I have been trying to narrow down the location of a mysterious leak that I've had for about a year now. Every time I stop at a red light, I have a very strong odor of burning oil that comes in through the A/C vents. There are no real signs of oil leaks under the car however.

I finally degreased and pressure washed the underside of my 2002 X Type last week, then added a UV dye to the motor oil. After driving around for a hundred miles or so I popped out the black night after dusk and there was no sign of the UV coming from anywhere. The next morning I crawled under again and I'm pretty sure I found my leak. It's coming from the right hand side (passenger side) of the transfer case at the seal.

I checked the JTIS, but can't seem to find any information on how to change this seal. Maybe I'm not looking in the right place, but I was hoping someone could give me some tips on replacing the seal, if it's even possible.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!
Jon

 

There is probably no info on this in the JTIS because the TC was "sealed for life", and it was not meant to be modified/rebuilt/etc. I would strongly recommend that you speak with one of techs here, or get your TC checked at the dealer ASAP, otherwise you will end up with a bad TC and that will cost you a lot of $ to replace. Use your car only when necessary in the meantime. Seriously.

 

Well I don't believe it's THAT serious. I changed the fluid in the transfer case about 2 months ago and it was at the correct level when drained and refilled. Like I said, it is such a small leak that it has taken me almost a year just to find it!

Does anyone have any experience changing this seal?

Thanks!

 

Jon,
That seal is very much like the transmission (left side) output shaft seal. You can get them from the dealer.

To replace, in-place, you will have to pull the rubber boot (nearest the TC) off the half-shaft flange, large 3 indented normally rusty colored CV joint end). The boot will pop loose from its groove. (Trick to re-attaching it is to tip the metal retaining clip/band slightly toward you when you try to put it back on. This will leave the clip/band in a slightly diagonal orientation. Use a soft metal, like brass or better a hard wood like oak to tap the clip/band back in place.) Once the CV is free, Wrap in a plastic bag then wrap in cardboard to protect the CV bearings. Now turn the wheel until you get the CV joint is free of the joint housing.

Here is the CRITICAL stage, that housing has splines that go into the shaft that runs through the TC to the Transmission. Have you heard about the notorious "inner seals"?? Well that shaft is sealed to the Transmission via those un-replaceable seals. Blow those and its $$$$ to replace the TC. You have some room to work with but BEST if you don't move the shaft out at all. I have NO trick to separate the shaft and the CV joint shaft end. Mine was very very tight. Mine was also already out of the car. I used a vice and a block of wood. If you can keep the TC shaft from moving, you might be able to do it.

My recommendation is to take it to an experienced Jag mechanic and let him replace the seal. The RISK is great and his experience will be worth every penny.

 

Thanks for all of the information! The closest dealer is an hour away and when I asked them about replacing the seal, they said that you can't replace the seal without taking the transfer case out of the car (10 hours of labor), then a flush and refill of the TC fluid for an additional $350. I politely declined their offer to make an appointment!

I'm just trying to weigh my options, so I greatly appreciate it!

Thanks,
Jon

 

Jon,
The reason to take the TC off would be to be able to secure the otherside of that shaft with the proper tool. This way they can pop off that CV end shaft and and not tear out those inner seals. With it mounted to the Powertrain it is alot more RISK and harder to work inside the tight area.

You could remove it your self and take it to them to replace the seals. This will save you some $$$$ JUST DON'T LET THE SHAFT COME OUT OR SLIDE OUT MORE THAN A FEW INCHES. JITS says you have 7 inches.

To make it easier you will need to remove the Wheel Hub/Strut Tower. To do this you will need to lower your subframe several inches. FYI subframe bolts sometimes DO NOT like to come out gracefully and will bind on the nut and then break the welds holding the nut. If this happens you will have to pull back the carpet, locate the depression for the access and cut the black sound mat and then cut the fingers to expose the nut.

Mine came out fine for me, but I have 0 rust anywhere.

Once you remove the Hub/Tower you will have better access.

Re-install is no picknic either. You have three shafts/collars to align and the whole time that shaft wants to pop out. Just be careful if you attempt this. $1000 for a seal to the HEART of your drivetrain isn't bad considering the death of a TC for $1500-$2000 for the part only.

Try a Trained/Certified Jaguar Tech if the DEALER is too expensive.

You can drop the entire Powertrain & subframe in several hours, if all goes well. Then re-install in several hours. 10hrs using the right tools and EXPERIENCE, EXPERIENCE, EXPERIENCE is what you are paying for.

If you let it go, eventually, one day you will get a breech and out goes the fluid. How will it last almost dry?

Begin saving up for the repair now and in several months you can get it fixed.

 

Thanks again for the wealth of information! I greatly appreciate it!

Jon

 

i have actually had the exact same problem from a transfer case i bought from jag_genius that is supposedly new ( not that i have any doubts). what i am wondering is if this could be the vent expelling fluid. it would be coming down directly in the location of the seal. any possibilities?

 

I was thinking the same thing, jagxtype...until I re-read the post. Seems like jonbugh has had the odor of the leak prior to the TC refill. By the way jonbugh how did you decide you had the "correct" level in there when you were done?

 

I drained out about 600 ml, then put put in 600ml. Do you think it's possible there is just too much fluid in the case and it is leaking from the vent tube? Where exactly is the vent tube? I bought the car just a little over a year ago and changed the fluid almost immediately. I've noticed the smell since day 1, but my lovely Jaguar dealer said this smell is very common in the X Type. That was only one of the many mis-truths he told me that day, but I was in a bad situation and needed a new car that day.

Thanks!
Jon

 

This is a photo I found on the web. I marked it with the vent location. Notice it is directly ABOVE the right side output shaft seal.

 

Thank you for the image! I'm going to be out of state this weekend, but I'll pressure wash her again when I get home and see if I can pinpoint the exact location of the leak. That would be nice if there's just too much fluid in the transfer case! That's an easy fix!

Thanks again!
Jon

 

there is a lot of incorrect info in this thread.
Firstly, the RH shaft ( called the link shaft ) does not have a problem to be held steadily. The link shaft delivers power from the front differential ( through the TC ) to the RF wheel. This is why there is the hidden seal to separate the transmission from the TC. You must remove the link shaft to change the RH seal on the TC. Of course to remove the link shaft you need to remove the RF drive shaft (half shaft) first.
The advice about taking the CV joint apart is doing it the hard way in my opinion. I would remove the big nut in the middle of the hub, and undo the lower ball joint, then the half shaft will come out.
THe issue with the link shaft is that there is a circlip on the far end, deep inside the transmission. If you pull the shaft out, there is a possibility that the clip will be hanging with the sharp edges downward, and cut the rubber seal as you pull it through.
If you have a good sensitive feel for such things, I think you can pull the shaft out without damage, it should slide out without ANY resistance.

Now, also it seems very likely that your issue is being overfilled.
If you drain the TC through the drain plug, you should never get 600 ml out, only about 400and the re-fill amount is only 400.
To get 550 ml out, then you need to remove the rear output pinion housing. Then refill with 550.
To get the full factory fill of 600ml out, you need to remove the TC from the car, take the thing apart, and wipe the entire thing out with a rag. If you start with the TC bone dry, only then can you put back 600ml.


Does that help?

 

This is probably my exact problem then. I have no prior knowledge of what was done with the transfer case before I bought the vehicle, but I just checked my notes and when I drained the case, 650ml came out. I put 600ml back in. I will see about draining it again this week, put in 400ml and see what happens. Thanks for the info!

Jon

 

I will add my bit here. If your car doesn't have the air scoop to cool the TC get it installed asap. I too had the oil burning smell issue, when the scoop was installed the issue went away. Little anecdotal but keep in mind the scoop is the lowest part on underbody, it's moving a lot of air to the top of TC where heat concentrates. There seems to be underestimation of the functionality of the part but I can assure you Jaguar would not have spent the money to put it on if they didn't have to.

 

I'm not doubting you in any way, but why do you believe the smell would go away with the scoop installed? My car has never had one since I've owned it and I have never bothered installing one because of all the complaints of them getting ripped off. We get quite a bit of snow here at times and I'm not too keen on continually replacing a $80-100 part. If you think it will help, I will absolutely give it a shot!

Jon

 

This is just my 2 cents, and keep in mind that I know roughly 1% of what knowledgeable posters like jfenley do, but if I were you I'd keep the 600 ml instead of re-draining and filling it with only 400 ml. As far as I know, one of the transfer case's weaknesses is that the amount of fluid that it contains is too low. And a low amount of oil means less lubrication, more heat, and therefore premature degradation of the moving parts.

So I'm probably just adding to the confusion and I apologize for that, but as someone who previously had to replace a transfer case right after the warranty expired ($$$), I'd rather overfill it than underfill it!

 

I can see your point on that as well. I was going to pressure wash the underside and try to determine EXACTLY where the leak was coming from (the seal, or the vent tube), but it has been raining like crazy here over the last few days and it doesn't look like it's going to let up anytime soon. If it's leaking from the vent tube, I most likely will just let it leak until it decides it's at the correct level.

Jon

 

Jon, keep in mind this my opinion as it's very difficult to go look at top of transfer case in car. But I think the oil smell comes from TC getting too hot and the oil vapor is being boiled off, literally cooked off of the vent and/or other opening such as seal.

By providing volume of cooling air, it's keeping the TC cooler and no oil cooking. It's about $55 shipped. To me that's good insurance against another TC failure and oil cooking smell everytime I come to stop. BTW, I've installed a new TC recently with a help of fellow forum member. It's not the type of repair I would like to repeat soon.. : )

 

Thanks for the advice Tony!