A few pointers for ancient L295DT's -- leaks from steering column

Frozen Assets · Jan 9, 2017

Sooner or later, the four bolts that hold the steering column on the transmission are going to get loose. Tranny juice will splash out from under the column, run down the side of the critter and drip all over the place. I tore the whole thing apart, made a gasket to go between the column and the tranny and used Loctite on the bolts. This worked for about 6 or 7 months. What finally worked forever was pulling the bolts one at time, cross drilling the heads for safety wire, putting them back in, torqueing them, and safety wiring them. No more loosening up, and the machine is now housebroken. Well, at least as far as this issue goes. Taking the whole column out is a PITA. You have to get the steering wheel, the fuel tank and a bunch of other junk off first. No fun. Once I had done the gasket thing, all I had to do when I did the safety wiring was pull the fuel filter mount and the neutral switch loose. You don't have to unplumb the filer, just let it dangle on the hoses.

rScotty · Jan 10, 2017

Nice fix, Assets. BTW, I doubt that's a unique problem with the L2950DT. I've seen leaks on other makes there. Did you use thick or thin gasket paper? Any goo? I doubt if I'd been able to resist using just a little bit of my favorite gasket goo....
rScotty

Frozen Assets · Jan 23, 2017

Hi Scotty

I used the regular gasket material they sell at Napa. I used Loctite Ultra Copper for sealant. The big thing and what made it permanent was safety wiring the bolts. I would really recommend that procedure for anything that tends to back off due to stress and vibration. I reckon from your profile that you see a little snow and cool weather now and again also? Was -38 here at the place but warmer now. Was -58 a few miles away in a cold hole.

rbargeron · Jan 24, 2017

Frozen Assets said:
Sooner or later, the four bolts that hold the steering column on the transmission are going to get loose. Tranny juice will splash out from under the column, run down the side of the critter and drip all over the place.........

Directly under the steering box is the clutch housing - which should be dry inside unless the engine or transmission is leaking oil into it. Many models actually have a drain fitting on the bottom of the clutch housing so minor oil leakage from the engine or trans can get out without damaging the clutch.

I have some experience because my L345 (with power steering) leaked steering fluid into the clutch housing. There was enough leakage it needed to be fixed. Posted at OTT about the repair in this thread.

If your rig has a clutch housing drain, make sure its open. There might be a bolt or plug you could remove. A small amount of leakage into the housing is ok as long as it can escape. Hope this is useful - Dick B