Hydraulic fluid leak when hot?

[la724]

Hi Andy, I have a L3940 with the same problem. Fluid leaking real bad now !I unfortunately don't have the space to crack open the tractor and do the work myself! Its off to the dealer today! He's telling me somewhere around $2k for repair cost, Not to happy

Wow 2k I received the parts and they cost $70. plus fluid. I hope it's not as hard as it costs. I'm 2 weeks from starting the job.I shall see.

 

[Shadow]

The 40 series are harder to do, especially if it has a cab. That estimate isnt too far off.

 

[la724]

The 40 series are harder to do, especially if it has a cab. That estimate isnt too far off.

Hi Shadow. Have you done this job on a 40 series? If so how many hours do you estimate it took you? Mine dose not have a cab.
Thanks
Andy

 

[Shadow]

With loader and subframe removal, and powerwashing time, you should be able to do it in less than 25hrs. Cab, add another ~5hrs.

 

[la724]

I wound up with some extra time this afternoon so I started the job. Here are some pics, so far not to bad after a couple of hours. I was considering not unhooking the harness from the engine because there is about a foot of slack but I thought better of it.
Andy

 

[la724]

Got her split this morning!

 

[Shadow]

Take the pressure plate off and inspect the clutch disc, making sure it isn't oil soaked. I also would replace the input shaft seal on the tranmission while you're in there. More than likely, you're going to need the updated housing for the input shaft, and when you put it in there, make sure you mark it "new style" so that if you or someone else ever goes back in there, you know that it's been updated, as it's hard to tell what the difference is between the old and new style.

 

[la724]

Take the pressure plate off and inspect the clutch disc, making sure it isn't oil soaked. I also would replace the input shaft seal on the tranmission while you're in there. More than likely, you're going to need the updated housing for the input shaft, and when you put it in there, make sure you mark it "new style" so that if you or someone else ever goes back in there, you know that it's been updated, as it's hard to tell what the difference is between the old and new style.

Hi Shadow
Thanks for all your input. Are you sure about an updated housing? I don't see one listed. It's too late anyway I already have it back together. Please elaborate.

Thanks
Andy

 

[la724]

Wrong pics Here are the right ones.

 

[Shadow]

I'm pretty sure it was the 40 series that they updated, but maybe I'm thinking of a different model.

 

[la724]

Well it wound up being the input seal and not the 4wd seal. If you read post # 10 where it was sitting at idle not moving when all of a sudden it started leaking.It does not make sense to be a seal on a shaft that is not turning to all of a sudden start leaking
The pictures below show the bad seal. The seal is hard and brittle and as you can see it broke when I curled the lip. It was only hard in that spot the rest of the seal is pliable.The throwout bearing inside groove was filled with hyd. oil. if it was the 4 wd seal centrifugal force would have kept most of it out, it was soaked. The clutch had fluid on it also but i didn't have one here so I cleaned it and it should be ok, no fibers were in the bell housing from the clutch indicating it was coming apart. We shall see. I cleaned up the groove on the shaft also. I ran it some saturday and so far no leaks The job was not bad at all. Much easier to work on than most cars.

 

[la724]

Thanks for all the help

Andy

 

[Kubota Tee]

Andy,

Looks like I will be doing the same job on my L3540. Starting leaking earlier this summer and I'm suspecting it is the propeller shaft seal. Thanks for sharing your experience - it's going to be a great help once I get into it.

Thomas

 

[la724]

Andy,

Looks like I will be doing the same job on my L3540. Starting leaking earlier this summer and I'm suspecting it is the propeller shaft seal. Thanks for sharing your experience - it's going to be a great help once I get into it.

Thomas

Hi Thomas,
Looks like this is a common problem 40 series. Mine is also a L3540, 1100 hrs.
Make sure you change the input shaft seal as that is what was leaking on mine. I changed the driveshaft seal & bearing also while i was in there. The job was not bad at all. If you have any Questions when you get into it I will be glad to help if I can.

Andy

 

[Kubota Tee]

Andy,

My wife says no more projects until I get the work shop cleaned up - just no more room to work! In all honesty, she is right - I can't even find some of my tools!! Once I get the work shop organized, I'm going to start in on this job. Do you mind if I PM you on specific questions as I go? I have a service manual, so it should only be on topics that aren't covered well or are confusing. I've done small jobs before on cars (brakes, mufflers, alternators, wheel bearing hubs, etc), but nothing quite like this. Based on your posts and offer to help, it's given me the confidence to give it a try. I guess the labor quote at the local Kubota dealer also had something to do with it!!

Thanks again,

Thomas

 

[la724]

Andy,

My wife says no more projects until I get the work shop cleaned up - just no more room to work! In all honesty, she is right - I can't even find some of my tools!! Once I get the work shop organized, I'm going to start in on this job. Do you mind if I PM you on specific questions as I go? I have a service manual, so it should only be on topics that aren't covered well or are confusing. I've done small jobs before on cars (brakes, mufflers, alternators, wheel bearing hubs, etc), but nothing quite like this. Based on your posts and offer to help, it's given me the confidence to give it a try. I guess the labor quote at the local Kubota dealer also had something to do with it!!

Thanks again,

Thomas

I will be glad to help. Post when you are ready. You can PM me, but questions are better left in the open forum for others to see. It helped me a great deal.


Andy

 

[la724]

By the way 15 hrs and no leaks!!!

 

[westflgator]

What happened when we tried to pull the shaft out it didn't seem to want to move, and not knowing what was holding it we didn't want to force it too much. So we decided to seperate the bell housing from the HST, but it would only go about 4 inches and stop, my shop manual wasn't very clear and I wasn't sure why, so next we sepearated it from the back of the HST (wasn't necessary). Then finally we sepereated it at the back of the transmission and found a gear wedged onto another drive shaft coming from the HST that drives the rear end; it was moving forward about 4inches and hitting the back on the plate on the HST and stopping.

Thanks again for all of the help, the tractor is back together and seems to be working fine with no leaks so far. I'm in hopes that it is fixed. Hopefully the notes in the pics below can be read.

 

[orangemachine]

I've got a 2007 L3540 HST 4x4. With a hydraulic leak coming from the front of the transmission. I started the disassembly of the tractor. I ordered the input shaft cover gasket an the input shaft seal, also ordered the 4x4 seal. I need to know what other parts I need to order in the posts I read about replacing some spacers due to them having rubber on them. So any help on parts list would help. When I get it apart I will inspect clutch for possible replacement. I've ordered from messicks before an had good service an prices. Way cheaper than my local dealer an still oem parts. PS I have about 1460hrs on tractor

 

[eck1901]

By the way 15 hrs and no leaks!!!

Same problems on my L3540, 950 hrs.

Questions:
1. For the "Shaft Case" gasket - What did you do and what did you use? 1 place in the workshop manual (WSM) (pg. 337) says to replace the gasket but 2 other places (pg. 290 & 309) said to "Apply liquid gasket (Three Bond 1208C or equivalent) to joint face of the shaft case and clutch housing." I had some concerns about which silicone to use when I looked up the ref. 1208C (which doesn't exist), but there were a number of other silicone 1200 series and most or all had a spec of 1450 PSIG at room temp blowout resistance. That spooked me a bit over just using a standard automotive oil resistant silicone like Permatex black (with unknown pressure rating).

2. Did you ever get an answer back from Kubota about the different seal part #s (post #19)?

3. Did you do anything, when breaking apart the engine 1/2 from the transmission 1/2 of the tractor, regarding the "front axle rocking restrictor" "special tool" on pg. 133 of the WSM?

4. Any final words of advise I didn't see in this EXCELLENT WRITE-UP?

By the way, this great info gave me the courage I needed to take this on soon.