2210 real axle seal

[cford36]

Yeah, I agree.

A weakness of the 2210 is the driveshaft from the engine to the transaxle. Seems common for the Ujoints to fail in that shaft around 400 hours. I was in my local dealership one day and a 2210 owner was paying his repair bill for damage caused when that shaft failed. It was $2200. He asked how it could be that expensive. The Service Manager said it's because the entire transaxle has to be removed for the repair. He asked if there was any way to grease those joints. The Service Manager said no.

A couple months later I started feeling a slight vibration in mine. So I investigated. Yep, the front U-joint on that shaft was going out. I tackled the repair myself. I did not remove the transaxle. Removed the floorpan and fenders along with the lower steering column cover. Did the removal of the shaft, replace U-joint and create a method to grease the joints in the future, all with the powertrain intact.

I took a lot of pictures. Went down to the dealership, pictures in hand, and talked to the dealership manager first, then brought the Service Manager into the conversation. Showed them my pictures and explained that this repair could certainly be done without complete disassembly. Never even got a thank you. They reluctantly took the pics I offered and said they would look into it.

Now I regret showing them what I had learned. I'm sure they are still charging customers $2200 for the repair and are now using my shortcuts to increase their profit margin rather than passing it off to the owner in savings......

Interesting you brought this up. I had mine replaced 5 years ago, same shop, charged me just over $600. And I do remember them saying that they basically had to remove the entire top of the tractor to get to it.
This dealer was bought out by a larger one and I can't remember if this was before or after that happened. Interesting that basically the same amount of work has almost tripled in cost from 5 years ago. This is just reaffirming my thought that this is way overinflated charge just trying to make money.

 

[cford36]

cford36. Are you sure it is the seal or not the flange the seal is in
My BX2200 started leaking and to replace the seal its self was a weekend job tearing the rear end down to get to the C clip since in Kubota's wisdom they weld the wheel hub to the shaft.

At closer look my leak was the flange where it was pressed into the axle housing not the seal. Dealer tells me those seals rarely wear out.
My fix was to drain the trans, remove the tire and slip the flange out on the axle (be carefull with the seal). Cleaned the flange and axle housing with acetone. Then applied red RTV sealer to the flange and pressed it back in. Let it dry overnight. All has been well for three years now.

Best I can tell it's the seal. It was leaking where the shaft comes out. Also if I remember correctly, if your talking about the flange that mounts to the side of the transmission, in this case you can't get it off because some of the bolts are blocked by the frame. That's why they have to drop the transmission down to get to them.

 

[cford36]

To update, I was contacted today by the dealer. Tractor is back together. Manager said he still can't discount the work if I wanted it fixed but considering the wrong information and how long they have had it he is not charging me for the diagnosis. I'm still not sure what to think of the dealership. I never asked them to diagnose the problem (which they were going to charge me $200 for) I told them what needed to be fixed, and then they tried to charge me almost 3 hours of shop time to confirm what I had asked to be fixed. The 20 hour estimate still seems way overblown. I contacted another dealer and they said 5.5 hours, which seems to confirm my suspicions.

 

[ovrszd]

To update, I was contacted today by the dealer. Tractor is back together. Manager said he still can't discount the work if I wanted it fixed but considering the wrong information and how long they have had it he is not charging me for the diagnosis. I'm still not sure what to think of the dealership. I never asked them to diagnose the problem (which they were going to charge me $200 for) I told them what needed to be fixed, and then they tried to charge me almost 3 hours of shop time to confirm what I had asked to be fixed. The 20 hour estimate still seems way overblown. I contacted another dealer and they said 5.5 hours, which seems to confirm my suspicions.

Go get your tractor. Politely thank them for all they've done, shake their hand, vacate their property and don't go back. They know they were trying to scam you which is why they are willing for forego previous charges. I've got a Ford/New Holland dealer about 50 miles from me that I won't use for similar reasons. I drive an additional 30 miles to a dealer I trust.

 

[stlbill]

Yeah, I agree.

A weakness of the 2210 is the driveshaft from the engine to the transaxle....

(

I took your suggestion to my Deere dealer at about 200 hours. He told me there is no need to do anything special and suggested I use a grease gun accessory for hard to reach fittings. I tried numerous times this weekend to reach that fitting with what he sold me and it is not possible.

I am not even sure if universal joints are needed between engine and transaxle. It is a pretty straight shot.

Now at 300 hours I am still searching for a cheap way to lube that fitting.

 

[Labrat]

I grease mine every other fall before I put the cab on. Have it down to about 3 hours. That includes spray lubing all the pivot joints while the floor pan and rear fender is off. Just did it 2 weeks ago. 750 hours with original joints. I still had to grind a grease gun nozzle to get it to lock onto the fitting.

 

[ovrszd]

I took your suggestion to my Deere dealer at about 200 hours. He told me there is no need to do anything special and suggested I use a grease gun accessory for hard to reach fittings. I tried numerous times this weekend to reach that fitting with what he sold me and it is not possible.

I am not even sure if universal joints are needed between engine and transaxle. It is a pretty straight shot.

Now at 300 hours I am still searching for a cheap way to lube that fitting.

Let's see if I can help ya.

First I cut a square hole in the floorpan, center, over the rear u-joint. Cut the right size you can buy the JD rubber plug to fit. That let's me reach the rear u-joint zerk with a needle fitting.



Then I removed the plastic cover below the steering column, then cut away a portion of the metal framework, then cut another square hole in the plastic with factory plug to close it, this allows me to reach the front U-joint.



These two modifications allow me to grease both joints. I grease them every 30-40 hrs or whenever I remember.

 

[cford36]

Let's see if I can help ya.

First I cut a square hole in the floorpan, center, over the rear u-joint. Cut the right size you can buy the JD rubber plug to fit. That let's me reach the rear u-joint zerk with a needle fitting.

View attachment 446890



Then I removed the plastic cover below the steering column, then cut away a portion of the metal framework, then cut another square hole in the plastic with factory plug to close it, this allows me to reach the front U-joint.

View attachment 446891View attachment 446892

These two modifications allow me to grease both joints. I grease them every 30-40 hrs or whenever I remember.

I also did this. Still a PITA but at least it goes from impossible to possible.

 

[ovrszd]

I also did this. Still a PITA but at least it goes from impossible to possible.

Yep.

 

[DanMc77]

Nice thread with a great way to make an opening for greasing the rear drive shaft, but lacking direct experience with changing the axle seal.