4310 JD rear axle seal replacement

[Kyle_in_Tex]

I noticed some oil last week on my right rear rim. I traced the leak to the axle seal. I didn't have a slab to park on prior to this so I'm not sure how long it's been leaking. I went down to the local dealer and ordered the seal and talked to the mechanic. He said it would be about a $600 dollar repair if they did it. Guess I'll be doing it myself. Good thing my barn just got finished so I don't have to work in the 100 degree sun and on top of dirt and gravel at that. This is the first real work I've had to do to this tractor. I've never even had a wheel off of it. Just oil and filters here to date by me.

I did my best to rinse off most of the dirt prior to starting. Drove in the new barn and proceeded to jack up the rear end. I quickly found out the wheel bolts are torqued much more than my 1/2" impact (cheapie) could handle. I could barely break them loose with a large tire iron so I went down to Auto Zone and bought me a brand new 24" long 1/2" drive breaking bar which is now my new best friend. Oh yeah, I bought a roll of the nice blue shop towels. You just can't hardly get any mechanicking done without shop rags. Red one's are best. We machinist turn them back in with shavings and chips tangled in them to pay back the mechanics that fill them up with silicone pookey boogers. If you have rag service from a uniform service you know what I mean. I got the wheel off finally and it is filled with water so I was worried about letting it fall over. Apparently with the water level mine has, being an R4, it will stand on it's own and is quite stable. Since I don't have any kids in my barn, I just left it standing by the wall. I'd estimate it weighs 250-300 lbs. The mechanic told me that I'd have to remove the ROPS due to it being attached to the axle housing. To do this I had to remove the fender and to do that I had to remove the electronic dash and disconnect 4 or 5 wiring connectors. Did I mention that I priced a service manual, Hardcopy $180 something and CD-rom is $80 something. I'm going to try and tackle this without such if I can. The mechanic told me the axle housing must come off, remove the snap ring, pull the axle and replace the seal. Easier said than done. My goal is to keep Murphy or whoever he is away as much as possible.
Did I mention its 100 degrees and 98% humidity....whew, instant sweat, shade is good!

Caution, BARE NAKED TRACTOR PHOTOS, I was not sure if I should post my 4310's naked rear end on the internet but what the heck!

 

[txdon]

The first naked tire picture was tolerable, however you really should not be posting that second picture. It looks like way too much work. After you finish that repair you should know as much as the mechanics down the road..

Nice new building, the white insulation really looks clean and neat.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

After getting the 1st fender off I realized they both have to come off due to the rops being connected. This meant removing the other wheel. I love my new breaking bar. Many bolts later both fenders are off. The ROPS has some wiring that has to be disconnected. It is very awkward and I waited until a buddy came over to help take it off. An engine hoist would be a great tool for removing the ROPS.

The bolts that hold the aluminum axle housings to the center case are pretty big and again I had to use my new breaking bar. They really torque these things down at the factory. I couldn't budge them with a craftsman 1/2" drive ratchet. After disconecting the brake rods, I can tell why my brakes where sticking. The shafts that go into the axle housings are rusty. I don't use my brakes hardly at all due to my ehydro tranny stopping just fine most of the time. I've got all the bolts removed and the housings just won't come off. They move about 1/4" in the rear but I guess the wet brakes or something is keeping them from coming off. I guess I'll have to go talk to the mechanic some more.

I figured out the culprit of the seal wearing out. It has a metal seal retainer plate which allows sand and debris in but not out. Here is a pic of the retainer plate loose and pointing to the bad seal. BAD DESIGN. I will probably machine or drill a weep hole to let out sand when washed down.

Does anyone know if I have to remove the rear plate on the center case to access a clip or snap ring to release the right and left housings?

Yesterday I went to the dealer and bought 7 gallons of LOW-viscosity HYGARD tranny fluid, both new filters, orderered another new seal for the left side (since I'm all up in it), gasket pookey and some other small stuff. $204 dollars worth. I'm can easily see why this is a $600 job at $56/hour shop rate.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

By the way, here's a couple of pic's of my new babies in no particular order.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Well, I finally got the time to finish the seals this weekend. In retrospect, I would be impressed if the job could have been done at the dealership for 8 hours of labor. I would not recommend this unless you are a fairly competent mechanic. I had to remove the seat base, and the big plastic shroud that wraps under and behind the operators station.

This photo shows all the stuff finally off.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Here's the hardest part of the job. The diffential lock lever (and both brake levers') have a very tight roll form pin that has to be knocked out to get them off.

Here is a photo of the culprit finally off.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Here's the 18" long punch I made at work to drive them out with a 3 pound sledge.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Once the axle housings are off, its easy to remove the snap ring and pull out the axle. I took the seal retainer plates off, sanded them down and repainted them. I had a hard time decinding what to do to keep water and grit out this time around. I ended up putting some Loctite 515 gasket maker around the edge of the seal.

Here's a photo after applying and removing the plate to check coverage.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Assembly is pretty much the reverse of disassembly. I did lube and clean a few odds and ends while I could get to them. I had to take out all the electrical hook up plugs in the right fender. The wiring to the ROPS mounted lights had to be undone. The rubber floormat needs to be pulled back to get to some carriage type bolts holding the fender on. I decided to just pull it off to clean under it.

Here's a photo of the brake lever about to be put back on. I think if the pin holes were close tolerance (which they are not) that some threaded press fit pins would help with a threaded puller.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

To re-install, I cleaned both gasket surfaces and used the Loctite 515 per my dealer's recommendation. It would have been nice if it wasn't over a 100 degrees everyday. Putting the heavy loaded wheels back on wasn't too bad but it helps to have a good jack that can easily adjust the axle height.

Both seals, 8 gallons of JD low-viscosity tranny fluid, both tranny filters cost about $210

I figure they would charge roughly 10 hours of labor at $56/hr = $560.00

So with tax, I would think the charge would easily top $800. Not too cheap for rear seals. I hope these last longer than the last ones' did.