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Newbie question--XK8 owners

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boatycall

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I'm new to this board, and have heard about a serious fault in 1997 XK8's pertaining to timing chain. I recently purchased this car, and it's been an excellent car so far. What's the issue, and would a dealer be able to pull it's service history and see if it's been taken care of? If not, what is the cost of repair?

Thanx!
James
 
Welcome to the forum....it's great to see another XK8 owner in here!...the problem is with the plastic timing chain tensioner breaking....I am no expert so I'll let someone else pipe in with the exact info.
 
The 1997 XK8 had two significant problems that could be serious. The first (which is also shared by BMW and Mercedes) is the Nicasil (sp?) coating on the cylinder walls. This was a kind of half-ass very sporadic factory recall. The reason for that problem was sulfur content of gasoline. The problem was eliminated by improved USA standards for gasoline due to emission control. If your car is running OK then the problem is probably solved. The second problem for the XK8 was plastic material used in the timing chain guides and compounded by the lack of a back-up mechanical spring in the timing chain tensioner. This combination of unfortunate choices can result in the engine self destructing, particularly after a period of engine inactivity where the lack of oil pressure allowed the tensioner to go to its extreme retracted limit. In my estimation, this should have been a factory recall but it wasn't. There is a Jaguar origin modification that replaces the chain guides with more conventional material and also replaces the tensioner with a spring back-up configuration (like all previous Jaguars had). I suspect that this problem might be blamed on FOMOCO. Check in the vehicle service records whether this modification was used. I understand that the cost of this modification is about $2000. It is probably well worth it. Good luck, I would worry about the timing chain problem but not Nicasil. Best regards, Jack Farrington
 
In addition to high sulphur content in gasoline there can also be failure of the Nikasil liners if the engine is flooded. It doen't seem logical with an electronically controlled fuel injection system but it can happen. I've been advised that if you start the car merely to move it and not to drive it hold the idle at 3000 rpm and then turn it off to purge the area. This should prevent flooding and the cylinder failure which can occur.
Bob
 
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