question for NX owners

[YLee Kioti]

So, I'm in the middle of the 50 hour service.
Get to the front axle, drain the now grayish fluid and get my 85-140 valvoline gear lube ready.
Owners manual in section 2-4 shows 1.9 gal. or 7.0 L
In the other section of different NX configurations the table shows 1.85 gal. or 7.0L of gear lube 85w or better.

So I add 4 quarts and about halfway through the 5th quart the funnel burps and oil is dripping down the axle.
Man that stuff is tacky!

Take machine out to pasture in 4wd until skeeters try to lift me from the seat.
back into the shop let it cool down. engine oil level mid-way of dip stick check. Used Rotella T6 0-40w.

Check front diff. and level is still at the top of the orange dip stick just hair below the threads.

So, what the deal with the volume of lube? 4.8 qts. ??? It's a bigger axle then the CK4010.
I'm thinking the heavier oil will take time to settle into both bevel gear housing. Will check first thing after breakfast friday.

Plan on draining a bit and lowering level, if it's still high; so I can use land rake this weekend.
anyways really look forward to you folks that performed the 50 hour service and this particular task specifically.

Thanks!

 

[countrybumpkin]

How much oil did you drain out, if it was full , should take the same amount to fill back up. You did remove all three drain plugs in the front axle didn’t you?

 

[Peter 315]

When I changed it on the Kubota I let it drain over night to get it all out

 

[wiskioti]

How much oil did you drain out, if it was full , should take the same amount to fill back up. You did remove all three drain plugs in the front axle didn稚 you?

I too am very near to my 50 hour service and I have to say, one of my gripes about the NX is the owner's manual. It's a better translation-to-English than what I've seen from other foreign writings, but it still leaves something to be desired. This is one of those topics. In the owner's manual, it states to drain the axle fluid but removing the drain plug and it just shows a picture of the center axle drain plug. When the tractor was new (and under all the current dirt and mud), all drain plugs were painted orange and I thought I recall seeing drain plugs at the bottom of both front hubs. Is this where your count of 3 plugs is from?

Thanks

 

[countrybumpkin]

Yes there are drains on each side at the lower part of the bevel gear housing.

 

[wiskioti]

Yes there are drains on each side at the lower part of the bevel gear housing.

So really dumb question then, is there an actual reason to have a drain on the bottom of the axle? I assume the order to draining and filling doesn't matter. Just remove all 3 and allow it time to completely drain, right? Sorry for the dumb question, but the synthetic axle fluid I purchased is not cheap and I'd prefer to not waste any. Thanks

 

[countrybumpkin]

Could be that the axle will hold a little bit of oil in the cross tube that a lip or flange on the ends will not allow all the fluid to drain from it when draining the bottom of the bevel gears. Be just like the two drains on the bottom of the rear final drives, they have low sump areas that will hold some oil even after removing the main sump drain. You could always remove the two lower bevel drains till they stop draining, then remove the one on the bottom of the axle to see if indeed it had retained any oil in the tube.

 

[wiskioti]

Could be that the axle will hold a little bit of oil in the cross tube that a lip or flange on the ends will not allow all the fluid to drain from it when draining the bottom of the bevel gears. Be just like the two drains on the bottom of the rear final drives, they have low sump areas that will hold some oil even after removing the main sump drain. You could always remove the two lower bevel drains till they stop draining, then remove the one on the bottom of the axle to see if indeed it had retained any oil in the tube.

Good point..... drain the lowers and then see if any additional drains from the upper drain plug on the bottom of the axle.

I took a look at the tractor when I was out there and noticed that there are upper plugs on the front of the hubs facing forward:


Are these filling points? Do they even need to be removed if you're filling from the dipstick hole? Or are these something completely different? I probably wouldn't have noticed them if they weren't painted orange like the rest of the drain plugs. This setup kind of remind me of the upper and lower plugs on an outboard motor lower unit where you filled from the lower plug until the fluid appeared in the upper plug.

These are the actual drain plugs on the hubs facing the back of the tractor:


So here's what I plan on doing: Removing the left and right lower plugs and let drain. Then remove the upper center drain plug and let drain. After draining, replace all plugs and fill from the dipstick. If anyone knows of a better way to replace the fluid in the front axle with all the plugs, let me know. I know this should be a simple process but because of the cost of the fluid going in there, I want to make sure it's done right the first time. Thanks TBN'ers!

 

[YLee Kioti]

How much oil did you drain out, if it was full , should take the same amount to fill back up. You did remove all three drain plugs in the front axle didn’t you?

Hey sorry I'm late been out playing....so lets see I removed the 14mm plug at the bottom of each axle.
So I'm gonnah go garfield on you with big eye balls and say third drain plug????
where? hate to have missed it.
Hard to tell how much was drained also since it was all I could do to hold funnel and keep it over the oil drain pan.
It did dawn on me that oem oil is hydraulic.
The 85-140 is thick so should have just slowed down on each quart and waited a bit to add the next.

It appears to have settled all out and the oil is about 3mm above the top x-hatch marks. Since I've been using rake all day w/o 4wd; may take a hand pump and remove a tad to lower level.

But the 7L quantity well just did not work out lol.....

 

[YLee Kioti]

I too am very near to my 50 hour service and I have to say, one of my gripes about the NX is the owner's manual. It's a better translation-to-English than what I've seen from other foreign writings, but it still leaves something to be desired. This is one of those topics. In the owner's manual, it states to drain the axle fluid but removing the drain plug and it just shows a picture of the center axle drain plug. When the tractor was new (and under all the current dirt and mud), all drain plugs were painted orange and I thought I recall seeing drain plugs at the bottom of both front hubs. Is this where your count of 3 plugs is from?

Thanks

DOH that's the third drain plug....duh........I left it cause I figured it would run down both sides of the beveled gears as the level lowered.
Well sha-zam ..........well at the present rate (already at 60 hours since first post) I'll probably hit close to the 200 hour mark by fall.
Then I'll get it right and drain that along with the two lower bevel gear drain plugs.
Hey thanks fellow NX'rs!