The Best Repair Shop In Real Redwood City To Handle Jaguar’s Bad Timing Chain Tensioner

A faulty timing chain tensioner is a serious matter for your Jaguar. If you suspect your model may have a timing chain tensioner issue, you should immediately bring your car to our professional mechanic for proper inspection and to take the next steps towards repair. In this article, we will discuss what a timing chain tensioner is, why it is important, signs that it may be defective, and what to do about it.

What Is a Timing Chain Tensioner and Why Do We Need It?

In order to understand what a timing chain tensioner is, we need to first comprehend what a timing chain is and its importance.

Timing Chain: A timing chain is a chain-like metal device that keeps the engine of a vehicle synchronized. It keeps the rotation of the crankshaft and camshaft coordinated.
Timing Chain Tensioner: The timing chain tensioner is a component that controls the tension of the timing chain and safeguards optimal engine performance and reliability. By regulating the tension, it mitigates vibrations and chain wear. It uses hydraulic pressure or spring tension to preserve the tension.

One Affects The Other

The timing chain and the timing chain tensioner are intimately related. If the timing chain tensioner fails, it will cause the timing chain to slip and break. This could lead to engine failure because it will damage the valves and other critical engine parts.

Signs That The Timing Chain Tensioner Is Problematic

You will notice several telltale signs if your Jaguar’s timing chain tensioner is broken.

Starting Issues: A malfunctioning timing chain tensioner will cause problems with ignition because the different parts of the engine are no longer working cohesively.
Misfiring Engine: Engine misfires are common with a bad timing chain tensioner, and you will notice decreased fuel efficiency, rough idling, and reduced power.
Sluggish Engine: You’ll find your engine refuses to pick up, in other words there is a loss of power due to a damaged timing chain tensioner.
Rattling Noise: You might hear rattling noises from the engine due to a problematic timing chain tensioner.
Erratic Shifting: If the chain jumps, your engine might shift out of time.
Metal Shavings In Engine Oil: If you find metal parts in the engine oil, you will need to have a mechanic take a look at it because it might mean that parts of the timing chain could have broken off.
Check Engine Light (CIL): A defective timing chain will trigger the check engine light (CIL) on your dashboard. However, this malfunction indicator lamp (MIL) turns on for various reasons. A professional mechanic attaches a scanner to your car to read the error codes it’s throwing and establishes what the actual problem is.

How To Deal With A Bad Timing Chain Tensioner

Unless you are a professional yourself, you should have a professional mechanic repair or replace the timing chain tensioner. It is a small pressurized device and rather complex to deal with.

Replace The Tensioner: The manufacturer’s recommendation is that you replace the timing chain tensioner every 120,000 miles.
Proper Oil Levels: it is important to keep the engine oil level at optimal, so that the tensioner can work as intended.
Regular Maintenance: You should take your Jaguar to a professional mechanic on a regular basis, so that problems can be diagnosed, identified, and taken care of in a timely manner.

Scheduled Maintenance

Regular maintenance is part of responsible car ownership. During a regular maintenance visit, we look at several aspects of your vehicle. We do a thorough checkup of your car, which allows us to diagnose and detect problems at its early stages. When you catch issues early on, it is usually easier to deal with and much more cost-effective. We highly recommend that you put your Jaguar on a scheduled maintenance cycle with us.

Visit Cerrone’s European Today

At Cerrone’s European, we are your European car specialists. We have been around since 1976! When you bring your car into our state-of-the-art facility, our highly trained service professionals will attend to all your car’s needs. Give us a call or book an appointment to visit us. We are in Redwood City, California.