1450 Hydro problem

[ol'George]

If it were mine I'd get a used hydro they are not expensive usually on ebay, ------under $100
or maybe someone here has one for sale.
But I'd be taking it apart and see what happened.
I've had them apart, but you need to be careful and 100% cleanliness is imperative.
Also if it did indeed puke a bearing you have lots of cleaning of the whole system
and flushing out the rear end.

Now IIRR, the hydro is bolted to the case and there is a squarish cover on top,
retained with 4 bolts,if that is removed, I think you can see the hydro pinion where it meshes to the bull gear.
Now it is fuzzy in this old farts mind, so someone chime in if I'm confused.
but you might be able to see if the output pinion is flopping around because of a bad bearing.

[J-Mech]

Originally Posted by Pine Knob

That's what they looked like alright. Small recess in the center on the top and bottom of each cylinder.

Really? Because earlier you were arguing that you were sure it was a piston from the pump. Did you have to Google this suggested part too so you could see what it looked like?

You lost the pieces, so you can't show us, and haven't any idea what they were.

I'm with George. Just go buy another hydro.

[finsruskw]

I have a couple of them here,
come by and grab one, I'm 35 miles west of Dubuque
$40 apiece

[Dart1917]

Originally Posted by J-Mech

That theory is plausible. Explains everything. Only thing is, oil submerged tapered roller bearings seldom fail. I have never seen that one fail. But I agree...... very possible.

That rear bearing is a straight roller and the rollers are held in with thin rings. I've never seen one go bad either but there's a first for everything. Oldgeorge is correct, look at post 19 on johnscub's 1450 adventure thread.

[Pine Knob]

Originally Posted by J-Mech

Really? Because earlier you were arguing that you were sure it was a piston from the pump. Did you have to Google this suggested part too so you could see what it looked like?

You lost the pieces, so you can't show us, and haven't any idea what they were.

I'm with George. Just go buy another hydro.

Of course I had to Google it. Not all of us were born with the innate knowledge of the inner workings of the 15 series U type. Consider yourself lucky. There's not a lot of diagrams or pictures online for these. The pistons were the only cylindrical pieces I could see. I couldn't tell how big they were. I assumed it had ball bearings because I have never seen one apart before. But I'm going to get to see one now.

Thanks everyone for the help. I appreciate it. I will post pictures when I get to it.

[Pine Knob]

Dart1917 was right. It was the bearing. That explains the grinding noise.

Here's what I saw when I opened up the top. I couldn't get the transmission to turn. I think the shaft might have been pinched on some debris.



View of the read end and bearing remnants.



The shaft fell right out once I got the transmission out. The shaft is chewed up around the bearing slot.



Soo...should I even try to rebuild this? It seems like I could buy three replacement hydros for the cost of the bearing, shaft and replacement seals. But it would be fun to try.

And yes, everything was filthy. I wonder if the fluid level got low and then all the extra "insulation" led to overheating and failure? The fluid level was definitely well below the hole in the rear end. But never so low that I had drive issues. (Until the end!)

Thanks for all the advice.

[Dart1917]

Time for a good used one. I'd like to see the inside of that one though. I'm trying to picture what was keeping the gears meshed once that bearing gave out. That rear is going to need a real good cleaning to get all the pieces out and I would probably pull the axle housings off and clean them out to be sure there isn't anything hiding in there. Good luck with it.

[ol'George]

Your outdoor work bench leaves something to be desired.
Do as others have said, clean the inside thoroughly and take the line from hydro to diff. off to make sure you get all debris.
Check the inside of carrier around the spider gears, wash, wash blow,blow.
Then do it some more, those things depend on a surgically clean environment.
Take it apart for a learning experience but that thing operating in the grimy enviro, is trashed!

[J-Mech]

Originally Posted by Pine Knob

Soo...should I even try to rebuild this? It seems like I could buy three replacement hydros for the cost of the bearing, shaft and replacement seals. But it would be fun to try.

And yes, everything was filthy. I wonder if the fluid level got low and then all the extra "insulation" led to overheating and failure? The fluid level was definitely well below the hole in the rear end. But never so low that I had drive issues. (Until the end!)

Thanks for all the advice.

No. Do not try to rebuild it. 1.) Too much money. 2.) You need a clean work area, and you don't appear to have one. 3.) You don't seem too mechanically inclined. (Just calling that one as I see it.) 4.) With that much metal floating around, the piston blocks and valve plates will be junk. No, don't attempt it. You could buy a brand new one for the same money.

The failure was likely caused by water and contaminated oil. Lack of maintenance, who know whether the filter was any good, or even correct. Low on oil wasn't helping.

Time to go shopping for a used one.