So I went to start doing some front end work today and ended up doing the TC and rear diff oil changes. The rear went well, had a lot of fairly clean fluid.

The Transfer case though was just full of thick sludge. I put some fluid in it, drove it about for about 15 miles, drained out more sludge, then refilled it. It was at this point, I was looking closely at the right hand side of the TC. What I had thought was an oil leak in that area turns out to be a leak of black sludgy TC fluid. This is not an over flow, i can actually see it coming from the TC. It has been all over that little compartment from being sprayed around by the spinning inner CV.

Now I don't know what to do.

she is a 2002 with 80k 2.5 manual

I have almost $4,000 into it after purchase, taxes, and about $500 in parts. from what I have found there is no easy seal replacement. I think tomorrow I will be replacing the left hand half shaft. Then I will see how she drives.

 

You can try to add some seal conditioner drive it for a while and see what happens, but most likely you may need to pull the transfer case and swap the seals out. It took me about 4 hours to get mine out so it's at least an 8-10 hour job.

 

Is there a seal kit or seals available? I have been looking but can not seem to find or understand what can and can't be done with these things.

 

Believe it or not, my leaking seal fixed itself. But, it did have some gunk clogging up the vent on top. It was, for some reason or other, causing pressure in the TC. Once I unclogged the vent, it worked perfectly.

Also, an interesting fact about lip seals. Quite often a mixture of oil and dirt accumulate under the lip. A simple, but thorough cleaning with spray cleaner and a tie-wrap gently inserted under the seal surface and rotated around, often completely fixes the issue. The exception would be when the seal is torn or wildly worn out.

I'm using M1 gear oil. Works just fine.

 

I ordered the two outer oil seals and 0-ring where the c/v half-shaft and transmission connect from Las Vegas Jaguar for a pretty decent price (well below what my local Jaguar dealer list prices were.)

Since mine just had severely worn bearings in the rear section going back to the rear drive-shaft, I never split the case and changed the one in the center of the case where I think it seals the transmission fluid from seeping around the right side c/v half-shaft.

It was all pretty straight forward and nothing that tricky and as long as you follow the TSB for transmission replacement it's not too bad.

Good luck and let us know how you get on.