Ok whats wrong with this pic

[tony Cecil]

He is your customer, and you want to keep him.....Why not just ask him what he thinks did this? If his response is evasive or you sense something is not right, then you will be the better person....If not then some warranty work should be in order, or at least a sharing of the parts to make things right....Frankly I don`t see how any water would have gotten in other than condensation.....If it had been me and I drove the tractor into deep water, I would have gotten immediate service...Tony

 

[Kitz]

What about the old tractors that have sat around for years with all kinds of weather changes. Id check out the pond

 

[hawkeye08]

I would have to say the water was in the bellhousing for quite a while. That isn't surface rust. I would guess the water was in there for months or longer. Some of the rust has pitted and that takes a long time to happen. It also appears the bellhousing is sealed with a gasket, so how could water get in. Arround the starter possibly. If that is the case could the water gotten in from pressure washing and had no way to get out.Does the owner regurally pressure was it. Or being left out side could rain find its way in. Don't start doubting your customer quite yet. He may be being truthfull.
Bill

... or sitting under a tree where the sprinkler waters it every day all summer..

 

[kebo]

My two cents.....

Tractors have a thousand nooks and crannies for stuff like dirt, water, seed, fertilizer, leaves, small twigs, oil, grease, etc, etc to get trapped and settle into. IF that tractor had been submerged to the point that it filled the bell housing with water, there would/should be evidence of rust/small sediment/mud/ in other places where you probably wouldn't normally find such things. For instance, if you unbolted a bracket loose or a body/fender piece and found such evidence underneath it (in places that pressure washing wouldn't normally reach) that would help support the theory it had been submerged (imho).

If no evidence, then all the rust might have been caused as suggested by poorman (post #25). Everyday use (as stated by the customer) can cause a lot of condensation inside it from the constant heating and cooling in a humid environment, especially if a gasket or seal had failed for whatever reason.

I commend jlsmith for giving his customers the benefit of the doubt, and taking them at their word, but as he stated, he shouldn't have to pay for a customers careless accident that messes up a tractor once it's out of warranty. Will be interested in knowing the outcome. Just a wild thought here but maybe you could chat with his neighbors (and maybe the local tow companies) and see if they had pulled that tractor out of the pond?? :laughing: IF he stuck it, he had to have gotten help from somewhere!!!!

 

[Scotty370]

But "Curly" ,........That's like 'Fun with Numbers!' Agreed that if this is a re-occuring situation, there may be a design problem, but I didn't pick upon that in the Original Post.
~S

And Kebo~ Daily use, should also heated the internal parts enough to boil/evaporate a lot of that moisture out. I think it was 'dunked' ~S

 

[crazyal]

My guess is he bought too small of a tractor and decided to water it to see if it could grow. :laughing:

What it looks like to me is he drove through something pretty deep. I don't know how the drain works on this tractor. I don't think it was parked in water for any length of time since there is no water line. But clearly water hit the flywheel and was sprayed all around inside the bell housing.

This is a little off topic but kind of applies. A few years ago I wanted to update the list of cell towers on my phone. I went down to the Verizon store to do it. There was a girl in front of me who's phone died. The guy asked her if she got it wet, she of course said no. The guy removed the battery cover and showed her the sticker underneath. It's printed on litmus paper. If it gets wet it changes color. Even when the guy opened up two other phones just like hers to show her how it should look she kept saying it didn't get wet.

If the guy can't be honest with you about his tractor then I guess you take the high road and live with what ever he chooses to do. If it's not covered I would be upfront with him as to how much it will cost and the options, say just cleaning things up and getting them working again vs. fixing it right for years (unless he feels the need to keep driving through deep water) of service.

 

[whodat526]

my opinion waranty work is for manufactured defects not water in a bellhousing that sounds to me like a insurance claim. that is why so many big manufactors are going broke because every body wants waranty work when it sound be an insurance claim. i would see if they have insurance on the tractor and if so have them file a claim if not they should eat it.

 

[Yoitslo2]

my opinion waranty work is for manufactured defects not water in a bellhousing that sounds to me like a insurance claim. that is why so many big manufactors are going broke because every body wants waranty work when it sound be an insurance claim. i would see if they have insurance on the tractor and if so have them fill a claim if not they sound eat it.

I agree 100% that does not look like a manufacture defect.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Could rain water be getting in from the top side?

Do most change fluids and filters at 120 hours?

 

[Dano97471]

I had an old Chevy station wagon years ago that had water dripping from the bell housing. Turned our to be a leaking freeze plug on the back side of the engine block. Couldn't see it until I removed the flywheel.