T190 drive motor leak?

[JRP]

This week I noticed a small pool of oil below the left drive motor. The entire area around the motor looks wet. My question is, is it more likely to he a hose issue, or motor seal failure? Also, if it a motor leak, can the motor be re-sealed or must it be rebuilt? Machine has 2300 hours.

 

[oldnslo]

Most motors can be rebuilt or resealed. At 2300 hrs it could be either a hose or a shaft seal.

 

[SSdoxie]

If wet around the inside of the sprocket, is more likely to be the outer shaft seal. The drive hoses are on inward side of the motor, just inside the frame. If outer seal is leaking there is usually some wear in bearing assembly also. Bobcat does have an outer housing assembly (outer half of the motor) that comes pre-assembled with new housing, bearings, shaft & seal installed.

 

[JRP]

OK, it looks like the sprocket inside is dry. The oil is more along the inside near the frame. I need to use the machine some. It seems if I run with a bad outer seal the bearing could run dry, with very expensive result. If the problem is a hose, fitting, or motor leak the I might loose some fluid, but the repair can be delayed a bit and the delay won't make the cost a lot higher.

Does this seam reasonable?

 

[SSdoxie]

That may seem like a "fair" assumption, but there are risks involved. If it is the small hose going into the motor that is leaking, this is the pressure line for brake release. A leak results in a pressure drop, lower pressure here can allow the brake to drag and wear the brake discs and a brake repair/rebuild is not cheap. A leak in one of the main drive hoses (at much higher pressure) can cause a loss of power plus a higher rate of fluid loss, and running low on fluid could cause damage to entire drive system.
If you removed the track to look behind the sprocket there is a metal guard bolted to the frame going over top the motor. Under this guard is the hose connections an fittings. Would be a good idea to inspect that before using it.

 

[JRP]

Good advice.

So I pulled the track and sprocket. The seal near the hub was dry. Cleaned up and ran motor forward and reverse. The leak was a very small seep at the rear most hydraulic hose fitting. I loosened and tightened this. It still has a seep, like a drop, very small.

I topped off the oil reservoir, but it took only a few quarts.

For now ill keeps an eye on the seep. If it gets to be a problem. I'll change the hose and 90 fitting.

Thanks for the cautionary advice. This was also an opportunity to change sprockets and final drive oil.

 

[JRP]

Turned out to a loose 90 fitting. The sprocket was so worm the tracks rubbed thru the hose guard. Tightened the fittings, changed final drive oil, and replaced sprockets.

Drove it hard today and no leak.