Chain tensioner?

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Hugo
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#1 Chain tensioner?

Post by Hugo » Thu Nov 23, 2017 11:15 am

Anybody know how to release the spring on the bottom chain tensioner? Or is it automatic?
Also, as an FYI, I just replaced all the sprockets, and the intermediate sprocket (from SNGB), was very tight on the shaft. I had to bash it on, but it wouldn't turn. I had to ease the bush with some 800 paper & WD40 as a lube. Are SNGB's bushes machined too small, or is my shaft too big (as the Bishop said to the actress)?
Hugo Miller - rebuilding an imported Series II OTS & converting to RHD

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#2 Re: Chain tensioner?

Post by mgcjag » Thu Nov 23, 2017 12:50 pm

Its detailed in the manual.....like i said befor manuals are in the knowledge base section
Steve
69 S2 2+2 (just sold) ..Realm C type replica, 1960 xk150fhc

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#3 Re: Chain tensioner?

Post by Hugo » Thu Nov 23, 2017 1:17 pm

Well I can't bloody find it :-( Looked in the knowledge base under 'workshop manual' and takes me to a site that sells them. Looked under 'chain tensioner' and there are 279 entries. I hate computers! What am I doing wrong?
Hugo Miller - rebuilding an imported Series II OTS & converting to RHD

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#4 Re: Chain tensioner?

Post by mgcjag » Thu Nov 23, 2017 1:24 pm

Go to the knowledge base section.....then at the bottom technical information and documentation.....you will then see all the manuals and parts catalogues viewtopic.php?f=16&t=700 you then use the S1 3.8 as the basic manual.....the others are suplements
Steve
69 S2 2+2 (just sold) ..Realm C type replica, 1960 xk150fhc

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#5 Re: Chain tensioner?

Post by Hugo » Thu Nov 23, 2017 1:54 pm

Ok, been there, done that, & I'm still no further forward. Nothing at all on the 4.2 engine, so I looked up the 3.8. That tells me there is a plug in the tensioner and behind that, a socket for an allen key.
But there isn't. I have no way into mine at all, and no allen socket. The old tensioner has that plug & allen socket, & if it were that simple I'd have worked it out for myself without spending all morning struggling with a computer that is going down with Alzheimer's.
Not only that, but the manual tells me to turn the key CLOCKWISE to release it. On my old tensioner, it realeases when I turn it ANTI-CLOCK, which the manual says not to do. So now I'm more confiused than when I began :-(
So does anybody know how to do this?
Hugo Miller - rebuilding an imported Series II OTS & converting to RHD

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#6 Re: Chain tensioner?

Post by mgcjag » Thu Nov 23, 2017 2:49 pm

Do you have one of the aftermarket parts that has the red plastic tab......if so i think you compress the shoe
into the tensioner body after removing the plastic tab to release the spring
Steve
69 S2 2+2 (just sold) ..Realm C type replica, 1960 xk150fhc

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#7 Re: Chain tensioner?

Post by Hugo » Thu Nov 23, 2017 3:06 pm

Yup - that's the one. I wondered what that red tab was for! Sounds a bit hit & miss to me though - the internal ramps on the spring sleeve are identical, but lacking any means of twisting it to release it.
Anyway I cheated - I used the old body with the new internals - except for the sleeve with the allen socket which I also swapped over.
These parts all came from SNGB - another issue was that the hole in the shim - the one that goes over the dowel with the restrictor hole in it - is too small & I had to file it out a bit to go over the step in the dowel - which I also had to swap over cos there wasn't one in the new tensioner body.
Another five minute job that has taken all day!
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64etype
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#8 Re: Chain tensioner?

Post by 64etype » Thu Nov 23, 2017 3:37 pm

Below is a string about failures of some versions of the Rolon aftermarket tensioners (where the rubber shoe separates from the metal). There are two designs floating around. The newer one has the rubber portion curving over the top of the metal portion of the shoe and is designed like the original Jaguar item. The earlier Rolon part had a faulty (smaller) bonding surface and no hole in the casting for the pipe. If your part had a hole in the casting, it probably has the improved shoe design. By the way, I did the same thing regarding use of the new shoe in the original Jaguar metal casting. This problem with the wrong sized "pipe" has been around for a couple of years. First there is no hole at all, and then the later design comes with the wrong sized hole (and no pipe).

https://forums.jag-lovers.com/t/e-type- ... ail/121405
Eric

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#9 Re: Chain tensioner?

Post by Hugo » Thu Nov 23, 2017 4:02 pm

Hmmm - that's a bit of a worry. Can you clarify what you mean by 'pipe'? I have a small dowel coming out of the block with the filter behind it, which has a very small oil bleed hole in it. The new tensioner came without this, so I had to pop it out of the old body. Then I had to put it back in again when I decided to re-use the old body :-(
The rubber bonding looks ok, but if there are any suspicions about these items I want to deal with them now before I finish putting the engine back together.
Also I read on a US forum that some of the slippers have been breaking & dropping into the bowels of the chain mechanism, which is not good. A glance at the photos they posted tells you why this happened - there was a very tight radius where they had been bent - the sort of thing you get when you put something in the vice & wallop it over - instead of a smooth radiused curve. The ones Barrats supplied look just fine though.
All these parts were purchased from Barrats a few days ago, and so far I'm not terribly encouraged - the bush in the intermediate sprocket was too small, as were the holes in the shims. And they sent various tab washers that don't seem to fit anything. These were not major problems, but it does make you wonder what else is going on. The quality of the sprockets seems excellent, I have to say, as does the tensioner.
Hugo Miller - rebuilding an imported Series II OTS & converting to RHD

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#10 Re: Chain tensioner?

Post by Hugo » Thu Nov 23, 2017 4:51 pm

My apologies - if I had read through the link you sent I would have known what you meant. But it is painful for me right now as my computer is going about as fast as the old dial-up pre-broadband days.
I find it very strange that some people seem to be fitting tensioners without that little bleed spigot. It seems to me that, without it, the tensioner is going to be bouncing up & down as the oil pressure fluctuates. The tiny hole in the spigot will damp this down & hold the tension more steady. Anyway, mine is in there, complete with new filter (the old one had certainly been doing its job!).
And the good news is that the rubber slipper on my new tensioner is of the 'wrap round' type rather than being flat & just glued on there, so with a little bit of luck it will all stay put.
Hugo Miller - rebuilding an imported Series II OTS & converting to RHD

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#11 Re: Chain tensioner?

Post by JagWaugh » Thu Nov 23, 2017 5:52 pm

Have a damned good look at the fixed dampers while you're in there.

https://forums.jag-lovers.com/t/sheared ... per/356272

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#12 Re: Chain tensioner?

Post by 64etype » Thu Nov 23, 2017 6:54 pm

Hugo wrote:My apologies - if I had read through the link you sent I would have known what you meant. But it is painful for me right now as my computer is going about as fast as the old dial-up pre-broadband days.
I find it very strange that some people seem to be fitting tensioners without that little bleed spigot. It seems to me that, without it, the tensioner is going to be bouncing up & down as the oil pressure fluctuates. The tiny hole in the spigot will damp this down & hold the tension more steady. Anyway, mine is in there, complete with new filter (the old one had certainly been doing its job!).
And the good news is that the rubber slipper on my new tensioner is of the 'wrap round' type rather than being flat & just glued on there, so with a little bit of luck it will all stay put.

Hugo,

Sounds like you have the best combination of what is available.

Ditto the later comment regarding the fixed dampeners. I have a hunch I buttoned mine up with those junk parts installed. I do recall having to bend them and lengthen slots to get them aligned properly. Wonder if I get a refund if the engine self destructs when one fails...
Eric

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#13 Re: Chain tensioner?

Post by christopher storey » Thu Nov 23, 2017 7:04 pm

Hugo wrote:Nothing at all on the 4.2 engine, so I looked up the 3.8.
Hugo : the Jaguar manuals do not repeat themselves with every model change . So, unless there is a difference between the 4.2 and the 3.8 , the manual for the 4.2 does not deal with anything which is unchanged from the 3.8 and you have to go to the 3.8 manual to get the information. The page numbers are just letter and number for 3.8, the same with an X suffix for S1 4.2 , and with a Y suffix for S2 cars

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#14 Re: Chain tensioner?

Post by Hugo » Thu Nov 23, 2017 8:38 pm

Thank you - I figured this out eventually - I have a cheap imitation manual on CD which does the same.
Just to complicate matter further, when I went to fit it all together, I found the plug on the end of the tensioner wouldn't tighten properly - the thread had gone, so I ended up putting the new housing back on & fiddling the spring out.
I think we're finally there now - chain sits lovely and snug. Next I'm going to remove the studs from the timing cover & replace them with allen bolts - make it a bit easier if it ever has to come off.
Hugo Miller - rebuilding an imported Series II OTS & converting to RHD

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#15 Re: Chain tensioner?

Post by BAHADORI » Mon Jan 25, 2021 11:12 am

Hello,

Following the disassembly of the oil sump of my E type (to deal with an oil leak), I was lucky enough to realize that the shoe of the lower chain tensioner had come off and had fallen to the bottom of the housing (see attached photos).

I really came close to the engine failure ... This ROLON brand tensioner was changed at the time of the complete restoration of my E-type and I have driven 5000 km since this step.

However, after some research on the internet, this experience is recurrent with this brand of tensioner. Here are some examples :
https://forums.jag-lovers.com/t/e-type- ... l/121405/6
https://www.mgexp.com/forum/mgb-and-gt- ... 040/page-2 https://mgaguru.com/mgtech/engine/cs103a.htm

So I strongly advise you to avoid buying distribution kits where this part does not have the quality of the origin. It is necessary to buy the part the quality of the origin: the reference EAC3629 (or EAC3629 # at SNG BARRATT).

Best regards.


Jacques
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Jacques

E-type serie 1 OTS 1966.

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