ok then, im thinking about it....

[electricman]

hi
i have a lovely 98 xj8 with 36k on the clock. i got her with 26k last year and she has served me admirably. in a year she has cost me a headlight bulb and truly is wonderful she even does over 30mpg on the run which is awsome,,,,,,,
anyway before i get carried away, i deliberately missed the deadline for the throttle body (if it aint broke......) and have not done the tensioners.

i am now starting to think about it. i would like forum members views on all this in view of the following.....

1 my baby failed the mot on front wheel bearings but this will be resolved on tuesday.
2 as to nikosil, my garage says not to worry as the engine has no emissions and is "mint" in his opinion
3 my local breaker (jagbreakers) says not to worry as blow ups are rare and a good 2nd hand engine is around £600 with £400 fitting if it goes belly up

so my questions.........
1 as to the throttle body, i am not sure as the car is perfect. how common is this engine quitting syndrome?
2 as to the tensioners, what will it cost to do these tensioners (tool hire and parts)..... i am looking at putting a modern water pump on her as well
( stat done previously). also i love my mechanic and want him to do the work so will he figure it out without trawling the net for info. i havent asked him yet if he would like to do this service, will do tuesday
3 if he agrees to do the work, can someone do me a list of everything required to make his life easier...

best wishes
alan

[joejag308]

Alan re the throttle body, if it isnt cutting out or running in an odd manner dont touch it, re the engine speak with your guy and im sure if he is a regular guy with a pro set up he should be ok, then any special equipment can be hired from the JEC tools dept.........if you have the job done include top only or both sets of tensioners,water pump and thermostat....around £500 for just the top ones more obviously for the bottom ones as well at most Jaguar specialists, in Manchester look up the "recommended suppliers" on your log in page if your guy doesnt like the idea of doing the job........Joe

[electricman]

cheers joe
will look into it

[electricman]

hi Joe
got my new MOT tonight....
I asked my man about the tensioner job but he declined. says if is anything like the wheel bearings it will age him
joking aside he declined, saying that these jobs are a learning curve and a guy who has done it before will do her three times quicker.

so now, i am not sure what to do. i have done lots of involved spanner jobs over the years and i would like to have a crack at it on my own but find the engine intimidating. so unless an experienced member fancies giving me a lift one weekend for money and copious amounts of cold beers i shall have to start looking at a "specialist" place....

[joejag308]

Alan, with this particular job dont mess if you dont know what it entails.
Leave this particular one to someone who knows what they are doing.
In Manchester there has got to be a specialist near you. Refer to your recommended suppliers list to find one, its on your log in page.
Find one and get a quote,anything goes wrong with the tensioners and it could cost you a new engine ......big bucks

If you want to get your hands dirty and use the old spanners, do an upgraded service after the tensioner job has been done......
i had mine done at a specialist at only 35,000 miles for peace of mind......Joe

[u102768]

If you are feeling brave you cold try the approach of a poster on another forum:

"One look - is all it took for me to acertain the easiest and totally safe proceedure of getting at the secondary tensor removed - with out all the paranoid crap that could have been endured - I Simply removed all of the bearing caps of the exhaust cam and had a buddy lift it up just slightly (keeping tension on the gear and chain, being careful not to let a gear jump while I just reached in a pulled the stupid (and cracked, nylon second gen tensors) out, ploping the new aluminum units into place.) I then re-oiled and retourqued the the cam back into its saddles... Did it within minutes per side! It took me more time just me being particular about sealing the cam covers and cleaning as I went - than the whole of the replacement of the secondary tensors itself! Finished both side in less that 3 hours!

Guys This is NOT a complicated operation! its a piece of cake man! Just do it yourself! And on your lower milage cars, don't even consider replacing the timing chain - Mine cartainly didn't need it... I wasted my money buying the special chain from Christophers - anybody need it a set?

Seriously, guys - DONT be scared of this simple upgrade - Its really easy, and absolutely NOT ONE of the special tools and cam "lock-downs" that are supposedly required to do this tinker-toy operation. Just do it! Jump right in there - I hear you can save a bundle of bucks.

Car has run 400 mile since the work with no ill effects and I don't expect any to crop up."

I have just ordered a set of secondary tensioners myself......

[joejag308]

u102768..........this sort of information to members in this forum is just what we try to monitor......in my own opinion, i would avoid this procedure out of hand.
The average member in here is not a mechanic or technician, or indeed someone who needs to take any risks with their vehicles.
The safe alternative is within this forum, either by selecting a Jaguar specialist from the recommended suppliers list, or emailing Dave Marks for a second opinion.
We cannot endorse any member to take your advice, but it is up to them if they want to........your post has been left there for anyone to try but if it goes wrong we didn't recommend it in any form. We have installed a disclaimer to make our position very clear.
Thanks anyway for your input, it is your opinion and welcome.......Joe

[electricman]

i am an electrician and my work is full of little "fiddles" just like cars i guess.
i got my baby back last night with a new mot and will consider my options. will probably go to a specialist as i do not have much time these days.....

[u102768]

u102768..........this sort of information to members in this forum is just what we try to monitor......in my own opinion, i would avoid this procedure out of hand.


Thanks for your comments Joe. It doesn't hurt to think outside the box sometimes. This procedure was discussed on a couple of other forums. One technician who has been "repairing Jags since the early 70's" said:

"If you don't have the special tools to lock crank/cams and hold sprocket then that would work if you don't slip and get the exhaust cam out-of-time. You could put a plastic 'zip-tie' through one of the 4 holes in the sprocket and pull the chain tight so it won't come off."

If all you want to do it change the secondary tensioner and not the chains or primaries then this does look like a possibility if you don't have the tools. Unless I am persuaded otherwise I will be trying this myself once the parts turn up.

I may pass it by Dave though. He used to service my XJ-S's and in fact bought my first one off me for scrap as, after I blew the engine up on a race track, there wasn't much left worth keeping. Having seen Dave at work in the early days of his business I can see this as being the sort of cunning plan he would have come up with after a bit of lateral thinking.

I just wish I had accepted his quote to do the tensioners and water pump before I shipped the XJR to New Zealand. I didn't think I would still have the car 5 years on. Hindsight is a wonderful thing!

[joejag308]

The comments you make are feasible,if you do have some decent mechanical experience and are prepared to accept the risks.
In this forum we cant ask any of our members, or even suggest to them that is a recognised way of doing the particular job.
It does go against the basics we try to stick to in here.
The health and safety issues are way off line doing it your way let alone the abnormal approach to the job.
So your ideas have not been discarded they remain for any brave member to try, as long as they dont try to tie this forum in them.
Joe

[u102768]

The health and safety issues are way off line doing it your way let alone the abnormal approach to the job.


Hi Joe

I appreciate where you are coming but to say that the health and safety issues are way off line is just over the top.

If you read the process for removing a cam shaft, you actually have to remove the sprocket and tensioner first with the clamp tool in place (same process as changing a tensioner). You then remove the clamp tool and unbolt and remove the cam shaft. The clamp therefore only seems to be used to confirm that the cams are aligned and aid the removal of the sprocket bolt.

The process I highlighted just skips the step for unbolting the sprocket from the end of the cam shaft therefore no need for the clamp. The only danger of any sort involved is that the chain comes off the sprocket which means you wouldn't have a reference point to reset the timing. That is why I suggested tie wrapping the chain to the sprocket.

Anyway, it appears that this level of discussion isn't encouraged on this forum so I will leave it at that. It is a shame because the forum could be a very valuable addition to the magazine.

Posts on the XK8 forum 3725, posts on the XJ8 forum 1760.......

[joejag308]

U 102768........the processes you describe may well work fine i have no doubt that they do and you obviously would have no hesitation using them. That's what im trying to say,that is why we are leaving these methods as open posts and not deleting them.
My alternative explanations are, they are not recognized methods, i can only go with Club policy and advise members who dont have your obvious expertise to go with the well tried and well advised ways of repair.
I can only quote and advise members who dont know what these jobs entail is to seek advice from the club experts and specialists.
I am coordinator not an expert far from it im here to try and point the way or choice for any individual member to do any work on their own car as they see fit. Your solution is one way, going the recognised way and using the forum experts, specialists,and main dealerships is another.
Your post will remain,as a choice for any member who wants to go down that route........the alternative i have to also post.
Its like the other posts re the diagnostic issues, i cant give answers to diagnostic issues im not qualified to do that, the guys getting hot under the collar re the issues there will need to ask someone with more experience than me........that's what im here for .....to direct them in the right direction to the information available within this forum.
My working experience with cars ended years ago, im now retired and i took the coordinator position to get the forum going initially as no one would do it........but i do have common sense i hope to be able to point to members that any work methods that maybe ok to you and the other guys like you who are active in the self repair......its not for everyone and we have a lot of members who want to know the "normal" routes via specialists ect as much as your alternatives.....no big deal you pays yer money you takes yer choice........we want the choice to be there.
I hope this explains my, and the forums position, its no detriment to any poster / member in here........Joe

[u102768]

Hi Joe

I appreciate your position and therefore have no problem with any of that it was just the comment about health and safety I was picking up on because it seemed a bit extreme.

BTW, the August edition of the magazine arrived today and I like the idea of Nigel's comment about "extending the forum to include specialists such as David Marks providing material of interest to those doing their own work."

The write ups he has provided in the magazine on things like changing the tensioners, gear box filter etc have been very interesting.