I have been browsing through the forum and have seen a lot posts on bracing or upgrading the transfers case, however none seam to have come to any conclusion. I was curious if anyone had come up with a good solution to the flexing problem... bracing, different unit, or new housing? I am very interested in buying a wagon, however I know my driving habits might not be good for the weak TC.


Question 2. . . is a bad rear output seal a guarantied sign that the TC house is bad? The car I'm looking at has a reported bad rear seal.

Any information would be greatly appreciated!! thank you experts!!!!


Chris

 

Let me prefix this with: This is my Own Opinion based on personal knowledge and experiences ( I had an '03 X, 3.0L)


I think Ford/Jag really screwed up on this AWD design (concept is awesome).


The first thing that puts these TC's in a bad light, was the "Fluid's Sealed for Life" mentality that came with the X's and the dealers were pushing this philosophy as a selling tool..Once these X's hit the streets, drivers and service depts. followed this maintenance concept and a lot, if not almost all TC's ended up being toast...1. they are mounted TOO close the exhaust...2...there is virtually no way an average DIYer person can properly service one (add or check lube oil level) There has been mountains of creative discussions here about the way one could drain and replace the Lube Oil..Some have been successful and preserved the life of the TC over what most were getting out them...Some found that their TC were driven too long without lube (A leaky one, means an empty one, because there ain't much lube oil in one to begin with, fully filled) or lacked any maintenance, soon the TC was trash.
Some brave ones removed and replaced with one they rebuilt or found one from a bone yard that had some life left in it.


Another big drivetrain concern on these X's, was the Center prop shaft support bearing hosing up...requiring an entire prop shaft replacement, which the bearing was part of.




Good luck in your decision...I know a Jag in the garage (of any kind) is compelling.

 

I think DPK is correct. Bearings don't last long if they run hot or dry. The transfer case is too close to the catalytic converter and tends to get pretty hot, cooking the oil and as it thickens up it loses it's ability to lubricate and leaks from the rear seal also allow the small amount of lube leak out.

The small amount of fluid left in my transfer case was as thick as honey and looked really bad. The bearings in the rear section were severely worn and looked like water had gotten into the transfer case and they had run without enough lubricant.

You can probably get your transfer cases to last the life of the car if you drain the fluid and top up with high quality synthetic fluids that can take much higher temperatures, and run cooler. Then all you have to do is stay on the lookout for leaks, and top it up or replace it every year or so using the methods recommended on this site of jacking up the car really high on one side to drain and the other side to fill as it only takes 20 minutes to do.

 

Thank you for the information, I am going to look at the car this weekend. I guess I will make a decision then.