Launched in 1996 the Jaguar XK8 was produced to replace the XJS models, at that time Jaguar was using their newly developed V8 engine which was able to deliver a large amount of power from it’s 290bhp, 4litre engine.
The early XK8 engines have a known fault, the original timing chain tensioners are constructed out of plastic which often begins to crack and split which as you can imagine can have a catastrophic effect should they fail.
These plastic tensioners can be easily replaced with aluminum ones before any issues occur so it’s recommended that you replace them.
So when a XK8 convertible was booked into our workshop to have it’s timing chains checked as it had no known history of them being replaced we weren’t surprised to find that it still had the plastic tensioners and that they had already developed deep visible cracks.
So luckily for the owner of the convertible we were able to change his plastic tensioners for the aluminum ones before any issues appeared.
It’s actually surprising how many of the early XK8 engines still have the original tensioners twenty plus years on.
