Hydro cork gasket leaking?
 

I'd like to try and pin down where my trans leak is. I have the tunnel cover off and plan to clean up as much of the trans as possible in the hopes of maybe narrowing down where the leak starts. From doing some forum research, it appears that leaks are often at the cork gasket. In the manual, the only gasket shown (#26 section 2-38) is the one that goes right against the pump housing. Assuming this is the one? Then, next question is whether or not - if there is a leak there - can the job of replacing it with a new gasket be done without splitting the tractor? Not sure this is one of those jobs that I can do without a fairly detailed diagram and instructions, but thought I'd at least investigate it. There are a good number of bolts around that trans housing, but assuming not all of them would need to be removed? Leak has been going on for the past 20 years. I just keep a tray under the trans but if I'm going to keep the Cub I'd really like to get rid of the leak. With any luck, perhaps a few of the bolts I'm seeing are just a bit loose and thus the source of the leak.

No.....

IF...you are experienced and have all the right tools, you are looking about about a 4 hr job. If not, figure a whole day.

Well, I don't have the means to split the tractor based on what I read in the manual, so I guess that shoots the idea of fixing the transmission leak. Guess the pan stays under it...

You don't own a 9/16" wrench and some wood blocks? That's all you need to split it.

Of course I have those items, but the pics in the manual show using jacks to support the frame. Undoubtedly better, I'd wager, than building some sort of potentially collapsible tower comprised of randomly-sized wood pieces. Doesn't the support on both sides have to be the same distance from the floor? IF that gasket is even leaking (probably likely), couldn't the job be done if just the frame were taken off - without also then disconnecting everything that needs to be done to split the tractor?

In order to get to this gasket, (A) You have to pull the Rear End out from the Frame, and then (B) split the Hydro unit from the Rear End.

Thanks Roland...that's actually what I suspected, but wanted to make certain in the event that there would be some easier way to get at it. With the type of jacks shown in the manual I might be inclined to attempt it, otherwise I don't think so. For now, at least, I'll go with taking off the fenders and cleaning everything up as best I can. With any luck maybe I can then determine where the hytran starts to show up. I've been told no harm is done to the trans by the leak itself assuming the fluid level is kept up. I just worry about the leak getting worse, which is probably likely. Really should be located and fixed.

One twist of the wrench at a time. One bolt at a time. Be done in no time! :beerchug:

Steve....true enough, and applicable to pretty much any task. Of course, it presupposes that one already knows where the 'twist of the wrench' has to take place!!!

Expose as much of the tranny and rearend as practical. Fenders off would be good.

Then spray it down with Gunk engine degreaser (not the foaming version) then powerwash it or garden hose wash it.

Push it inside and let it dry a couple of days. Then sprinkle corn starch or body powder on the likely suspect areas of leaks.

Start it up and run it around a few minutes and look for leaks. The powder will help the leak show up to the eye better.

Once found wash it again.

07...thanks so much for those suggestions...I'll gladly do all that up to the corn starch...not much point with that until I'd get a rebuilt engine in the tractor.

Just took these pictures 2 min ago after reading this.. This tractor weighs in at 40,000 pounds.. All we crib up here with is wood. Safest way to hold anything heavy.
NEVER! EVER! Trust jacks to support the load long term. Jack it.. Block it. A jack can and will fail before a wood block will.

Strip it down. You can still mow the lawn.:biggrin2:

The tractor equivalent of a "chopper" LOL! Except that right now mine is a bit too stripped down...no head on the engine!

Need to specify to use a hardwood block such as oak for something that heavy.

My company went from using oak blocks to the composite turtle plastics in all the service vans. Guys were making some of their own from pine and other soft stuff and that’s wasn’t good. We have a variety of sizes and lengths now plus wheel chocks too. Glad they made the investment in us and they work great.

It's been like 4 years but I'm pretty sure I replaced the cork gasket without splitting the tractor on a WF or QL. It's definitely easier with it split, but I don't think it's required, as long as you don't have hydraulic lift lines in the way. Keith has a 129 so the tunnel cover gives you access to work.

Pretty sure many people here know this (the highlighted part) by now. Some might wish I would NOT have one...LOL....

Thanks for additional info Frank... :)

We have oak blocks for some heavier stuff. The 6x6's you see here are old PT landscape ties. I agree tho. With these you have to be sure to turn them against the grain so they do not split.

Either way, based on what is being mentioned, I don't have any sort of wood blocks that would suffice for this, so guess I'll have to pass right now on the splitting.

Buy 2 8' 4x4 from home depot for 20$. cut into 12 or 18 inch pieces. You will have plenty.

Don't want to spend the 20? Pick up a few oak wooden pallets in your travels. Cut up the stringers.. Thats the 2x4 parts of the pallet. Screw a few together and cut to make 4x4's. Enough excuses man.. DOn't embrace excuses. Embrace solutions! :beerchug:

Yeah, but your an animal Steve...:biggrin2:

The tractor could also be suspended using a come-along. The frame without the rear end is quite light.

Assuming I had something to hook it to. Garage has a drywall ceiling.

Above the drywall there are joists... should be 2x8's or better depending on how your house was constructed.

Coop, with all due respect, last thing I'd want to do is tear into my ceiling for the sake of doing something with the Cub. Also, just got the ceiling repaired a few months ago from a major plumbing leak. Appreciate the input though. I don't think a tractor separation is in the works for the foreseeable future.

Tear into it??? Okay... Never mind...

You might better buy the new mower. You can take it back to the dealer when ever it needs anything.

:IH Trusted Hand:

Got firewood?
Look in the free area of CL.
Or ask someone you know if they have a few big hunks of wood before they split it.

Falcon - I don't mean to be a prick about this, but you have given us nothing but excuses why you don't want to fix your Cub, from the engine replace/rebuild, to an oil leak. All we have heard from you is how you can't or don't want to do whatever we suggest. Frankly I find this very frustrating and I am sure others here feel the same. I understand reasonable limitations in your abilities, and with just a little willingness on your part, we can talk you through ANY repair on that tractor. But we don't get any positive feedback from you. 99% of the members here eat, sleep, and breathe Cub Cadet. Fixing is what we do to save these incredible machines. Your attitude leads me to believe that you want us to give you reasons to go and buy a new mower. Fine. Go buy one. You claim you don't have enough room to store two tractors. OK, sell your Cub to someone who will take care of it, then go visit it once and awhile.
I've tried to keep this response civil my friend, but frankly it's a struggle. I've said it before, this site is about Cub Cadet preservation. Please don't use us to convince yourself you don't want to fix your Cub Cadet.

:IH Trusted Hand:
X2

I suggested in one of his previous threads that he sell the Cub, hire a lawn care service to mow his lawn and then he can sit on the porch and drink beer. Last I knew his tractor has a bad engine, the deck is shot, he wanted to know what rears fit it and now the cork gasket is leaking? Wise up guys this guy is just trolling us.:BB&YS:
Look at the threads he has started.

https://www.onlycubcadets.net/forum/...archid=1088731

This is the damn truth.

No offense falcon, but I can't help but agree. I was giving you every chance until I read your response saying that you didn't have wood. At that point, it was clear to me that we are all being trolled here. I seriously wish you the best, but by all means, sell this machine and go get a new one. or a used one. Just go buy something that works and doesn't need to be worked on.

Come on guys when are ya'll gonna stop responding to this guy, gal, or what ever. Maybe he or she is just lonely, and wants to talk, or he or she don't have a clue about anything. But my personal opinion is as stated, he or she is just trolling.
Although after a couple of drinks it is some good entertainment. :beer2::biggrin2:

Now that everybody seems to be thinking along the same lines as me, I would like to share this post that I made on 7/16 in one of his many other threads about the fact that he should just go by a new tractor..... goes like this.....

"I gave this guy the same advice 3 weeks ago....
https://www.onlycubcadets.net/forum/...6&postcount=33
He either doesn't listen, or he is a sick individual who is getting a big kick out of jacking everybody off. He claims his engine blew on 6/28, next he was worried about wheels, then about the hydro, now he's worried about mower decks. What has he been cutting grass with since then.

He claims to have had this Cub for 37 (or whatever) years, yet he doesn't know a damn thing about it. Are you telling me that in that in 37 years he never had to touch it so to this point he knows nothing about it.? Cubs are good but they ain't that good.

He doesn't need a tractor, he needs a therapist!"


Here's the response I got from him in a PM the next day.....
"I have reported your post as falling under the category of being rude and harassing (for whatever good that will do ). Your other one I took good naturedly, but this recent one is way over the line."

Personally, I won't respond to him anymore, but I find his ability to suck people in who are trying to honestly help him as almost the equivalent of Gordon Gecko in the movie Wall Street. Ya'll do what you want as far as responding to his never ending but never doing anything questions, but I'll just read along and keep being amused. (guess I'll get reported again)

I want to see your Gee-tar. White Falcons are pretty cool.

I learned about the block feature here the other day. Might need to try that thing out.

I am not trolling.. though saying so will undoubtedly not dissuade some of you from the opinion to the contrary. Not sure why some of you feel I am. I have referred to the (real) issues I've described as being a factor in whether or not I want to continue with the Cub or not. They are: the condition of the deck (either replace with one in better shape than mine or put on new spindles), trans leak (want to at least take off the fenders and see if I can possibly narrow down where the leak originates..I only mention the gasket since from what I've read here and elsewhere it seems a likely culprit) and finally - need to replace at least one front wheel. A possible addition to that list is virtually anything that could continue to go wrong. To my thinking, the trans is probably top priority BUT is also the most difficult problem (for me anyway) to resolve, with replacing a wheel obviously being the easiest. There are pros and cons associated with the 2 other new tractor brands I'm considering, but won't bore you with going into any of that since this is not the forum for those discussions.

If I do put Jon's engine in the Cub, will some of you then, in the vernacular, get off my case? I mean...will that put an end to this crap about my being a troll? Quite frankly, one of the things unfortunately leaning me in the direction of NOT fixing up the Cub is that - since even though I acknowledge this site as the logical place to come for help and advice - I'm really thinking that even if I DO put in the engine, since I'll need to keep coming here frequently - I'll still likely get ribbed about my mechanical inabilities and probably continued questioning. I've resorted much more to PM here than the open forum of late since I've found a good number of people here willing to help me that are civil, polite and do not include snide comments. What is even MORE sad is that the administration of this forum apparently does NOTHING about reported posts that are deliberately inflaming (I was actually accused of being "sick" and "needing a therapist".) Seriously? Is that what we're about here? I'm going to be really honest in saying that I've heard in many PM's about how many people have LEFT this forum in recent years due to the sort of thing I'm referring to. This fact just doesn't get voiced on the open forum. If I do make the decision to forego pursuing further Cub repair, please know that weighing into that, in a big way, is my hesitancy to continue to address repair issues here. Since I'm not one of these guys (as mentioned) that "lives and breathes" Cub restoration to the exclusion of all else - guess I'm just not, and never will be, part of the "club". I might also add..and this comment stems from some of my frustrations...what do some of you guys do in real life when you're not telling people how to run theirs on the internet? Talk about trolling.... When I first came here in 2011 under a different username (yes...I actually changed it the other year in the hopes of maybe getting away from some of the sarcasm...didn't seem to work though), it was a different forum. Others will agree though maybe hesitant to say so. There must be other Cub forums that offer mechanical help and advice without the judgmental and uncompromising attitude that seems to be (at least sometimes) present here. Apologies, of course, to all those who have been so helpful to me.

Since trolling has been brought up, however, I submit the following: In Internet slang, a troll is a person who starts quarrels or upsets people on the Internet to distract and sow discord by posting inflammatory and digressive, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community (such as a newsgroup, forum, chat room, or blog) with the intent of provoking readers into displaying emotional responses and normalizing tangential discussion, whether for the troll's amusement or a specific gain. This sense of both the noun and the verb "troll" is associated with Internet discourse, but also has been used more widely. Media attention in recent years has equated trolling with online harassment. But that doesn't happen here, right? Can't believe you guys really lump me into the above. I will admit to the off-topic posts at times - but all that is just the usual banter, etc. No harm done. But as to the "inflammatory" aspect of the term...it ain't me doing that.

NOW... all that being said, please also know I acknowledge and understand your frustrations with my constantly referring to some of the same issues repeatedly and my (admittedly) difficulties with arriving at a decision of which way I want to go, but still, I don't think it warrants some of the comments I've gotten over the past year or so. 'Nuff said...too much probably.

Inability is one thing. I doubt anyone here will ras you for that. But seriously. How have you been cutting your grass all summer? The reason people are saying troll is because the issues you are having keep multiplying. Every time a reasonable solution is offered you find another issue with your 129. It makes the whole thing suspect. Now.. Had you come here with an engine blown, Ordered the engine, and replaced. Then come back again with another issue no one would think anything of that. However, as methodical as you have been during this whole thing it makes me wonder how you did not have a complete list of every issue with your tractor up front? If you listed all these problems at that time some people here may have not told you to replace the engine. They may have told you "like I did" buy another 129 off craigslist that runs for a couple hundred, strip your old 129 of good parts as spares, and scrap the rest. Your lawn could have been getting cut all this time by you.

Hey, Falcon, are you still able to cut grass with the Cub? Or is it down for the count while you figure things out?

I was going to say, perhaps while you are working out a path forward, you might start wrenching on the old Cub--basically begin disassembly. Remove the hood, front grill and engine. Remove seat, fenders, tunnel cover. Clean things up. You might find the process a lot less intimidating that it seems by looking at things. In other words, take some action rather than just focusing on decision. It might help you make up your mind one way or another.

Keep the bolts in labeled zip lock bags so you know where they go back. Take a bunch of photos as you work so you can see how things go back together.

Post some pics on here of your progress. I am quite sure if you do these things, the responses you get on here will change in tone quite dramatically.

Despite some of the comments, most folks here are ready, willing and able to help you with the Cub. It's the analytical approach to your decision that the mechanics on here are struggling with. After all, we are not really equipped to address such thought processes.

Perhaps some of the others will chime in with words of support for this approach?