L3010 oil light on!

[Marty394]

High all. Today my son was using my L3010 when the oil light came on. He had to move it a few feet with the light on then shut it down. There was a couple of circles of oil on the grass where he stopped and started, with a thin trail between the circles, about an inch wide. I went to look at it briefly after work. I found it to be full of oil. There was a couple of oil drips hanging from the left hand side of the front axle pivot mount. I started it and the oil light stayed on. There was no obvious oil spray or dripping during the couple of seconds it was running.
Has anyone run into this type of problem?

Bob

 

[Lil Foot]

I remember reading about similar symptoms (not sure what model) and it turned out to be a plug had popped out of an oil gallery passage on the side of the block…. I think it was the left side, too.
I'm sure someone with more knowledge than I will jump in here.

 

[Marty394]

Wow, I thought there would be more replies. Curious if a plugged oil filter could cause this.



Not sure if there could be a by-pass valve stuck open.

Bob

 

[ipz2222]

Bypass stuck open may cause oil light on but won't cause an oil leak. It is very rare to stick open, most are just a ball and spring. You need to find the leak.

 

[Daren Todd]

It seems if the the bypass was stuck open it would just flow back into the block. Considering where where you saw the oil dripping, then it seems like it could be the front main seal. A couple folks have posted about having freeze plugs popping out. You may have to remove the belt gaurds, possibly the hood to get a good look inside to see where it's coming from. A good potrtable light helps

The oil pressure light could actually be a bad sending unit. And the oil leak could be a seperate issue that happened to be noticed when the light came on. Verifying with an oil pressure gauge will tell for sure

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

#1: Check or replace oil sending unit, 90% of the time that's the problem.

Your tractor is to new to have the oil plug cam problem, it was only on newer engines.

Double check the quantity and the quality of the oil, if it seams too full that could be signs of a problem too.
Are you sure it's oil leaking and not gear lube or hydraulic oil?

 

[Marty394]

Thanks for the replies. The oil level is right at the full mark. The leaking oil is definatly diesel oil (black). The weird thing is that the oil patern on the ground looks more like a spray pattern than a pour pattern. When I started it up to look at it the oil was not dripping. Just noticed some drops hanging from that axle pivot. And the light was on.

Bob

 

[Marty394]

Update: Found some time to take a look at the tractor tonight. I didn't have an oil pressure gauge handy, so I decided to remove the oil pressure switch to check for any pressure. Stuck a rag over the oil switch hole and started it for about 5 seconds. No oil appeared on the rag!! Not what I was hoping for. So, if it were to have a plugged oil filter would the oil by-pass fill the oil galleys with the by-passed oil?? Thinking about swapping the filter next, then the oil pump.
Any info about this situation would be appreciated.

Bob

 

[ipz2222]

If the oil filter is plugged, you will still have oil pressure. Unless the oil has turned to jello. Possible causes, oil galley plug missing, oil pump broke, oil pickup tube, (if it has one) fell off.

 

[Marty394]

Well pulled the oil filter and installed an oil pressure tester there . . . no pressure there either. Now to flip the coin, Remove the oil pan and check the pick-up tube, or pull the front cover and replace the oil pump. Still confused over the oil leak then the loss of oil pressure. Saw on another thread about an engine that had an external plug that would relieve excess pressure externally. Not sure if this engine has that feature or not. Did notice that the only place that looks oily is on the left hand side of the engine rearward from the lower radiator hose and water pump. Curious if something got plugged in the oil system and increased the oil pressure to the point of shearing the keey in the oil pump shaft.

Also it was brought to my attention that over the past months the oil pressure light has been taking a bit of time to go out on start up.

Bob

 

[Marty394]

So, after thinking about the lack of oil in the oil filter when I removed it last night, I'm leaning toward the oil pick-up tube sucking air. Does anyone have a service manual for this tractor that is willing to share the oil pan removal procedure? Particularly the the removal of the front drive shaft.

Bob