B7610 squealing noise ??

[ficord]

I have a B3030 with cab and it makes a squealing noise usually when going fast under no load. Almost like a dry oversized bushing spinning and rocking on a shaft. Looking underneath the tractor at the linkage for the transmission foot pedal and the linkage for the parking brake,
I notice a lot of loose and sloppy bushing , washers, and cotter pins that spin and rattle when you tap on them they're not worn just sloppy and dry. I only have 100 hrs on it and everything is like new.
I believe the noise is coming from this area and just at the right speed they vibrate and rattle just for a few seconds. Today I bought a needle grease adaptor for my grease gun tomorrow I am going to squirt some of that sticky red grease between all the loose and sloppy hardware in this area and see if the noise goes away. I have read other posts and it seems allot of Kubota owners have this same strange noise.
Does anybody know what I'm talking about and maybe already greased this area? there are no grease fitting just allot of sloppy fitting hardware that rattles.

[botagreen]

This Spinning / squealing noise that I described in my original post seems to be getting more frequent and perhaps worse. The best I can tell, the source of this noise seems to be from what appears to be a drive shaft that comes from the transmission to the front axle. There appears to be at least 1 U-joint connection along this shaft, but I can only see one because a rubber cover/boot covers the front 1/2 of the shaft. The more I think about it, this sound almost resembles that of a dry bearing, or one with excessive play in it. It is a spinning sort of sound if that makes sense. There does not appear to be a grease nipple on the u-joint and even if it was, it would be very hard to access due to the fact that it is situated within a portion of the frame and would require quite a bit of dismantling to get good access. I thought I would throw-this out to you guys and see if any of you have any ideas. I don't think it is under warranty anymore so I am hesitant to have it taken to the dealer, who is 50+ miles away if I can fix her myself. Should I even worry about it since the tractor otherwise runs perfectly ??

[KHNewman]

I have a B7610 with around 130hrs and I have had the exact same problem for a while now. Same situation, high gear, no load level gorund it occassionally squeals and then fixes itself. It does sound like the tranny or driveshaft and there is no rhyme or reason to when it happens. It even did it right after my 100 hour service which was done by the dealer...

Sorry I don't have any suggestions, I am just as stumped but I am glad it is not just my machine.

[DonnieP]

I have B7510 -manual tranny- 150 hours on it and have had the same problem a couple of times, traveling in high gear - two wheel drive - on highway. It's nice to know I'm not alone!!

[botagreen]

PROBLEM SOLVED !!!!
OK, this squealing noise finally became so irritating and I became so frustrated from not being able to find it's source that I took it to the dealer. It cost me about $120 but alas, problem solved. I could kick myself because it was so simple. The culprit: The front drive shaft that comes from the transmission to the front axle, has a plastic boot/cover around the front 1/2 of the shaft. The spinning of the drive shaft was somehow rubbing, or causing vibration to the plastic boot and the noise I was hearing was the result of this. The mechanic said that he loosened the hose clamp that held the boot in place, which allowed him access to coat the front 1/2 of the drive shaft with wheel bearing grease. The grease, along with a slight adjustment to the position of the boot has completely eliminated the problem. Maybe the others who have responded to this thread with the same problem can now save themselves some $ by fixing it themself.

[MarkLeininger]

2) Every time I check the tranny fluid, I pull the dip-stick out and it is dry, (which seems a little bit odd to me). I then put it back in and when I pull it back out (gently), the fluid is always on the dip-stick, exactly on the line it is supposed to be on. Is it normal for there not to be fluid on the dipstick when I first pull it out ??

Thanks a lot for taking time to read this. Hope you can help.

I posted a question about this a year or so ago on my B2710. One guy came up with an explanation that sounded halfway reasonable. As I recall he said there's a tube that the dipstick goes into and when the tranny gets hot the air column in the tube forces the oil down out of that tube. When you pull out the dipstick, the column of oil can rise back up, so when you reinsert the dipstick you get a correct reading. Other than believing in the supernatural, that's the best explanation I heard.

[easygo]

PROBLEM SOLVED !!!!
OK, this squealing noise finally became so irritating and I became so frustrated from not being able to find it's source that I took it to the dealer. It cost me about $120 but alas, problem solved. I could kick myself because it was so simple. The culprit: The front drive shaft that comes from the transmission to the front axle, has a plastic boot/cover around the front 1/2 of the shaft. The spinning of the drive shaft was somehow rubbing, or causing vibration to the plastic boot and the noise I was hearing was the result of this. The mechanic said that he loosened the hose clamp that held the boot in place, which allowed him access to coat the front 1/2 of the drive shaft with wheel bearing grease. The grease, along with a slight adjustment to the position of the boot has completely eliminated the problem. Maybe the others who have responded to this thread with the same problem can now save themselves some $ by fixing it themself.

Thank you for the post Botagreen.

Although I have not heard the noise in several months I will check it when snow season is over. I only use HI gear when mowing and that has not happened in 5 months and will not happen until May or so.

It sounds like the right location for the noise as I recall it originates from the front section of the "underbelly". Can you give a little info on how the mechanic adjusted that plastic casing/boot? I would assume pushed farther font or pulled back slightly.

[botagreen]

According to the mechanic:
1) The clamp holding the driveshaft boot was loosened to allow the boot to be moved fore and aft along the driveshaft, which allowed the bearing grease to be applied to the surface of the driveshaft.
2) After a few trial runs, he decided to adjust the position of the boot with a slight twist to the left or right. It sounded like that the boot may have had a slight warp to it which caused it to contact the driveshaft and created the aweful squeal. The twist to the boot offered a little clearance between the two to hopefully prevent any further contact.

[Barnboy]

PROBLEM SOLVED !!!!
OK, this squealing noise finally became so irritating and I became so frustrated from not being able to find it's source that I took it to the dealer. It cost me about $120 but alas, problem solved. I could kick myself because it was so simple. The culprit: The front drive shaft that comes from the transmission to the front axle, has a plastic boot/cover around the front 1/2 of the shaft. The spinning of the drive shaft was somehow rubbing, or causing vibration to the plastic boot and the noise I was hearing was the result of this. The mechanic said that he loosened the hose clamp that held the boot in place, which allowed him access to coat the front 1/2 of the drive shaft with wheel bearing grease. The grease, along with a slight adjustment to the position of the boot has completely eliminated the problem. Maybe the others who have responded to this thread with the same problem can now save themselves some $ by fixing it themself.

That was the boot i was referring to. My B3030 did the same thing. Glad you fixed it.

[botagreen]

That was the boot i was referring to. My B3030 did the same thing. Glad you fixed it.

Yep, I remember that Barnboy but the sound was so ominous that I could not imagine how a little plastic boot could be the cause and since it only occurred when the tractor was in motion, it was impossible for me to see it while it happened. Also, my boot was still secured to the tractor and did not seem at all loose. It was simply rubbing & vibrating against the driveshaft. After paying the dealer to fix the problem I re-read my original post and saw your response again and realized that our problems were very similar. Thanks, and if anyone else out there doubts that a little plastic boot can be the cause of such noise, maybe this will be enough to convince you to take a closer look.