So I took the jag into a local shop last Wednesday to have the t case fluid changed. I drove away thinking everything was fine but I noticed a smell of burning oil. Thinking it was just residual left on the outside of the t case, I decided to give it a few days to burn off.

Well all weekend it smelled pretty bad so I took a look underneath and saw to my horror that there was a slow leak and the bottom of the car was saturated. I immediately called the shop and went in this morning. They told me that they had just overfilled the thing on my first visit so they emptied some out and told me I was all set.

Now, I'm hoping that's the end to this episode, but I can't help thinking that they initially damaged the seal between the t case and the transmission so that transmission fluid is leaking into the t case. Four days after the t case fluid was originally changed, I did a partial fluid change on my transmission. I got almost a full gallon milk carton out of the old fluid and added just as much back in. I don't drive that much, on most weekdays I average 5-10 miles, but I'm wondering how noticeable of a loss of transmission fluid it would take to diagnose a leak into the transfer case. Again, I'm hoping they did simply overfill it initially, but I can't help but consider a leak.

Has anyone had this kind of leak on their car before? If so, how did you diagnose it?

 

are you sure that your xtype is post 04 model giving it the new transfer case? If so, then you may have some problems, but if this happened on a pre 04 case, then I really won't be too worried. The thing about all xcases on the xtypes is that they are very easy to overfill when filling them because you are filling them from the drain hole. If you have been driving it without problems for awhile, then the new fluid would do nothing but help the case unless they screwed up the drain plug. If it were my car, I wouldn't start flipping out for at least two weeks after the fluid fill. Right now, I would clean the xcase housing so that I could see where the leak was coming from and then go from there, but if I were you, I wouldn't be worried.

 

Disguay is on the right track. Give the car a little longer and go from there. Worst case, get under the car and wipe up some of the fluid and see if you can spot more fluid and where it is coming from. But, odds are, you just got a little bit of fluid to come out the vent. Not that big of a deal.

 

Guessing it's simply overfilled. I'll bet it looks like it's coming out of the LH drive shaft seal. It's likely coming from the vent, just above the seal.

 

Well the problem now is that they said they cleaned it up after they took the excess out. It was fine for a little while and then I started smelling it again and it gradually got back to a strong smell. I put it back on my ramps again and saw that once again it was completely saturated. Now I just dropped it off again and they will be keeping it over night. I still feel that they broke the seal between the transmission and t case but I'll see what they say tomorrow.

And yes disguay, it was built in '05, October '05 I believe. I don't have the car with me as of writing this post so I can't check for you. So you would think that by late '05 mine would definitely have the newer design.

 

yuup, yours is definitely the new design and thermo can correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think the post 04 cases had the vent, so you may actually have something bad going on under there, but hopefully I'm wrong!

 

disguay, I think all the transfer cases have the vent. If they don't, then that is a bad design as there is lots of temperature changes that happen and that would result in the seals being stressed, and therefore failing prematurely.

 

Also, the vent on mine is a "check valve". In other words, if the TC gets filled and the vent check valve closes, the TC pressurizes.

 

I had to have my TC replaced in my 2005. It was done at the Jag dealer. When I picked it up I only got a few hundred yards and noticed a clicking noise coming from under the car, very easy to hear at low speeds and it got faster as you sped up. I called when I got home and took it back the next morning. The technician went for a ride with me and said something was wrong. Turned out they broke the seal when they changed out the TC and some(?) of the transmission fluid leaked out. They had to install a new seal and refill the transmission and everything was fine from there on. So if you are lossing fluid from the transmission drive slow and see if you can hear it clicking, that might help. I did not have the burning or smell at all, as best I can remember.

Good luck.

 

Thanks tarheel, I'll be sure to check for that. The car's still at the shop as of right now but I don't remember hearing anything, just the smell. It sounds like maybe you had a faster leak than me and mine just hasn't gotten to that point yet. The smell is only noticeable when I stop at a light or if I'm going like 80mph on the highway for a few minutes, not if I'm just driving around town at 35-45.

 

I just called the shop where it's been all day for an update. He said they checked everything for leaks while they had it on the lift and even had it moving on the lift but there were no leaks. As soon as they put it back on the ground and tested it he said it started leaking again. What could be the cause of that?

He said they have done this procedure before and he's aware of the way of filling it through the drain port instead of dropping the t case but he may attempt to drop the t case. He also said he doesn't believe that transmission fluid is leaking into the t case. He said the leak is "somewhere higher up on the right side of the t case"

Is there something wrong with my t case now? He said he would give me a refund for the procedure and that I should take it to the dealer to have them look at it. To me, he can keep the $80 for that but if I have to go to the dealer he's going to be the one to pay for that, not me because there was nothing wrong before I went there.

 

Just want to keep this thread up to date:

We're nearing the end of the second day of me not having the car. I called for a status update and he just called me back.

He says that after taking everything apart to get a good look at it, they found that the "side seal" is not working properly. He says that he found out about it from a mechanic's forum he belongs to and that it wasn't his fault that they just give out sometimes after a change of fluid because of "different viscosity".

Luckilly he quoted me at $16 for the part plus an hour or so of labor. It would cost me about $150.

Do you guys think I should believe him that it gave out of its own accord or do you think he damaged it while filling the case and I should make him pay for it?

 

Cynical I may be, but my initial reaction is 'what a load of tosh' or something!! Different viscosity damaged oil seal? a) how could it do that? and b) there's not that much difference in viscosity between old and new oil (Or we'd all be changing oil seals after every engine oil change, according to your mechanic!)

Of course a 'side seal' (the righthand driveshaft seal) can go at any time but there are coincidences and cover ups! I'd put money on it that they just over filled the box and the leakage was from the vent, on the top of the box, just above the output shaft seal. I've certainly experienced that myself and it took a long time to get to the real cause! Everything's so tight in that area that it's difficult to see exactly where a leak is from.

If they haven't corrected the oil level, you might well find that the 'side seal' 'leaks' again as soon as you get going!!

 

Well, I'm inclined to believe him that this is in fact where it's leaking from, however I don't completely believe that he had nothing to do with it.

I'm going to have him pay at least half of this new bill

 

Ok, now it's going to be in the shop until next Tuesday. This is getting old fast.

I called in today for an update and I was told that the side seal had to be ordered and wouldn't be in until next Tuesday. He also said he found a TSB from 6 years ago that refers to another weak point he found so he ordered the part to replace that too (not sure what he said it was exactly).

I'm just hoping I can go pick it up Tuesday and be done. I have a new HID kit for my fog lights, my OEM rubber mats from JPLV, and a replacement tail light to put in. Not to mention a few more drains and refills on my transmission.

 

I'd ask that if you're doing your own drain and fill on the trans, why wouldn't you do your own transfer case, and even the rear differential drain and fill. Personally I don't trust shops. I don't let a mechanic near my car, including the dealer, unless I absolutely can't do the repair/maintenance myself.

 

Honestly, I would rather have a shop do things like this because of this exact situation. If it turned out to be purely coincidental that the seal broke while I was doing it myself, I would have no one to blame but myself and I would be responsible for paying for it.

The only reason I did the transmission myself is because the shop wanted to use only the official Jag fluid which would cost me over $350 with labor as opposed to $90-100 when I do it myself with Castrol Import Multi-Vehicle.

 

My patience is really being tested here.

I was supposed to pick the car up today, I called to make sure everything was on track and was told to come in around 2pm. Not one hour after I got off the phone, I get a call back saying that one of the parts, some kind of seal, is the wrong size and doesn't fit. I was told that they ordered the correct part and received the wrong thing.

Now I'm told that they will either get the part from the dealer or have it overnighted. The only problem with that is the last time they had parts delivered, the parts arrived too late and my car was there an extra day. So this could potentially go into Friday before my car is ready. Also, I don't think they're open over the weekend so if I don't get it tomorrow or Friday then it will be Monday before I can pick it up.

In all honesty, I should have taken the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" approach. There was nothing wrong with my transfer case before this "preventative maintenance" so it has only served to make life difficult for me and provide me with an unnecessary expense. I'll think twice before doing "maintenance" like this on my car in the future

 

To be honest, I've heard of a LOT of cars that don't work after simple fluid changes. The problem is that the old fluid had a much heavier viscosity because of all the dust and debris in the oil. As soon as you put new oil in the case, it's a much lower viscosity because it's free of all of this dirt and debris. I own a 93 cherokee and I have heard of the auto trannys in those things going out due to a simple fluid change. I've seen some people even correct this failure by putting the old burnt up oil and it'll drive fine for another 50k miles or so, but it'll start showing signs of wear at around 20k-30k.

I really hate to tell you this, but your mechanic does have merit in telling you that there is a difference in viscosities. I know this sucks, and there is really nothing else you can do other than try to put the old oil back into the case and see if that helps it out. Essentially the particles in the old oil are bigger and thicker because they have debris in them which prohibits them from soaking through the seal.

This is what I've seen on many transmissions and it just goes to show you that if your old case got too "used" to its old oil, it won't work with the new stuff: http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/show....php?t=1455792

TRY THE OLD OIL!

 

I think you're right on track here, hopefully with some new seals the viscosity won't be a factor.

If I was doing this myself I probably would have just done as you suggested and put the old oil back in. Then again, it would have to be done at some point and I guess now is as good a time as any.

Thank you for confirming this has happened to others. It's also good to know that my mechanic does know what he's talking about and hasn't been just stringing me along, it's restored my confidence in that shop which seems to be the only local and independent Jag shop around here.

I'm actually really glad now that I didn't change it myself or I would have this whole mess of work ahead of me. Now I'm just hoping the parts come in correct and on time so that I can have my car back today, a week is too long for me to go without this car!