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Hello All and welcome to the Forum.
Much traffic is expected here so perhaps much time and effort can be saved if I record the advice I was given as a new XJ8 owner.
The advice was that, as a precautionary measure, UPPER tensioners and Water pump should always be upgraded to the latest type, whatever the cars mileage.
The mk1 and mk2 Upper tensioners have been known to fail with little or no warning, with dire effects on the engine and owners bank balance.
Not all of them fail, but the parts are not expensive and replacement is a good insurance at modest cost.
I paid a good Independant Jaguar Specialist a bit less than £400 all in to replace the upper tensioners,water pump and thermostat on a car with mileage 32K.
A Jaguar Main Dealer will charge much more......but its your money !!

My information is that the new type (aluminimum body) tensioner was not introduced untill February 2005.
This means ALL X308 cars will have one of the earlier type fitted as standard.
I believe the new modified water pump is also a fairly recent introduction. I do not have a date for that at the moment.

Just booked my vehicle (December 2002 model with 38.5k on the clock) in for next Monday for the tensioners to be replaced. Been quoted just under £500 which didn't seem too bad for London prices.

Better safe than sorry

Booked my 1999 XJ8 with 67k in for its MOT and the tensioner failed while in the garage! I had read all the articles but never acted. Now that fate has stepped in, anything else in addition to the new aluminium tensioners, new water pump and thermostat I should get replaced at the same time? I seem to remember reading advice to also have guides replaced at the same time, or was it chains? Can't seem to find the article now.

Ive just overhauled all my chains and tensioners on my 98 3.2 sport with 112,000 on the clock, the guide material on the upper offside unit had disappeared and the chain was running directly on the skeleton of the tensioner. It caused the chain to jump one maybe two teeth. It was still running but obviously there was a problem so I transported it home 200 miles by RAC. Got it home and checked compression, there was slightly low on the off side bank throughout, so I took the head off. The valves had clearly touched the pistons, but after checking the seats there was no damage. Pouring thinners into the exhaust ports with the manifold and head off revealed it held all the fluid and that I had been lucky.
I struggled getting a head gasket for that side from my local parts supplier, though he quoted me around £25 plus VAT. They were on back order, though strangely the near side was plentiful. I went to my local Jaguar main agents and was mildly suprised to be able to get one within 2 days and £22 each.
I upgraded to the later 4th generation alloy body tensioners and it is advisable to renew the mounting bolts as they are Im told stretch bolts.
Should have it up and running this weekend. But I forsee no more issues now.

i did the job myself with a total cost of £183..........

Jag wanted £1200.......

nuff said, lol
BB

Just been quoted £1400 by Jag dealer to replace tensioners and water pump for my 1998 V8 3.2 with 59k on the clock and running beautifully. From the prices mentioned above, I think I should shop around. Trouble is though, finding a suitable garage in West Sussex/ Surrey.

You lot scared the pants off me with your horror stories re the tensioners, water pump , and thermostat,........so with having only 32 thousand miles on the clock i had them done on Friday.........Jaguar specialist in Mirfield......cost £510.............the parts they took out didnt have even a scratch on the tensioners, the water pump was the old rubber gasket type and the replacement was the metal flange type..........but the feeling of satisfaction was worth the cash. Both me and my wife can manage on bread and water for a few days until the old bank balance recovers, and we can use the old tensioners and water pump as ornaments ...... i hired two security guards to make sure they didnt dirty the engine when doing the job too.............happy bunny again.......Joe

Joe,

well done, i think £510 was well worth it......

but it gets even better,

with the proof of your engine having all the required upgrades , you have added thousands to its value, and desirability....

BB

In my quest re replacing tensioners, water pump etc finally found a specialist in Surrey. When I phoned was quoted £1500 (more than the jag dealer) but was asked why was I wasting my money when the engine was running well with no noises.
Thoughts/advice anyone?

your answer will be...

because these components are known to have a high failure rate, and the unknown condition requires replacement if it cant be proved otherwise,


i have noticed that jag dealers are dropping the prices for this work , i think its due the the amount of cars needing to be done, and the competative prices that were previously offered by other garages


and finally, .......... peace of mind and residual value of the vehicle,


BB

Hello Chaps,
I live in Surrey and would like to get mine sorted out too so be very grateful if someone locally, who does a good job, is found. I have also been advised to get the transmission oil changed, any advice on that? I threw my article for the magazine away because I was never going to buy one of these cars! However I weakened a few days ago when I saw anX308 Zircon Blue on ebay!
My conclusion on the matter is that these jobs only need only once, or will do on my car which is done 85000 miles. So on this rare occasion there seems little point in suffering the worry and frustration of doing the job for the first time with the practice would not be put to good use later on.
Well done to all those of you who have done your own.
Best wishes,
Mike

Mike, its essential for peace of mind alone they are at least done!!
With your mileage the tensioners and water pump along with the thermostat are i would say are at a danger mileage, the gearbox oil will most likely be the original oil in there.........it only takes a piece of the old tensioner to break off and jam into the timing mechanism then, its off to the bank manager and offer to do the washing up........quite a hefty bill for the repairs against the possible price of a few hundred to preempt the obvious...........i'm sure someone in your area knows a specialist who is competitive doing this work......try your local region,they all have to have maintenance done........Joe

A local and respected mechanic in my area said he would do the job for me, even though he hasn't done this before or even worked on a Jag. Is it the case that a good mechanic should be able to do the timing chain tensioners/water pump/thermostat even though they have no great knowledge of the car/engine.

Are there anymore pictures to give him a guide than those already posted here e.g. a manual. I think he would do it for a reasonable price and in the end it would provide an alternative to main dealers here in Scotland for Jag owners. My only concern is that my car will be the 'guinea pig'.

Any advice from those with the knowledge would be greatly appreciated. Should I let him loose on my pride and joy?