3000 series axle leak
 

I spoke too soon on none of my tractors leaking at the rear axle. I finished putting the new head on the 3165, took it for a spin and it runs great. Parked it in the garage and found a small amount of oil on the floor this morning.:bash2: It's nothing major, I just don't like stuff that leaks oil. Here you can see how the oil worked past the first seal and leaked out the axle cover. The tubes are dry on the the 3k tractors, all oil is kept in the differential.
Attachment 54418

After work today I started pulling it apart. I looked in the manual and they show it on a work bench, I'm not gonna pull the whole thing off the tractor, that doesn't sound like fun.
You have to pull the fender pan, tank and rear frame plate, no big deal. I took compressed air and the shop vac and tried my best to get all the dirt and grime off the tractor because I want to reuse the oil..I'm cheap and it only has about 5 hours on it.
Attachment 54419

Next thing is to remove the axle nuts. I don't have a socket big enough but I will next time.
Attachment 54420

Then break out the pullers and pull the hub off. I put the lug nuts back on the studs and pulled on the black spacer plate. They are on there tight but mine both came off fine.
Attachment 54421

Here is what the splined axle looks like that goes into the hub.

Here is what the inside of the differential looks like in a tractor without the locking differential. Looks pretty clean too.
Attachment 54427

I took the U bolts off that hold the rear to the frame, 2 of the 4 bolts on the front support and loosened the other 2 on the front support. I then put a strap across the top to support some of the weight and it gave me enough clearence to remove the axle cover plate.
Attachment 54428

Here is side that the seal failed on. I'm not sure if water got in it and caused it to fail but the other side that is not leaking is clean.

I pulled the complete axle out and need to clean the rust off of the axle so I can remove the bearings.
Attachment 54430

I used a 3M Scotch Pad on it and cleaned it up and the bearings slide off. It looks like the seal came loose in the bearing block. I need to see if I can find new seals and reuse the bearings. Cub wants around $50 for each one and there are 4 total. The arrows point toward the differential. The left bearing is what I call a babbitt bearing and the right one is a roller bearing....that is not in any oil and doesn't have a grease fitting.:bigthink: What were they thinking!

Attachment 54433

Here is the "babbitt bearing", it is the one near the differential. It has a seal around the axle on the outer side and a seal around the block on the side towards the differential(side shown). The two make a complete seal to the axle tube.
Attachment 54436

And here is the roller bearing, it is near the hub and has seals on both sides.
Attachment 54437

Okay guys. I need to find seals for this thing. Can anybody tell me what seal this is? It looks like it was made by KTP and the number is 4885.
Attachment 54438

Thats all for tonight. Stay tuned for tomorrow knights episode.:biggrin2:

Todd

Thank you so much for doing this killer write up on how to repair one of these. This one may end up being a sticky. :beerchug:

Thanks Sam. I think I found the seals needed. They are 30mm x 40mm x 4mm. There is a toatal of 6 used. I found a few places that have them. Here is the ones I found at Motion Industries.

http://www.motionindustries.com/moti...es%3EOil+Seals

This explains why the seals don't show in the parts list's. Nice that MTD wants you to buy a complete bearing block. Designed by the bean counters for sure. If I had one I'd be redesigning it for sure.

Killer write up Todd!

Never been into the rear on a 3K. TBH, not impressed. I do, however like the gear reduction at the rear as opposed to before the pinion. Keeping pinion speed high increases torque. Still think I'll keep my "older" machines. :beerchug:

Good job finding the seals.

I too say, make this a "sticky". :ThumbsUp:

This is fantastic! Great timing, Oak. This is just the info I needed. I wondered if those axel tubes were meant to be dry. Did you need/get new gaskets for the diff. housing? Great job, Thank You! Ken B

Todd, did you get this wrapped up? :popcorn:

Yes I did but I've been too busy to finish the post. So far it works great and was pretty easy to do. I will complete the post tonight.

Okay, I'm back. I called around on the oil seals and found that Motion Industries had them in stock but not the ones I posted, those are NLA but they had another brand so I ordered them. I purchased 6 seals for a total of $48 shipped to my door. I pulled all the old seals and cleaned everything up.
Attachment 54734
The roller bearings looked okay for not having any grease in them. What was in there was all dried up and nasty so I cleaned them with degreaser and brake cleaner then repacked them with wheel bearing grease after the seals were installed.
Attachment 54735
The roller bearings are HK 3020 if you ever need to replace them. I pressed one of them out just to see how hard it was and they come out pretty easy.

Here is a shot of the new seals installed with the roller bearing block nearest.
Attachment 54736

Time to button it up. The only place I used Permatex was at the top and bottom of the inner bearing block. I used Ultra Black.
Attachment 54739

Time to start stacking parts. There are two gaskets, a rear axle cover plate and the differential cover. I used two 1/4-20 bolts and cut the heads off to make reassembly easier.
Attachment 54740

Cub Cadet wants $25 for each gasket. I was careful when I removed them and I reused the old ones after I cleaned them up. They can be reused, I have no leaks. They have some type of metal in them so they are pretty tough.
Attachment 54741

Here is the inside of the rear axle cover plate. The unpainted pieces are some type of spacer plate they use to compensate for the gasket that goes between it and the aluminum rear housing.
Attachment 54742

That's all the pictures I have. All in all, it wasn't a hard job and so far everything works great.

Todd

Outstanding write up on the repair. First time I've seen one of these apart. I'll stick to the older stuff thank you. Can't believe that they didn't design it so that the outer bearings could be greased. This thread will be going in the tech section. :beerchug:

"I don't have a socket big enough but I will next time."

I'm glad I'm not the only one using old pipe and 1/2 " socket wrench to make a breaker bar the few times I need it.

Nice work!