L3240 axel oil

[hancockian]

Hello all...This is my first post and I'm not very secure in my computer skills. I've got a L3240 which I bought used with 275 Hrs last year. Now have 374 and decided to do a 400 Hr maintenance. Replaced the hydraulic filters and the 11 gal sudt2. Went to the front axle gear case where my manual says 6.9 quarts and only got about 2 quarts out of the right side and 1 quart out of the left, maybe less I didn't measure it . I hadn't checked the fill overflow first so I thought maybe it was low. I waited until all the oil drained and it stopped dripping , replaced the drain plugs, opened the overflow and started adding sudt2. After adding about a quart it started coming out the overflow. I thought maybe the clearance around the gears is tight so I waited a few minutes and tried adding some more. took maybe a pint and came out the overflow. Repeated several times and it won't take more than 2-3 quarts. I'm thinking about draining the oil again and putting compressed air on the fill port to see if there's a blockage. The original oil was dirty but not sludgey(if that a word). The oil I originally drained was thin like udt not like gear oil. I'm at a loss. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Stumpy]

Are you sure it's not listed in liters or pints? I used to work at an oil change place and you'd be amazed how often the axle or transfer case capacity was wrong. I checked my book and the range of capacities is .5 to about 3 quarts on a couple of L and B series tractors. My truck is only 3.5. I'd trust the over flow port more than the manual anyday. Since you say plugs you've probably gotten all the low points in the system.

 

[birddogger]

... and only got about 2 quarts out of the right side and 1 quart out of the left,...

What about the middle? I've seen some where there is the left and right spindle/gear units and the center tube all with their own fill/drain plugs.

 

[Bulldog]

It's been so long since I seviced mine it's hard to keep them straight. My L and M are both different. If I remember right the L has a vent plug on top of each hub that needs to be removed before refilling the housing with oil.

 

[Breeze]

The "Book" on an L3700 is 4.8 quarts. There is a drain plug on either side, down low, a fill plug on the axle housing and an overflow plug, somewhat lower on the housing.

I've changed mine and went with gear oil replacement instead of hydraulic oil and it took about 4.8 quarts. It drained fairly fast but you need to add slow. I assume you had either the fill or overflow plug out while draining.

Are you on level ground? If you're sure it's empty, you could lower the rear a bit so it would take the book quantity of oil, plug it up, run a while and check again on the level.

On the L3700 there's also a zerk fitting on the axle housing with an "overflow" plug for the grease, square drive, as I recall.

I don't know how much on the L3240 is the same as the L3700.......