Cub Cadet 1450 Rear Differential Leak
 

Hello everyone, I'm the new owner of a Cub Cadet 1450 and recently replaced the seal for the rear differential with the correct seal from Cub Cadet and refilled with Hytran. I've noticed a small leak when it sits overnight coming directly from the very bottom of rear cover. I put the seal on dry with no gasket sealer or without putting any Hytran on the gasket. I cleaned up the surface of both the cover and rear differential with brake fluid and a scraper prior to installing the new gasket.

Do I need to remove the cover and refill with new Hytran or is there any other trick I can try first? I've torqued the bolts pretty tight already so not sure I can tighten them anymore, is it possible I've overtightened them? Also I assume the gasket will still be ok to reuse?

Thanks.

:Welcome2:

You replaced a seal, or a gasket? Big difference. If you replaced a seal, which one? There are several.

If you replaced the gasket on the rear cover and it leaks.... then no, you can't use the gasket over. If it leaks, then taking it off and putting it back on isn't going to fix it.

You can drain the rear into a clean pan and use the oil again. If you get dirt in the pan of oil, use cheesecloth or a paint filter to strain out the dirt. Then install the rear cover using black RTV with no gasket. Install the RTV on the rear, making sure to wipe the mating surfaces down with brake cleaner. Install the rear cover and torque the bolts to your liking. I just make them tight. It's not a head gasket, so torque is really unimportant.

Just to add to what Jon already mentioned. Check your cover to see that the holes aren't "dimpled" from being over tightened. I normally flip them over on the bench and hammer them down, just so I'm sure they're even.
BUT since I've been using the RTV, hasn't been an issue with leaking, and it's a whole lot cheaper than a gasket.:beerchug:

Welcome to OCC.
Good luck, and let us know your results.
Oh, and we like pictures:beerchug:

I hate the stamped rear covers. This is my answer to the problem. :beerchug:

I use the rear cover gaskets on all of my IH Cub Cadet garden tractors. Most of the instances, the cover has not leaked in the 30 to 50 years of service with the gaskets in place. The engineers at IH installed them for a reason. We're not reinventing the wheel here. Go spend the $7 on a gasket and be done with it. As my dad always says, the cheap guy spends the most!

I'm not going to beat a :beatdeadhorse: This is a topic overly discussed. There are many topics on this subject matter. :biggrin2:

Jon,

Sorry about that, I used seal/gasket interchangeably there but I meant gasket. Thanks for the tip about the Permatex RTV, I'll try that and attempt to save the Hytran. I'll report back.

Zippy,

I'll check the plate for dimples and correct them with the BFH. Thanks!:beerchug:

Thanks. I'll put some up once I clean her up a bit and put the side covers back on. She's older than me but I think she'll clean up ok. This is my first garden tractor so I've got a lot to learn!

This has been my experience as well. So yes, you can over tighten and dimple around the bolt heads.

When those tractors were built it was common practice to use gaskets.
Silly cone type of sealant was a new thing although permatex products had a #1,#2 and #3, which was thin and called aircraft sealant.
When you dimple or recurve the rear or any cover like that, it works well done on the jaws of a vice open 1-1/2" or so.
As you say, a BFH works well.
You can go too far but not to worry as it will pull flat.
A thin even coat of sealant lightly applied will insure a good seal.
More is not better.
Now it has to be clean and dry.
it works so much easier to keep it dry while cleaning and applying sealant if you raise the rear up quite a bit.
I like to use a chainfall but cement blocks work ok.
The idea is to keep the residual lubricant in the rear, not dribbling out and contaminating the sealant/surface on the bottom, causing it to leak. :beerchug: