1715 Leak or overfill? Any guidance??

[audoguy]

Well, as luck would have it, the only part of the tractor I did not rebuild is now leaking. The leak is at the end of the arrow. I did, of course, change the fluid. Now there is a leak. The questions I have are as follows:

Could the seal at the end of the arrow been damaged by a pressure washer?

Is this where one would expect a leak at this spot if I had overfilled the fluid?

I don't think it is overfilled as it registers correctly on the dipstick, until it all leaks out. This is off of the front of a 4x4 Ford 1715.

Thanks for any guidance.

Audo

 

[sld]

What did you refill it with?

If it was the Ford 134 you might drain and fill with a yellow metal safe gear oil. The Ford 134 will is very runny compared to the gear oil.

I went thru the same exercise last year and my dealer told me they use gear oil on the older tractors to keep it from leaking.

Just a thought.

 

[audoguy]

I did use the 134. I may try gear oil. I will also measure it so I am sure I get exactly the right amount in there. That being said, the thought of cleaning up gear oil off of the garage floor is not my first desire.... The 134 was bad enough.

I'm going to wait and see if someone has had this specific issue before. If not, I'll try the gear oil as that looks like a tough area to do a rebuild.

Thanks for the input.

Audo

 

[jinman]

Audo, I think you are probably right that the seal is failing. Did you notice the leak after the tractor sat unused or after working it for awhile or having it sit out in the sun? The reason I ask is that I have noticed lots of pressure building in my front axle and air escaping when I remove the fillter plug. If you have the correct amount of oil, the air in the axle should just compress and not force oil out. From your description, it sounds like the fluid level is exactly right, so I'm baffled as to why your fluid would suddenly start to leak when it did not before. With use the seal may become tighter and not leak as much, but that's a long shot at best.

Did you also change oil in your dropbox bevel gear? Is it perhaps that the oil in that gearbox is leaking up and out instead of the axle leaking downward?

 

[JFS2295]

Audo,

I had that same seal leak on my 1710 many years ago. Not that hard to replace.

Concerning the comment about pressure int he axle housing, I haven't checked my own 1710 axle for awhile, but in general industry conditions, there should be a vent to prevent pressurizing the housing. Pressure in any gear housing can cause seals to leak. I can't think of one axle / differential / transmission housing that I've worked on in 40 years that has not been vented, unless I haven't looked closely enough.

 

[audoguy]

OK, I think it is the seals and I suspect I messed them up with overly agressive pressure washing (as the fluid was a little milky).

Lesson learned. I'll change them, post the results, and close the topic if that works...

PS. I'll try to take some pics whilst I have it torn apart.

Thanks all.

Audo

 

[jinman]

Concerning the comment about pressure int he axle housing, I haven't checked my own 1710 axle for awhile, but in general industry conditions, there should be a vent to prevent pressurizing the housing. Pressure in any gear housing can cause seals to leak. I can't think of one axle / differential / transmission housing that I've worked on in 40 years that has not been vented, unless I haven't looked closely enough.

Please read this thread:

Axle Venting

If you search the NH owning/operating forum for "axle vent," you will find several people who have discovered their axles build up pressure due to being non-vented. Good or bad, this seems to be Shibaura's way of ensuring the front axle will not leak no matter what position it is in. I assure you it will surprise you how much pressure can be inside the front axle when you open the filler plug.