Sorry... yet another post from the new X-Type owner...

Saw a couple drops of lubricant where my wife parks her X-Type. We've owned the car about 2 weeks now. The drippage is VERY minor. Like... I wiped it off the transfer case a couple hours ago and it hasn't formed another drop in that time.

The drip shows up at the very back of the transfer case on the little protrusion directly below the driveshaft.

I know this car has transfer case replaced about 20k miles ago, in late 2012 (at the same dealer I'm using. The only one in this area)

Symptoms:
I hear a howl or whine under acceleration or maintaining speed, and it disappears when you take your foot off the throttle. It's not real loud, but it's definitely there.

Now I'm wondering if that transfer case is low on lubricant. It seems logical from what I'm hearing.

On one hand I'd like to jack up the left side and just try adding lubricant. See what it takes. And if it takes a fair amount, does it silence the whine.

On the other hand, that won't fix the leak...wherever it is. I'd just call the dealer, but I REALLY don't want them trying to tell me I need a new transfer case. Pretty sure they won't if it doesn't need one, but...

Under these circumstances, how would you advise me to proceed?

Appreciate any input on this. I used to do all my own work. All of it. Built race cars, drag bikes, etc, but... I'm 64 now and don't have the tools and facilities to do the lifting and stuff. Although I could probably borrow jacks and whatever.

 

If you suspect low TC lube, I'd raise the right side first then pull the plug to see what comes out. After that raise the left side and refill with fresh gear lube. Wish Jaguar hadn't made this service so difficult but there it is.

 

Are you sure that "whine" is not the infamous driveshaft carrier bearing? Sounds sort of like a 737 coming in for a landing......

 

yardbird, I was thinking the carrier bearing too. I would say to get yourself a grease gun with a needle attachment. You can then squirt some termaline grease into the bearing (do it 120 degrees apart or 90 degrees apart, all the way around the bearing). Then take the car out for a test drive to see what you have then. It doesn't take a lot of grease.

 

That center bearing on the driveshaft looked wet. Is that what we're referring to?

And.... how would that explain dripping under the back of the transfer case? Not being a smart *** or anything. Just... don't know. Which is why I'm asking.

 

Sounds to me like you could have a bad shaft seal on the TC.

 

That rear seal is replaceable without dropping the TC, right?

I think I'm going to call and find out on Monday what they'd clip me to take care of it at the dealer. I have so many other things going on right now.

To me....right now... this is more important than changing the tranny fluid. I think I found a store here that has the Amsoil synth tranny fluid. 3 gallons should take care of that.

I'll keep going to gather what I need for that, but this tc or carrier bearing thing is getting moved to the front.


And I thank you all for your help.

 

yardbird, yes, the rear transfer case seal can be replaced without pulling the transfer case. Just make sure that they do the TSB on the seal too that has them putting some RTV in there too (on the nut as I recall as they found that it can leak out around that point).

As for the centering bearing/transfer case whine, it may or may not be related to the leaking that you are seeing. As a general rule, when someone hears a whine like you are hearing, it comes from the centering bearing. Besides, the centering bearing is something easy to do and you can do that yourself to eliminate potential issues. That way, when you go in, you know what to expect and not have to rely on the dealership telling you something that you may question.

 

Boy....you guys were spot on about that carrier bearing. I bought a grease gun, 2 of the 18 gauge needles (glad I bought 2) and a cartridge of Mobil 1 synthetic grease.

#1
The first needle blew apart at what I think was supposed to be a soldered connection as soon as I got pressure on it, leaving the zerk fitting in the end of the grease gun hose. THAT was fun..... not really. The 2nd one survived without issue.

#2
It looks like that bearing had Mobil 1 synthetic in it from the get go. Same color and everything. I know that's not definitive, but.... had to go with what I could find locally.... quickly.

#3
I got it to take grease at like... 2 o'clock, 4 o'clock, 6 o'clock, 8 o'clock. I checked and it was squeezing out the other side so... I think I was getting it in there all right. I know I missed a good portion of the arc, but was down to one needle and didn't want to get too creative trying to probe the top of that bearing.

#4
ROAD TEST! ...at first I wasn't sure.... then after about half a mile I could hear it quiet right down. I think that fixed it as far as the howl.

I didn't jack up the car. I actually just drove it over a deep depression where there's a storm drain so the depression was in the middle of the car and then slid under. Not ideal, but worked well.

I still want to have that transfer case looked at. I don't like stuff dripping. And it makes me suspicious of what's left in it. But... we'll get to that.

Thank you all very much. The carrier bearing greasing seems to have done the trick!

 

Yard,
Yes have a look at transfer case fluid and replacement then get on it. I would clean everthing up and see if that is where it is comiing from first but I would still change the fluid regardless. Mine had next to nothing in it at 90k when I did mine (got the kit from wild bill for mine) Did it 3 times to get the sludge out then, and have since not had an issue with loosing fluid. Don't know what happened to the factory fluid aside from it dried up and turned into sludge.

 

Hopefully I have attached a Jaguar Tech Bulletin re Trans seal leak

Not sure if this will help you, its a common fault

 

OK. I think final question on this. Although I know I'll have more questions as I go on with this car...

If I take it to the dealer... AND.. they determine the real seal on the transfer case is leaking.. AND.. I say "ok, fix it".....

Should I ask them to change out that carrier bearing at that time? Or does this little grease injection provide long term relief?

 

yardbird, I greased my carrier bearing and drove it that way for 3 years. I would not worry about it. If the howl comes back or you start hearing a thump when you get on/off the gas (due to the driveshaft moving around), then I would worry about replacing it.

 

Took it to the dealer today. Here is what they came up with.....

A/C compressor leaking.
Replacement parts $1200, labor $500

Leaking at right rear valve cover.
I said if we're taking it apart enough to change that gasket, then let's change out the plugs too and clean the throttle body, so intake gaskets, valve cover gaskets, throttle body gaskets.... about $950 for that...

Power steering flush
The rack was dry and the fluid smelled burnt.
$96 parts and labor

Brake fluid reservoir cap cracked in half
$25 (by this time, I just didn't care)

Battery
It looked like it could be original. Has Jaguar logo on top. Tested good though at 852 cca . No charge

Transfer case....which was my main reason for taking it in to investigate the leak from the rear of tc...
Yep...it's leaking from the rear seal. Ok, I kinda knew that. What about fluid level? If it's been dripping, and I don't know for how long.....
They can't check it. They have nothing from Jaguar about raising one side to drain and the other to fill. When they pulled the drain plug, it had a fair amount of sparlies on it. The mechanic suggested replacing it. It was replaced in 2012 and has less than 20k miles on it. I said let's change the seal, get fresh fluid in it, and drive it for a while and see what happens.
Parts and labor $340

So.....today I did the power steering flush. We need to move some money around to do the rest. The a/c compressor was a surprise.

In a few days we'll get the rest done. So....another 3k dollars.

I really don't care about the money as long as I end up with a decent car and the wife is happy. And I'm working on a project where my time is more valuable than the savings from doing what I can of this myself.

Now....if we find that changing the transfer case seal and filling it with fresh fluid still results in a transfer case failure.......we'll....then I won't be too happy.

 

If they pulled the plug on the transfer case, then it is low on fluid. The plug is mid point on the case, so you have ~half the oil you should.

What I did was use some 1/8" airline tubing for aquarium air lines on a large syringe I bought at a farm supply and sucked out the old oil. Takes a while, but can be done.

Next, jack up the left side of the car so the bottom of the sill cover is 540mm (21") off the ground. I used 2 jacks and a friend, and jack the front and rear at the same rate, slowly and carefully! Support the car with tall axle stands.

Again using the syringe if you want, add oil to the transfer case through the plug on the side. You need 75W-140 synthetic oil that meets Ford spec M2C-192A, Valvoline Syn Power is the only common oil I have found that claims to meet this spec.

Add oil until it starts to run out, and then put the plug in. Lower the car back to the ground and you're good to go.

 

Look on RockAuto and buy a compressor (but not a 4 seasons one) and take it to your friendly AC shop. Or just visit an AC shop and ask for a quote. There are much cheaper options than $1200 for a compressor. There is nothing exotic about the X Type's AC system.

The leaking oil flange TSB is here: http://www.jagrepair.com/images/TSB/...%20Leakage.pdf

 

Borrowed a jack, bought a couple jack stands. The hardest part about this was getting the plug out! Once I broke it free, I could skinny-finger it. Nothing came out with the car jacked into the fill position. The only gear oil I could find locally that I recognized was Royal Purple 75-140 Synthetic Max Gear. I pumped just about 350 ml into the transfer case before anything started running out.

Sounds MUCH quieter! Although I still hear a little bit of a howl from right around 30mph to about 45mph. Very minor. Hopefully we can keep this TC going for a while. Who KNOWs how long it was run so low on fluid (the mechanic at Jag dealer said "We WERE able to get some oil into, but we don't know if it's at the right level.")

So if THEY put oil in it...and I was STILL able to pump 350ml into it. It had to be REALLY low before.

EDIT**
I did not do the drain and fill, because I am taking it in for rear TC seal in a week or so. I just wanted to make sure it wasn't being run dry in the meantime.

When they DO the rear seal... I wonder if I should jack it up again and just check it. They're saying something about they can fill it when they do the seal cause all the fluid comes out anyways?

 

There is only 550 ml of oil to start, so there wasn't much left! Absolutely, after the seal change I would check the oil level. Drive it for a bit and do a drain and refill will probably help it too.