Hello all,

So I'd recently had issues with the rotary switch on my XK8, which I promptly repaired, but upon taking a drive, I was rewarded for my efforts with a leak from the shifter shaft seal at that same location.
Simple job - claw out the old seal, and pop in a new seal, right?

Wrong.

After a particularly harrowing session I have only bits of this damned seal remaining in the gearbox - I've never encountered a seal of this type. It's literally made of metal. Even with parts of it gone, the remaining parts are so hard to move - my selection of picks just bend trying to pry out the remains. What I DID manage to extract (the spring and one edge of the seal), I got out using an O-Ring removal tool, but that can't be used all the way around due to the bodywork and exhaust. Does anyone have any advice? This has turned into an absolute nightmare.

I figured next port of call is to remove the exhaust center section (I've removed the nuts at the cats and over axle pipes, but how to separate?) and then keep going using an assortment of tools and doing my best not to gouge or score either the gearbox body or shaft. I may have already done so though so I am hoping Wellseal or Loctite 5699 on the outside of the new seal will do the trick.

Super grateful for any advice. I really don't want to have to drop the box... and really wanna get my jag back on the road. Thanks in advance!

 

You can take out the center section of the exhaust to give yourself more clearance. It's a bit of a PITA.

You'll need to completely loosen all the clamps on both sides. Removing the nuts from the cat to exhaust flange is not necessary. Unbolt the exhaust to body hangers at the rear corners. Pull and wiggle each end piece until it's loose from the center section. You don't have to remove them from the car, just let them flop around. Pull and wiggle the center section until it's loose from the cats, then remove. It's not as heavy as it looks but it's unwieldy. Now is your opportunity to invent new swear words.

You don't need to remove the cats unless you're removing the trans.

 

I don't know if the 6" seal hook will fit but I have had these Snap-On and Mac tool since the 1980s.
Mac #S120S
Snap-On #S6129
Sold as CAM SEAL pullers but work on most small seals.

 

Got all the nuts off, back boxes off - I thought that I could at least slide the over-axle sections off the center section pipes, but the rear of the over-axle pipes foul against the chassis, so that's a no go. I am hoping there is enough clearance to wiggle the center section off the catalyst and thereafter pull it loose from each of the over-axle pipes. Then we move on to the next phase.

That snap-on tool looks like it could do the trick, might be a bit long but it's definitely got the goods to pry out the remnants.

 

UPDATE: it's out. Once the exhaust was out of the way, it was easy to get a pick under what was left of the seal and tap on the pick with a small hickory hammer. Took no time at all.

Future advice for anyone who is going to do this job: just remove the exhaust system. Honestly it's not worth the hassle trying to skip this step. If the seal you're changing is relatively new and soft, fine, but if it's the original part it will be hard as rock and be a literal pain in the neck as you struggle getting it out without gouging your casing.

The trick to removing the exhaust is the following:
1. Loosen all the nuts (backboxes to over-axle pipes, center section to catalysts and center section to over-axle pipes). Apply penetrating fluid to the joints, especially at the catalyst end.
2. Remove the backboxes.
3. At this point, if your center section isn't pushed all the way to the front of the car, you won't be able to separate the over-axle sections. Instead, push off the over-axle pipes as far rearward as the can go. This will allow you to wiggle the center section up and down at the rear hopefully enough to break it loose at the catalyst end.
4. Wiggle the center section towards the front as far as it'll go.
5. Now you can get the over-axle sections free from the center section. Once each side breaks loose, keep it above the center section (i.e. the center section should "hang down").
6. Wiggle the center section off the car. I did this job on my back under the car using my knees to hold the over-axle pipes above the center section so it could slide off. It's not heavy, don't worry.
Note: I also disassembled the reinforcing brace toward the front of the center section

As for the new seal. It's soft. When I installed it, I did it by hand using a 1/2" socket, 12 mm. PLEASE BE AWARE: the selector shaft is splined, then unsplined, and then innermost there is an abrupt change in diameter. The "shoulder" on the innermost part of the shaft will catch the new seal on its innermost edge (even if you've lubricated it with fresh oil)


The seal is "conical" with the innermost radius smaller than the radius that faces the splined end shaft. In my case the inner edge caught and "flipped". I pressed the inner edge back in using a plastic pick. But the spring inside the seal might have fallen out of its groove in the process of it being flipped. I bought an extra seal anticipating something like this. Will start the car and run through the gears to check for leaks before I reassemble the whole exhaust and begin the process of correcting the oil level in the gearbox due to this leak.

In many ways I am lucky since this car has no rust on it - I was shocked that even the nuts at the catalyst end came off without a fight.