Looking for options regarding my Transfer Case which appears to be locked. I recently purchased a 2016 XF 35t Prestige with AWD. I noticed the wheels scuffing when backing out of parking spot. I also felt the drivetrain bind up during the tight turn. Red flag was going off in my head, but the car is so beautiful that I bought it anyway.
Normally cars will back up under engine idle, which the car will do for about 3 feet. However, I had to push the gas pedal to keep it moving and the wheels would start scuffing. Symptoms exist while moving forward as well as reverse.
I am new to being Jaguar owner. I'm sad that I cannot drive this beautiful car until this issue gets resolved because I fear the extra stress is going to damage the front drive axles or differential.
I've begun discussions with a Jaguar mechanic via chat. I've acquired a shop manual for this car and reviewed the "Transfer Case" section. Performing the diagnostic step 1 is to lift the car up while in park. Hold one front tire stationary while attempting to turn the other. My car fails that test. The diagnostic decision tree in shop manual says, "Replace Transfer Case because it is locked"
That sounds difficult and expensive. Is there anything else I could inspect or do to free the thing up?

FYI: There are zero DTC errors being reported for Transfer Case and Drive system. All wheel speed, steering angle, etc. indications appear normal. Thus, concluding the problem must be purely mechanical.

I am eager to learn from anyone which has had similar problem.

 

Update on my situation with the locked transfer case. I'm waiting to receive a used transfer case purchased on eBay. Will first verify that front output shaft is able to spin "freely" from the rear output. Assuming that passes, then we will swap it out. I'll let you all know how it goes.
Questions for the group: How common of a problem is it for this clutch style transfer case to fail in locked condition, such as mine did?
I am surprised to find this failure on a 2016 vehicle with 95k miles.
And I haven't seen any other posts about transfer case problems on the X260 chassis. I'm hoping that is a good thing, because then maybe this failure is a fluke and won't happen to me again with the used replacement.

Anyway, look forward to any insight someone has to share. The car is beautiful and fun to drive, I just hope I didn't buy a maintenance nightmare such as the horror stories of earlier Jags.

 

extremally rare ,previous owner may have dogged it before selling

 

My wife and I looked at a pretty dark blue XF 35t Prestige AWD with beige interior before opting to buy another black one for a few dollars more. The problem was with the Annapolis Jag dealer who tried to sell us an XF that obviously had transfer case binding problems that I discovered upon driving the car out of the dealer's lot and onto a highway. The salesman said the fix would be quick and simple. He was a salesman with a lot of experience yet he lied and lied to us. After a few hour's wait my wife and I walked out with our check in hand. We'll never buy from that dealer or have any of our Jags serviced by them! Fortunately, we have a couple very good Jaguar and Land Rover dealers nearby in addition to an exceptional one.

 

Hello group, Update on the Transfer case issue.
I received a previously used Transfer Case purchased from salvage yard that lists on eBay for roughly $500. Performed the quick test of whether the front driveshaft output was able to turn independent of the rear output. Thankfully it does. It is stiff as there is always some drag with the clutch system, and that seems to be normal. I was able to turn by hand, so it is not very much drag. Swapped the old one out with this "new to me" case. Although the job is reasonably straight forward, it is still multiple hours to do it right. Was worried that I'd have to remove portion of the exhaust, but thankfully was able to lower rear end of transmission just enough to make the swap. Being that I'm spending this much effort under the car, I felt it would be wise to change the oil in the case. It's not your average gearbox oil because of the clutch system in there. Found source declaring OEM oil as being Borg Warner LR054941 Transmision clutch oil. Very light color.

For anyone else that plans to work on these cars, make sure you have access to proper wrenches and sockets. These cars require E-Torx Star sockets. Specifically, the E12 size was needed for the transfer case bolts and drive-shaft attachment bolts.

So what is wrong with the previous transfer case? I have not disassembled it yet, but plan to. I did pull the fill plug out to look inside and the stench of burned clutch just poured out into the air. I know that smell after changing a few manual transmission clutches over the years. Thus, I expect to find very burned clutch plates inside. I am left now with two questions, first being, what driving conditions will cause this clutch assembly to get burned up so bad? My second question is how does a worn-out clutch end up locking as opposed to slipping instead?

For other owners or potential owners of the XF with AWD option, if you notice tires scuffing while turning sharply, a locked-up transfer case is very likely the cause. Do not listen to a salesman or service shop that claims it's a tire problem. I remain skeptical about how rare this situation might actually be.

 

Hi John,

Not sure if you’re still around but I’d like to add my situation and ask your experience. I picked up a 2017 F-Pace and noticed the exact same issue you experienced. When making tight slow turns the front tires seem to be scuffing on the asphalt like it was in four-wheel-drive. The binding feels like it will eventually damage something. It was a great deal for the SUV so I bought it anyway and just finished up doing head gaskets and the cooling system. I am now moving on fixing this next issue. I am convinced that it’s either the transfer case or the front differential.

How did you come to decide it was the transfer case rather than the differential?

Did the new eBay transfer case fix the issue and is it still operating well?

did you ever disassemble the old transfer case to determine the cause of the issue? I have experience rebuilding transmissions so I did a search for transfer case parts for a rebuild, but could not find any.

When inspecting a replacement transfer case it sounds like I should be looking for the front output shaft to rotate independently from the rear output shaft, is this correct?

Thanks for any input you can give. Like you, I do believe that this is a lot larger problem across a few different Jaguar models, it just doesn’t seem very well documented for us DIYers to access the information.

 

Happy to respond.
How did I diagnose that the problem was indeed my transfer case being seized? Seized meaning that front output was locked together with rear output.
Answer: I eventually found a 13,000 page shop manual for the XF. Then found a troubleshooting section related to the transfer case. Step 1 in troubleshooting was to raise both front wheels off ground. If you can rotate one side and the opposite side rotates in the opposite direction, then Front differential is OKAY. Same can be done to verify rear differential. Step 2 is to place 3 wheels on the ground, only lifting 1 front wheel free. If one front wheel cannot be rotated, then that indicated the transfer case is locking front output shaft with rear output shaft.

There are some further diagnostics that can be followed regarding the clutch pump motor on the transfer case. I had nothing indicating wrong there.

All indicators were pointing to transfer case seizer. My last indicator was draining its oil. The Stench of burnt clutch material and burnt oil was soooo strong. No more question in my mind, it had been slipped under full pressure for long enough that the clutches eventually welded themselves together.

You are absolutely right to be concerned about breaking things further if not repairing the transfer case because the front CV joints are not intended to deal with the extremely high torques it take to skid tires. They will fail if not corrected soon.

Did my Ebay transfer case solve my problem? Thankfully YES. I saved a lot of money as compared to buying OEM part. Changing the whole transfer case was surprisingly less painful that I expected. The exhaust pipes allow just enough space once I loosened engine mounts and tilted transmission slightly. NOTE: If you do buy a used transfer case, be sure to smell for signs of burnt clutches. Also recommend new oil while you are at it.

 

In many cases the locked up clutches can be released with updated TCCM software and a fluid flush, this is the first step at the dealership level before we replace the t-case, although I've replaced a bunch of them for the exact same failure. The system defaults to 'locked' when moving off from a stop, and as they age/wear they tend to fail in the stuck position. It's worse on the 4 cyl diesel cars for some reason. Quick test is to try the same tight turning in reverse, as the clutch should be released when going backwards, if it's still binding it's not opening up. Next step as a dealer tech is to drain and replace fluid, update TCCM and ABS software which also performs a clutch calibration. That actually freed them up about 80% of the time and they never seemed to come back. My guess is they changed something in the lockup/release timing that prevents them from sticking closed. The new fluid we use is the same as the old stuff, it's just putting fresh in there because as you say, it will be dark and smell rancid.

 

Thanks for the replies. My transfer case is definitely binding in forward and reverse when making tight turns. I have ordered a replacement from eBay and had the seller verify the front and rear output shafts can rotate independently.

Does the control module on the transfer case require any kind of programming or calibration when installing a used one?

Interesting that the dealer can possibly fix the issue with a programming update. I plan to open mine up to see if I can find the failure.

I’ll update once the cases installed and tested.

 

I transplanted the hydraulic motor and control box from the old transfer box to the functioning box. There was no need for any programming.

 

Swap the module from your old one, they have a VIN in them and you can't re-write a VIN on a used module. You should run the calibration for your module since you're moving it to a new mechanical unit, it will have the learned values from the old one.

 

Also, I do not believe that there is any way for dealer to mess with programming to release the clutches once they have completely seized.

Can they adjust programming when the physical system is not seized? Yes of course. Clutch engagement is controlled by that electric motor which pumps oil and adjusts pressure on the clutch system. More pressure = more torque transfer to front output. But if the clutches are not able to turn freely while pump is off, then there is nothing more that control of programming can do.

 

I would love to see your findings when you open the box. Unfortunately, I had chosen to discard by box without tearing into it. The gearhead nerd in me really wants to see inside. But the overloaded, working too many hours, tired family man overpowered and said, "Just through it out and move on..."

 

Yes, I'm very curious. I really wanted to attempt to repair it, but could not find parts. I'll post what I find.

 

The transfer case fluid must be changed periodically, the best is to remove the mump and clean the pump filter. With high milage the software trying to compensate the blockage of the filter by raising the pressure which lead to "locking" of the transfer case, later burning the clutch.

 

Good to know. However, I thought that the transmission filter is an integral part of the ZF pan in Jaguars.

 

Transmission and transfer case are two independent mechanisms.

 

Not the transmission, the transfer case. Different system. The t-case isn't built by ZF to my knowledge, and the 'filter' is more a screen than anything else.

 

Oh! I wasn't paying careful attention. I must have had my head up my proverbial you-know-what when I was reading the string. Thank you for clarifying that for me. I'll keep that in mind.

 

Transfer case is Borg Warner. I plan to remove the pump and filter on the new (used) and failed transfer cases to compare filter. New fluid will go into the new one.

I've been researching what fluid and how much to use. I ordered Triax DTF-1 (1 quart). Has anyone else used this or another fluid successfully?