Clutch replacement, was not expecting this

[North Idaho Wolfman]

A soda blaster would be really good at cleaning that up and then, Ospho, then paint.
Also replace the throw-out bearing and pilot bearing/bushing while your in there!

 

[jaxs]

I loathe when this happens since it's difficult to resolve without leaving hard feelings. I've never left metal exposed after treating with Ospho unless metal was primed and painted after treatment so I can't say from experience that Ospho won't protect metal. However I can speak from experience with other acid converters. My experience has been that metal is better left untreated until you can follow up shortly with primer and paint. I suggest those contemplating use of Ospho or any other converter without priming and top coating do an experiment first. Wire brush a piece of rusty scrap then treat 1/2 while leaving other half untreated. I plan doing the experiment with Ospho and hope I find it does protect when left without top coating. It would be very handy to spot treat random items then top coat over the next year or two as I'm using top coats that match items.

 

[BastropMetal]

A soda blaster would be really good at cleaning that up and then, Ospho, then paint.
Also replace the throw-out bearing and pilot bearing/bushing while your in there!

Perhaps I'm overthinking this, but what type of paint should I use?

Just to help me understand better, why is it important to paint in there? If I get rid of all the rust and I also resolve the issue with moisture getting in there, would it still continue to rust?

 

[D2Cat]

I have cleaned rusted metal with a wire brush to get all loose particles removed. Then coat with Ospho, let it dry and never coat it with paint. It dries to a hardened black coat. The rougher the rust the better it works.

I sprayed a mist on a friend's old Ford PU that had a patch of rust on the hood from an overheated engine. He left it that way until it went to the scrapper and the dried coating actually looked pretty good. Ospho does provide a good undercoat if you decide to paint. Their instructions actually indicate no primer needed.

 

[BastropMetal]

I was able to work on the tractor for the first time since the original posts.

Pretty pleased with how its turned out on this half. Man, there was a lot of crap in here. I still need to coat with Ospho. I dont see any obvious leak sources. Also, several people said I need to look for a freeze plug that might be leaking, but I dont see a freeze plug - or maybe I just dont know what I should be looking for.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Russell King]

That looks much better!

I believe you will have to remove the part (bell housing) that you just cleaned up off of the tractor. Then you will be looking at the back of the engine and the “freeze plug” will be in the rear of the engine block.

You may want to look at illustrated parts list to see what you need to remove

Kubota Tractor Corporation - Illustrated Parts List

- K-PAD - Parts Lists - Illustrated Parts Lists - diagrams

apps.kubotausa.com

 

[D2Cat]

See post #14.

 

[McMXi]

I was able to work on the tractor for the first time since the original posts. View attachment 141523

Pretty pleased with how its turned out on this half. Man, there was a lot of crap in here. I still need to coat with Ospho. I dont see any obvious leak sources. Also, several people said I need to look for a freeze plug that might be leaking, but I dont see a freeze plug - or maybe I just dont know what I should be looking for.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Looking good. Personally, I'd use Ospho and then paint the inside with Kubota grey, or clean it thoroughly and use a good primer followed by Kubota grey, either way I'd want to end up with a painted surface to provide more protection.

A phosphate finish (Parkerizing) is an old school approach to a cost effective way to protect steel. This type of finish is still applied to some firearms and firearms parts, but the intent is to create the appearance of some military firearms, not to provide the best protection to the substrate. What I'm saying is that there are much better ways of protecting steel from corrosion.

 

[6869704x4]

I was able to work on the tractor for the first time since the original posts. View attachment 141523

Pretty pleased with how its turned out on this half. Man, there was a lot of crap in here. I still need to coat with Ospho. I dont see any obvious leak sources. Also, several people said I need to look for a freeze plug that might be leaking, but I dont see a freeze plug - or maybe I just dont know what I should be looking for.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I lived in a high humidity area, NW FL, like you for many years. If I didn't paint metal treated with OSPHO(brand name) it would rust in short order. My experience, YMMV.

 

[jaxs]

I lived in a high humidity area, NW FL, like you for many years. If I didn't paint metal treated with OSPHO(brand name) it would rust in short order. My experience, YMMV.

My experience exactly. After hearing testimonials of Ospho protecting metal for over 20 years I applied some 5 days ago and didn't paint over it. It rained since but the piece was beneath a cover and showing flash rust this morning.

 

[BastropMetal]

Everything looks good in here as far as I can tell. I'm glad I took it off though, it will make easier to clean up all the parts of the bell housing. Anything else I check or replace while I'm in this area?

I'm hoping to never be back in this area again.

 

[BastropMetal]

I flipped the bell housing around to look at the mating surface. A few spots around the circle don't look like clean bare metal. Do these spots look like where water could be getting in?

 

[L35]

i wouldnt even have a second thought about changing out that rear main seal while it’s staring you in the face.

 

[BastropMetal]

I dont have a good sense of how difficult that is. Most importantly, if I try that - how easy is it for me to know I did it right before I put it back together?

I would hate to have working fine, change it proactively only to put the tractor back together and have it start leaking.

I'm open to it though.

 

[L35]

I dont have a good sense of how difficult that is. Most importantly, if I try that - how easy is it for me to know I did it right before I put it back together?

I would hate to have working fine, change it proactively only to put the tractor back together and have it start leaking.

I'm open to it though.

I’ve done them on automotive engines, they look similar to your D1703. Joe smith just did one in his thread on here too. (Don’t do it like him though) rtv was a bit excessive. But he has pictures. Some seals require the crank to be perfectly clear of lubricant, others may need lubricant. I’d consult wsm for particulars. I can snap a couple pics from mine if you don’t have one.

 

[Russell King]

It looks like water was up to this level at one time.

I think the rear main seal is in that carrier with 16 bolts ( that should have some sort of lock plate?). Off, replace seal and back on.

I assume you will be replacing the complete clutch and pressure plate but there is a bushing or bearing in the end of the engine crank shaft that needs to be replaced while you are there. And I would remove the throw out bearing carrier and make sure there isn’t rust along the shaft interface. Replace the throw out bearing also.

 

[BastropMetal]

Thats a good observation regarding that discoloration/water line. That freeze plug faces the area of the bell housing below that is enclosed. It could be that the tractor was submerged up to that place for awhile, but I think it could also be that the tractor sat out without running for a long time and rain seeped into that area and coudlnt get out.

 

[BastropMetal]

I got this mostly cleaned up and ready for paint.

What is the part pointed to by the red arrow? I'm not seeing this part on kubotas website. Every other bolt, nut, washer, has a part number is shown in the exploded diagrams, but I'm not seeing it:

 

[Russell King]

That looks like something someone added to retain that ”freeze“ plug. I think if it was factory then the ends would have been round or at least had the four corners chamfered.

 

[BastropMetal]

I found it. Its on the exploded diagram for the countershaft.

Is part # 110 in the image and is a bearing cover.