Attempted to change the Transfer Gear Oil this morning I supported the tranny and attempted to remove the 4 bolts that hold the crossmember in place. Only one bolt came out! The other three came about 1/4 of the way out, then the nut that is encapsulated in the body broke loose on the other 3, now you can't loosen or tighten the bolts back up! Before I attempt to remove the seats and carpet to see if I can get to them, I thought I would check to see if anyone else has experienced this?? The car has no rust and has never seen snow or salt. I still can't believe these broke loose! Does anyone have any pictures or know if there is access under the carpeting? There is no access hole or rubber plug to get to these from underneath.

 

Just in case you haven't already seen the below thread. Doesn't sound like a fun fix.
Dealer oops during 3 year service

 

Thanks for your attachment as their problem is identical to mine. AND their solution of the hole saws and rewelding was what I was thinking of what was needed. SO now I wonder if this could be a warranty issue. My warranty runs out in March 2021, and I have purchased an extended warranty from an outside company as well. Any thoughts??? Will call the local dealer Monday and discuss.

 

The dealer will probably blame an "amateur mechanic" for breaking it. Hope they don't, and that you can get it sorted out satisfactorily.

 

I think that seems valid, and it "Should" be covered, though this is JLR we are talking about. They would be hard-pressed to assign the proximal cause of failure on trying to remove it. If you were putting them back on, they could say you over-torqued them...But just trying to remove a bracket, and having 3 of 4 breaks, demonstrates a definite design flaw in my opinion. If you had to take them to task in court, I would have no doubt I/you could win in this scenario. And you also have a precedence case to reference.

Hopefully, they will just do what is right and help you out. Between the two warranties, I would hope someone would kick in something!

Best of luck to you.
DC

 

A learning opportunity for the rest of us: Use penetrating oil prior to removing large JLR fasteners!

 

Amen, on that one! I have been communicating with Rondog on this and trying to help with the info. I have the parts ordered for Transfer Case and Transmission Pan/Fluid change, and I immediately went out and put the car up...Took photos, and sprayed some PB Blaster to soak until next week...Sprayed off the excess for now, and will apply more before starting. I did slowly and loosen each bolt to be sure, and got no drag...So we will see. Also, looked to see if it is possible without removing it? Appears it may be possible...

DC


This is what the Bracket bolts look

Fill Plug from Endoscope shot. Appears reachable.

Drain plug, accessible through a hole in the bottom of the bracket.

 

There is no corrosion in question here. Your PB Blaster may act as a lubricant though. Look at the picture of the bolt I was able to get out. Notice how clean, but the problem is with the bolt itself. Look closely at the end, I thought the cuts in the bolt were for self threading, but I now see they are stop cuts! Why would they even consider such a bolt??? SO this is why it loosened up part way then got hard. It couldn't thread itself back through the nut!

 

Wow...That is crazy that they would even put that bolt there (I agree with you!). I appreciate you posting here. I typically create a DIY when I do mods or other work, and will try to do so here as well, when I get it done. I will be sure to put this caution in the notes! My plan is to loosen them...As long as they move freely, and do it slowly and continually spray lubricant. If they get in a bind, I will stop, and hopefully, have enough clearance to complete the TC Fluid and Transmission Pan drop.

This certainly has me concerned and sorry this happened to you...But thanks for posting for others.

When you were removing your bolts (even the one that came out), were they really bound up (very tight/hard to get out?) Were you using an Impact, Or ratchet, or? Can you actually see it broken away from underneath, like my picture? Or did not break off inside?

Thanks and best of luck to you getting it fixed. From the shape of the mounting points, I am not sure it will be accessible from inside but could be wrong. May have to cut the bolts (and you can see there is a hole to maybe pull it out) and use the hole saw and re-weld. What a pain!

Thanks for any info...I will share with others in my DIY as well.

DC

 

FINAL UPDATE!!! So I had a friend of mine look at this. He determined that the housing that holds the rivet nuts is made of cast aluminum. Almost impossible to weld. I spoke with Jaguar and my extended warranty carrier. NO Coverage unless a qualified Jag mechanic is working on the car. SO my friend and I sprayed lube in the hole and just had to guess at hitting the bolts & nuts. He applied pressure down on the crossmember as I tried again to loosen but no go. SO after applying pressure again I was able to tighten the 3 bolts back up. I put anti-sieze on the remaining bolt that I got out and it tightened back up also. I will wait until spring and take the car to my Jag dealer and have them change the Transfer Fluid and deal with the problem they are going have at that time. Should be covered under warranty then!!

When you were removing your bolts (even the one that came out), were they really bound up (very tight/hard to get out?) Were you using an Impact, Or ratchet, or? Can you actually see it broken away from underneath, like my picture? Or did not break off inside?

Yes they were very hard. I started out using a ratchet but then switched to an impact. Yes you can see where the rivot nut broke away from the holder on the inside.

 

Glad you got it back to usable! And thanks for the updates and info. Going to try mine maybe this weekend, depending on parts arriving, schedule, and weather!

Take care,
DC

 

Those crosscuts serve to prevent the bolts from loosening. Another trick: try tightening the bolts before loosening them. That will break the threads loose without stressing the nut constraint.

 

Hey, Thanks! Yes, I got them all off and back on with no issues thankfully. A couple of things I did to reduce the risk...PB Blaster soak for a few days. I backed them out slowly and they came out about 1/4 - 1/2' before feeling tight. I then sprayed lube on the threads and tightened them back up/in to lube the nut threads. Then they came out very smoothly and easily.

One other thing I have learned as I have "aged", is to remove them slowly. I have broken off way too many bolts by being impatient and trying to just crank on them until they came out. I realized that all that extra heat from the twisting on them quickly weakened them to failure. So with these, I just slowly backed them out and paused every few turns to keep them nice and cool!

Appreciate the suggestion...and may help others as well. Happily, the transmission and transfer case are all changed and back together....running like a top!

DC

 

Thanks for the tips guys! And yes, I agree as I have also gotten older and less impatient. This car is teaching me a lot of new things that never applied to the old muscle cars I used to work on.