Making replacement hydrostatic transmission case gasket to stop oil leak (Cub Cadet 127).... I really don't want to screw this up.

[Hughman]

Not condoning this, just sharing... Years ago I picked up a big upright HF air compressor with a blowen head gasket. Gave it to my son to play with. He formed a new gasket out of a cereal box just to see if he could get it working. 5+ years later, it's still going strong.

 

[boatmoter]

and my Grandfather told me that in his younger days in the 30's he replaced a sloppy rod bearing with a piece of shoe leather and it worked for years. sometimes you can get lucky. but replacing a gasket on a compressor is a lot less work then replacing the one on the Hydro. may not be worth the risk

 

[arto98607]

Update - Thanks for everyone's comments. I was able to find 1/64" paper gasket material and I was able to recreate a perfect replacement gasket using a retrace of the original, a new razor blade and cut/sharpened firearm casings and a hockey puck for punching out the holes. I cleaned all the surfaces perfectly, applied form-a gasket then attempted to assemble everything. Several internal components needed to be lined up before the two case end would come together.....but only after dumping all the internals on the bench, having to reassemble everything, and getting oil all over the surfaces I had diligently cleaned up. The struggle was real, lol, so I slapped it all together in an annoyed state of mind. I have a feeling I will be doing it again but the second time around I will have a better idea how it comes apart, I will know what to do and what not to do. Plus I will have everyone's product recommendations to guide me. I hope to have everything together by next weekend so I will test it out, let it sit for 30 days and report back the result.

Thanks again for everyone's comments and suggestions!

I hope you got the leaks eliminated!

I disassembled my high-hour Kubota F3060 range gear transmission, differential & HST couple of years ago due to couple of leaks and used Locktite 515 Anaerobic Gasket Maker for the HST, together with a paper gasket.

I used Three Bond for the other surfaces since that is what Kubota recommends, but I am sure there is a Locktite / Permatex product that will work just as well.
(Kubota recommends Three Bond for-sure, both being Japanese products!)

Zero leaks so far.

 

[boatmoter]

that is the best to use as it will cure without oxygen, when the 2 halves are put together it will still cure when air is blocked off, it's expensive though. I used it many times in the lower bedpan's of engines and overhead cam caps on the ends of cams. also between the 2 halves of the air cooled Beetle engines

 

[DieselBound]

LOCTITE® SI 5900™, Henkel - ChemPoint

LOCTITE® SI 5900™ is a highly effective adhesive sealant designed for use in industrial and professional applications.

www.chempoint.com

 

[JJT]

Not condoning this, just sharing... Years ago I picked up a big upright HF air compressor with a blowen head gasket. Gave it to my son to play with. He formed a new gasket out of a cereal box just to see if he could get it working. 5+ years later, it's still going strong.

I replaced my blown out HF compressor head gasket with a home cut cork gasket 10+ years ago. Still working fine. Used blue permatex on the crankcase at the same time. The original gasket was simply paper and lasted less than two years. It was a backup compressor so I figured I had nothing to lose.

 

[Redlined0002]

I am attempting to fix all the oil leaks on my Cub Cadet 127 tractor. I have most of them fixed with the exception of a leaking gasket on my hydrostatic transmission case. I thought I could order the part based on various web searches, however, after making several calls nobody seems to have it any more (Part# 394865-r1 or 3102875) so that means I have to make one. My first attempt success rate in fixing oil leaks hasn't been great so I thought I would post my plan and let members tell me if they think it will work or if they have a better idea.

The original gasket measures 0.0095 thick. Although I haven't scoured the earth looking, the thin gasket material isn't easy to find, however, I have heard of others using file folder material. It measures 0.010, which when compressed makes it perfect. So my plan is to use this file folder material with a very thin coat of permatex Aviation Form-A-Gasket No.3 on both sides of the paper gasket. I am not using the file folder material to be cheap, I just think it should work.....but again I don't have any real world experience in this and I would love to hear the opinion of others that have more experience than me. This is a huge PITA to take apart so I want to do it right the first time.

Also, I am not replacing the round output shaft seals. I hope I don't regret this. They aren't leaking, and I don't want to open up a can of worms by going deeper than necessary. Again, if this is a bad idea feel free to let me know.

Everyone's help is very much appreciated, thank you!

Best regards,
Ryan

Clean both cases very well. Then Clean it with Acetone. Get a tube of Hondabond HT. You can buy it online or from a Honda car dealership parts department. Apply a coat of Hondabond on one case and then bolt them together. I do it on Kubota tractors all the time.

 

[arto98607]

Will US made Permatex / Locktite product not work?

IE. does it really have to be hondabond, yamahabond, threebond, suzukibond or kawasakibond etc. etc.?

 

[MTGreen]

Will US made Permatex / Locktite product not work?

IE. does it really have to be hondabond, yamahabond, threebond, suzukibond or kawasakibond etc. etc.?

I use Permatex products almost exclusively and the only time I've ever had one leak is when I didn't do my part (scrape all bits of old gasket/clean/oil free/etc.). I even used a Permatex specialty RTV product applied with a syringe and short needle to replace a complex multi-o-ring type gasket in a motorcycle carburetor between 2 parts that weren't designed to come apart and the gasket was unobtainium. Worked great and managed to salvage a $600 carb that way.

There may or may not be higher quality products out there but Permatex works just fine.