they had it apart they could replace all the camchains and tensioners etc for the cost of the parts £388 even though the warranty co. refused the claim for the VVT unit all I paid was the £388 as the dealer stuck to what they had originally told me

Welcome to the forum Mike. I had the tensioners done on my '97 XK8 coupe' at 68,000miles and was glad I did as the secondaries and chains were completely shot, the technician reckoned I was one very lucky chap.

Hi Mike and again, welcome to the Forum.

I too live in Wiltshire- Amesbury - perhaps we can meet up sometime and talk XK.
My 99 XK8 coupe is having its secondary tensioners changed next week, as a precaution. I bought the new metal-bodied parts from a dealer and decided - hell, I'm getting too old to do this stuff, so Julian Ferraro in Wilton is stuck with the job during the annual service. I've also asked him to change the diff oil - a real pain, says he!

As the engine is a steel-linered replacement and only run 30K miles, I'm fairly confident that the chains are O.K. as both they and the plastic tensioners looke in fine fettle when I recently popped a cam cover to see what all the fuss was about.

Might report back if any problems arise. (Always nice to wallow in someone else's misery, eh?!).

Michael

Hi Mike and also welcome.
I've only been a member year and am only just getting the hang of this forum concept. Isn't it good. I'm going to hi-jack your bit of space if I may. I've got a June '99 XK8 but its a 2000 model with Sat Nav and about every other extra you can think of. It was used originaly as a demonstrator for 6 months before being sold to a woman I bought it from in November '05. Can anyone tell me whether the tensioners are dodgy on this first updated model. I'm lucky it's only got 24K on the clock. Alan

Alan, you will probably have the Mk2 tensioners, which are still dodgy. Best have them checked out and changed if required. It was only the late model 4.2 litre engined XK's that received the much improved aluminium bodied tensioners. I had the whole lot changed to 4.2 ltr spec earlier this year, now get a good nights sleep.

Hi Mike and also welcome.
I've only been a member year and am only just getting the hang of this forum concept. Isn't it good. I'm going to hi-jack your bit of space if I may. I've got a June '99 XK8 but its a 2000 model with Sat Nav and about every other extra you can think of. It was used originaly as a demonstrator for 6 months before being sold to a woman I bought it from in November '05. Can anyone tell me whether the tensioners are dodgy on this first updated model. I'm lucky it's only got 24K on the clock. Alan
If yours is a MY2000 I guess it would have the first revised tensioners (orange in colour and spring supported). I had my secondary chain tensioners changed last year at 59K miles and whilst the chain sliding surfaces of the tensioners were in very good condition, the tensioner body had already started to split (the most common problem).
As Sharfrs2 said, get them changed and you'll sleep well at night.
BTW, the new alu-bodied tensioners came out in the spring of 2005, ie towards the end of the car's manufacturing period, and it then had the 4.2Ltr engine.
Let us know what you decide to do and good luck, enjoy your car, like all of us

Thanks everyone for the response. I now know what to do. Alan

Thanks everyone for the response. I now know what to do. Alan

Hi All.
As promised a report on my cam chain tensioners. When I booked the car in I decided to go for broke and asked the garage to replace the water pump and thermostat at the same time. Then I received the latest JEC magazine and lo and behold there was an article on the water pump stating that only some pumps needed replacing and it was possible to tell by reference to the stamped-on part number. I rushed to the phone but the job had already been done! As it hapens mine was a suspect pump so I'm glad that I decided to have it replaced. The whole job with new chains, guides and tensioners came to £760 and was done by NM Jags near Radstock. A hefty bill, no argument, but I think it has been worth it for the peace of mind. The technician told me that the tensioners had started to crack although I can't actually see where, but I am a bit of a luddite. So next weekend a thrash up to Manchester - can't wait.
Mike.

Well done Mike, I bet you can sleep better now.

Mike,

Were the tensioners changed just the secondaries or did you have the primaries and chains changed too, as the price you have paid seems good for doing the whole job and the water pump?

P.

I had the primaries, secondaries, chains and guides changed and the water pump and thermostat replaced. The garage had just done another XK's timing bits so they whizzed through mine and charged for the actual time rather than use a menu charge. All in all I was pretty pleased with the price. Much less expensive than a main dealer would have been.
Mike.