Broken dipstick fell into rear housing on 8n

Hammbone · Jun 4, 2014

The title about sums it up. I went to check the hydraulic fluid and the dipstick broke off right a the finger loop and fell into the rear housing! :shocked: Now what? Is there a chance it can be sucked into something or ground up in gears? Can I move the tractor, or do I need to take this thing apart and fish it out where it sits? Or will it just hang out on the bottom of the housing until the next time it is taken apart?

Buckgnarly · Jun 4, 2014

They make these pretty small, was it a metal dipstick or plastic?

Magnetic Pick Up Tool from Sears.com

RickB · Jun 4, 2014

Drain about 3 gallons of transmission oil, remove the 4 bolt cover that contains the dipstick tube. Reach in and grab the broken piece. Install the cover and replace the oil. Buy a new cover gasket wherever you get a new dipstick.

Hammbone · Jun 4, 2014

It was metal. I was thinking about the magnet as well, I believe I would at least need the dipstick cover off and I guess that would not be to bad. But if it's not going to hurt anything riding in there, I was thinking about pulling the hydraulics apart soon to fix the leak down issues so I would just find it then....

Hammbone · Jun 4, 2014

RickB said:
Drain about 3 gallons of transmission oil, remove the 4 bolt cover that contains the dipstick tube. Reach in and grab the broken piece. Install the cover and replace the oil. Buy a new cover gasket wherever you get a new dipstick.

So I take this response as leaving it be would be a bad idea?

RickB · Jun 4, 2014

If you get it out of there, its a non issue. If it is left in there, stuff COULD happen. Will it? Who knows?

Hammbone · Jun 4, 2014

RickB said:
If you get it out of there, its a non issue. If it is left in there, stuff COULD happen. Will it? Who knows?

That's kinda what I figured, but there is always that little lazy guy on the one shoulder that says hey don't worry about it, if you don't think about it it'll go away. While on the other side is a little guy that says you know better! Anything I should check out while I have the cover off? Just bought the tractor a month or so ago so I've been fixing little things that pop up as I go along...so might as well check what I can while I'm in it!

Soundguy · Jun 5, 2014

jack up that tractor side, remove cover.. no oil cones out. fish out the end, put cover back on with some rtv goop.

leave bottom bolt out. top off sump till oil dribbles at the hole. that is a safe oil level. replace that low bolt. for now. make a new dipstick and park it at the level it is at now.

NOW.. that was the 5m po-boy fix to keep ANYTHING from sucking the part up. You know later on you will be going into it fo rhte lift rebuild. you can get the dipstick and all the correct gaskets then.

PS.. rick gave you the really, correct advice. fix it now. don't wait. little problems seldom go away.. usualy they just get bigger..

Hammbone · Jun 6, 2014

Well, 5 minutes, thats all it took to remove the dipstick and have everything back together. I was worrying myself about something that only took me 5 minutes to do....i think i"m just not use to the simplicity of this tractor and its construction! I sometimes convince myself that things are going to be much more complicated than tey actually are. Ii dont know what i thought was going to happen, but the cover came off no problem and there was the dipstick just staring at me! Sure glad i didnt leave it though, because it felt like it was stuck down into something that probably wouldnt have liked it.