Today it was snowstorm here in Finland and... I have feeling that I have rear wheel drive x-type with me, can someone tell me, is it possible that only rear wheels are driving and if it's possible, what should I do next, at least I'm going to check oil level in transfer case...

 

I'm not expert on these AWD Jags, but it seems to me that the default mode would be FRONT drive only if that were to happen and if it's even possible.

 

Blackcat, because you have a petrol X-Type, you have an AWD X-Type. The only 2WD vehicles are the diesel X-Types. I would venture to guess that you had 1 front and 1 rear wheel spinning. Due to the open differentials in our cars, that is quite possibly what happened. If you only are getting power to the rear, then I would be looking at the transfer case and that would be a broken gear inside of the transfer case. That is about the only way that it could happen short of having 2 bad CV axles which would have had to strip out the splines inside the CV joint. About any other failure would lead to severe noise coming from the front end due to the CV joints flopping around.

 

And...the only 2wd X-types are front wheel drive. Something seems wrong if you were only getting rear wheel traction.

 

The 2.0 or 2.1 petrol X type is only FWD, dunno if thats what you have?

If its the 2.5 or 3.0 V6 then of course they're both AWD as I'm sure you know, but the bias is 60/40 in favour of the rear.....is that what you maybe experienced?

 

Interesting!

I would have guessed the bias favored the front wheels since it's a transverse motor and transaxle set up.

 

Thanks guys!

Sorry that I wasn't more precise with my information... Of course I know that it should be 4wd, but because of my limited knowledge of this traction system, I must make these entry level questions. So I'm not 100% sure if it was only rear wheels spinning, it was a bit dark and I couldn't have anyone verifying it, but one thing is sure both rear wheels were spinning when accelerating and I had this suspicion because when I accelerated to the tight curve, car was acting like my previous mb 300E and it was a bit surprising me. Only thing that worries me is viscous coupling that manage power front to back, if there's any problem with it the car would be front wheel drive then...

couple of hours ago I opened transfer case and it was allmost dry, only little bit of old oil came out with suction pump and I filled it only six months ago, where does the oil disappear?

 

I never actually caught them in the act, but I think Russians come along and siphon the lubricant out while we are sleeping!

 

The viscous coupling in your transfer case may be worn out. Alternatively, has your transfer case been replaced with a later TC? The later cars have DSTC and I understand they may not have a limited slip TC like the early (2002) cars did. DSTC cars use the brakes to prevent wheelspin. Without a locking TC the front weight bias and 60% rear torque would have the car behave like a RWD, i.e., rear wheel spin.

P.S. Your other post. There is very little oil in the TC (1/2 litre). Are you sure you're looking at the TC? How did you fill it?

 

Blackcat, look near the place where the rear driveshaft meets up with the transfer case. NOw, look at the underside of the car. do you see a lot of black dirt/grime build up. If so, it is possible that you ahve a bad seal on the output shaft, which will over time drain out the fluid from the transfer case. This can be fixed by replacing a seal on the output of the transfer case.

As for your RWD/AWD problem. What I would tell you to do is to get into say shallow sand or a gravel area. Stop the car, let off the brake and then get hard on the gas (attempt to break the wheels loose) as you are turning the steering wheel slightly. Once you feel the wheels break loose. Let off of the gas pedal and bring the car to a stop. Now, when you walk back to look at the displaced gravel, compare to depth of the wheel ruts. If you have 2 that are equal and can be related to the rear wheels, issue with the transfer case. If you can see where one of the front wheels was slipping, then you know you have power transfer and odds are you were simply not feeling the front pulling.

 

That's why I live in west coast in a island closer to Sweden than Russia

Tony: That's interesting information and I must verify that by checking the number, I used oil extractor both ways to drain out and fill in, but I couldn't put in more than about 300 ml, maybe I have to lift left side of car or something...

Yes Thermo I suppose there's oil came out, because it's quite a mess out there, is this seal garage friendly to replace by myself...

 

Blackcat, yes, the seal is fairly backyard mechanic friendly. Not too difficult to replace.

 

I must come back to tell you that there's no any problem with my transfer case and car is definitely working as 4wd, it's easy to notice now when it's icy roads here in Finland even if I don't have stud tires I have a great traction compared to others when accelerating from lights. Only this leak rear part of transfer case is worrying me, I have to take time to fix this leaking seal. Still I'm surprised how obvious this greater power on rear wheels is, sometimes it can confuse you... Thanks all your answers.

 

the rear output flange can leak in two different ways, There is a typical shaft seal that keeps the oil from leaking around the outside of the flange. There is also a leak path between the actual splines of the shaft and the flange.

there is a special sealant for the splines. and for certain you must remove the flange to change the more common shaft seal. Whenever you remove the flange you must re-seal the splines also. It is easy to overlook this, but it WILL leak there.