L4150 Leak

[Keltic]

Hi, my front gear cases have always leaked abit, but I always kept them topped up and changed them a couple of times. I'm getting tired of worrying about them and I'm wondering if anyone was in this boat before. Can I accesss seals without getting involved in the removeal of bevel gears and having to be concerned with backlash etc.? The leak seems to be between the main casing of the front axle where it meets the bevel axle case. The leak seems to get bad and clear up but I'd like to be rid of it. Any experience here would be helpful, my nearest dealer is 3 hrs away so getting info is a pain. Thanks in advance, FMK

 

[rbargeron]

On L3 tractors (L4150 is one of them) the front axle center section has bolted joints to the outer gearboxes. On some models and tire combinations, a spacer and longer bolts are installed at these joints to increase the length of the axle. I have heard of these joints leaking oil - not because they are loose or worn, but because the original gasket is no longer intact - maybe the axle was disassembled for service or to install a different spacer. My L5450 has never leaked, but there is a surplus of very tough silicone sealant on both joints/spacers, suggesting they have been disassembled at some point in the past.

The attached picture is an L3 that has similar axle joints but without the spacers. I don't have a pic that shows the spacers - on my tractor they are maybe 2"-3" thick and are sandwiched between the flanges.

If this is where your leaks are, I'd suggest draining the center section, unbolting the joints, cleaning all the surfaces with a scraper and solvent, and bolting everything back together with new silicone sealant and/or gaskets.

 

[rbargeron]

I looked in my manuals - you don't need to worry about gear backlash - the axle shaft is a splined slip fit inside the gear which is separately supported in alignment. If you remove the six bolts the whole kingpin assembly (heavy) should slide off the axle with minimal persuasion. There's a little alignment pin that's a light press fit. The original seal is an o-ring (PN 04811-11050). If your axle has the spacers, there are o-rings on each side (4 in all). On reassembly I'd use some sealant on the cleaned flat faces to keep the rust out. As always, prompt cheerful refund if info is bogus. Have fun - and good luck. Dick B

 

[Keltic]

Thanks for taking the time to respond, I didn't explain myself very well, the leak is actually where the outer gear casing pivots, I guess it would be just above the lower bevel gear. I have to take the time to learn to post pics! I find it strange the way it comes and goes, add nothing for months and then the other day 3 litres!! I ordered a 500 pg shop manual today so that should help, I just didn't want to open something that would vomit out a bunch of parts I couldn't reassemble. Thanks again, your knowledge on the L kubotas is great. To add another query do you know a source for fenders for a 4150? Tractor only as 1500hrs but fenders are shot . Cheers FMK

 

[rbargeron]

..... the leak is actually where the outer gear casing pivots, I guess it would be just above the lower bevel gear.......

Hi FMK, another TBN member Bigk56 (Ken) posted an excellent thread here on disassembling his L3 front axle for kingpin seal replacement - complete with plenty of pictures and some Kubota service bulletin info gotten through TractorSmart - at least one of the lower seals has been superceded by a newer design. Finding fenders to fit the L4150 will take some searching - google used tractor parts and start calling around - other models that use the same fenders are L3350, L3750, L4350, L4850, L5450.

 

[Keltic]

Thank you very much, that was exactly what I needed. Doesn't look so scarey, I couldn't open the service bulletin, but I assume the jist of it was that with the larger seal you have the remove that sleeve as per the last pics. Hopefully my dealer will know abit more about this when I order seals. Thanks again for your help, Cheers, Fred