Front axle (4WD) leaking.....help

[jhous]

Both left and right front axle seals are leaking (the right much worse than the left). Tractor is 4 years old but only 140 hours on it (new to me). Is this common? Seems to me that 140 hours is a short life. How often do you have to fix these seals. Or even Do you fix them or just keep adding gear oil and not worry about them??

Opinions greatly appreciated.

j.

 

[twoforty]

jhous,
First great job on the Steerman. Is she yours? My father once owned an N3N which he kept in Raymond part of the year and Hattisburg the rest. Lots of great memories as he attempted to teach me to fly it. Best thing about it was it was fully aerobatic, yet truly slow enough to keep one from killing one's self. In regards to your seals, get them repaired. I'm sure its out of warrantee, but no point messing around with something that is now fairly small, but could truly become EXPENSIVE. Good luck and keep us posted

 

[jhous]

jhous,
First great job on the Steerman. Is she yours? My father once owned an N3N which he kept in Raymond part of the year and Hattisburg the rest. Lots of great memories as he attempted to teach me to fly it. Best thing about it was it was fully aerobatic, yet truly slow enough to keep one from killing one's self. In regards to your seals, get them repaired. I'm sure its out of warrantee, but no point messing around with something that is now fairly small, but could truly become EXPENSIVE. Good luck and keep us posted

No it's not mine. There is a story behind that picture. Sometime back I had mentioned to my wife that I had always wanted to fly an open cockpit biplane ......sort of bucket list thing. Cessna was the only plane I had messed with much; even owned a little 'puddle jumper' Cessna for awhile. The old biplanes always impressed me as something unique. Well, for my 70th birthday the wife says to me, "Get in the car, we've got someplace to go. We went to the Pine belt airport and there was this beautiful blue and yellow biplane. I still did not have a clue what was going on. Long story short, the pilot shook my hand and asked are you ready to go? Wife was grinning ear to ear. We talked for a little while and I told him my background. He then said, "You want to fly her?" You can guess the answer. Of course he did the take off and landing ( I did NOT want to break his baby), but I flew it all over Laurel and surrounding area. It was glorious. Turns out that after I mentioned my desire to fly one, my wonderful wife set out to find one in South Mississippi owned by someone willing to take me up for an afternoon. That is not an easy task around here. Took her about 6 months but she did it and that was my birthday present. So the plane is not mine but I'm still proud of the picture ........and my wife.

Thanks for the advice one the seals. I'm definitely leaning toward fixing them ........ I hate machinery that leaks. I was just trying to get an idea of how often you have to do that sort of thing.
J.

 

[Billrog]

Check that there's not play in the wheels any time I had a seal go the bearings were on their way out.

 

[azranger]

Both left and right front axle seals are leaking (the right much worse than the left). Tractor is 4 years old but only 140 hours on it (new to me). Is this common? Seems to me that 140 hours is a short life. How often do you have to fix these seals. Or even Do you fix them or just keep adding gear oil and not worry about them??

Opinions greatly appreciated.

j.

View attachment 445302

I have had mine replaced already at 100hrs, and am fixing to take it back to the dealer again for the same problem ( about 130hrs). When they had it the first time they said they do not know why it happened but they also replaced the bearings. I called a few weeks ago to tell them I was comeing back with the same problem , they were going to call the factory and see if they had any ideas.Thank goodness for warranty, but I dont want to go through this forever...

 

[jhous]

I have had mine replaced already at 100hrs, and am fixing to take it back to the dealer again for the same problem ( about 130hrs). When they had it the first time they said they do not know why it happened but they also replaced the bearings. I called a few weeks ago to tell them I was comeing back with the same problem , they were going to call the factory and see if they had any ideas.Thank goodness for warranty, but I dont want to go through this forever...

Thanks. that's the info I was looking for .....not what I wanted to hear but.....
Please let me know if they tell you of any specific problem that causes this. I plan on doing the work myself and can use a heads up as to what else to repair.

 

[jhous]

Check that there's not play in the wheels any time I had a seal go the bearings were on their way out.

Good info. Thanks. I'll check them.

 

[4570Man]

My tractor does the same thing, but worse. It is bad enough to leave puddles on the floor after a few days. My tractor has 710 hours and mostly loader work.

 

[oliverkid]

both my front bearings were replaced under warranty with larger updated bearings.Leaked bad.7040 ls tractor though.

 

[azranger]

Thanks. that's the info I was looking for .....not what I wanted to hear but.....
Please let me know if they tell you of any specific problem that causes this. I plan on doing the work myself and can use a heads up as to what else to repair.

I spoke with my dealer and he talked to the manufacturer, and he said that LS has come out with a new design improvement on the axle seals. Apparently LS has reconized there is a problem. Hope this helps...