Broke a tie rod on my 5035. Now I have a leak from the other side tie rod seal.

[NewGuyInNewEngland]

Seasons greeting all.

I posted my intial tie rod breakage inquiry in the General Repair forum, but realize now I should have posted here.

To preface my current situation, here is a link to that post for some history:

Tie Rod End Replacement Mahindra 5035

Seasons greetings all. Was swapping out my loaders bucket for my snowblade as is sop this time of year. Before doing so I flattened some small saplings to make room for snow movement in the event of some heavy snow fall this winter. I noticed one of the front wheels seemed to be...

www.tractorbynet.com

So went out to the garage to get an extension cord and noticed a puddle under the opposite side tie rod (undamaged) where the tie rod shaft protrudes from the hydraulic steering cylinder.
Crawled underneath and can see where it's coming from. The fluid is clear so it's not burned or contaminated.

I am guessing I damaged the seal and that the leak occurred because of the necessity of turning the wheel to get it back into the garage before it completely broke.
I turned the steering wheel to full right turn stop so I can access the damaged tie rod more easily and hopeful the seal will reseat itself once I move the steering arm back to center, which I will do with the front end on jackstands to reduce strain on the assembly and minimize any other damage being done.

The leak seems to have stopped with only a drop hanging from the assembly, but I'm guessing I boogered the seal enough to cause the leak by driving/steering Big Red for a while before realizing what had happened.

The tie rod has been ordered and on it's way as well as the seal kit.
There wasn't too much fluid on the floor...a few ounces I guess. I will be sure to check the hydraulic reservoir fill port at the rear and will top off once the repair is complete.

I rely on my Mahindra for plowing duties...fortunately there is no snow in the forecast for a couple of weeks but I must be proactive and get Big Red back to being fully operational as everyone knows how unpredicatble New England weather is.

I'll attached the pics from the original thread as well for continuity.
The first 3 are the damaged tie rod. Pic 5 is the top view. Pics 6,7,8 are taken from under the axle looking up. Hard to see the drop as I wiped it away but it's between the two visible socket head bolts. Pic 9 is of the same assembly on the opposite side and dry as a bone.

Any advice to help me do this repair right the first time and avoid any additional damage is surely welcome.

Kindest regards and Happy Holidays,
Gus

 

[ptsg]

Not sure if it's the angle of the picture or not but that steering cylinder looks bents to me on the #3 picture. Looks like it even pushed the guard out.

 

[NewGuyInNewEngland]

Thanks for the input.

I don't think so..I find pics taken with my iphone has a tendency to distort the image a bit due to the wide angle lense these phones use. That cylinder is pretty stout and that side is not leaking, so I believe the picture is giving the appearance of a bend.

Operation was normal up to the point of finally getting back into my garage... as mentioned in the original post, the clunk/click was pretty violent when the joint jammed then broke free...I felt it through the steering wheel pretty clearly.

This is what a new tie rod assembly looks like...the broken one looks pretty bad compared to this:

That action may have pushed the guard out though. I didn't look too closely as it was a bit cold and it was time to go inside.
wish I could have driven it into my heated garage but was too afraid to steer more than necessary, not wanting to do any more damage.

I believe the tie rod broke initially then as the broken piece separated and extended, more damage may have occurred, including the failing of the opposite side's seal, which is now leaking.

I'm hoping it warms up a bit once the parts get here.

Appreciate the input.

 

[NewGuyInNewEngland]

Not sure if it's the angle of the picture or not but that steering cylinder looks bents to me on the #3 picture. Looks like it even pushed the guard out.

You were on the right track. Had a mechanic friend come over to help me remove the tie rod, and we noticed the steering cycling was moving freely. He got underneath and with enough neck craning he found that 1 bolt holding the steering cylinder to the frame was missing, two had back out of the frame completely leaving only one bolt with enough thread to hold, which was allowing the cylinder to rotate, showing the odd angle of the steering rod that you noticed.

What really ticks me off is that we looked at the one of the loose bolts he was able to work out in tight quarters and there is absolutely NO loctite or similar thread locker! As a result of that, and the bolts working their way loose or popping out, I now probably a damaged rod and/or seal...which means the complete steering cylinder will need to be removed for a proper rebuild. My tractor is now down until we can figure out how to get to those bolts and reattach them so I can at least get through the winter and be able to plow my driveway. If we can do that, I can add hydralic oil if the seal is still leaking until a proper fix can be made.

There is NO WAY to know these bolts are working their way out as they are tucked under the chassis and body work...a replacement cylinder is at least $1700+. A rebuild from a local hydraulics shop will be probably be close to half that, probably more.
Clearly all due to poor Q/A during the build.

If you have one of these "35" models, I strongly suggest you take a look...I am hoping we can remove the battery and surrounding brackets and remove the plate that covers where we believe is where we can access the bolts. Otherwise, per the manual, it is a major job to access the bolts for removal otherwise.

Hope this info helps another avoid this costly failing of Mahindra's sub par quality control on my 5035, IF you can get to the bolts to tighten them. Good luck!

happy holidays.

 

[NewGuyInNewEngland]

Dave at Dave's tractor has been a great help, as always. His suggestion is to lift the front axle on jackstands (already done) then remove the 4 bolts holding the front axle to the frame and lifting the tractor chassis off of the front axle only 3 inches to get to the steering cylinder bolts, apply blue loctite to both sets of bolts and reinstall.
Will report back how it goes.
Merry Christmas.

 

[5030]

Do they even know what Locktite is in India?

 

[NewGuyInNewEngland]

Do they even know what Locktite is in India?

Good Point! I have been told by someone familiar with manufacturing processes in that country they don't. Cheap labor is used and they merely screw in the bolt... no loctite and more often than not, the bolt is not torqued to spec, which I have read many mahindra owners have experienced. Too bad as the tractor really is a rugged machine.

I have the bolts now and we are waiting for a slightly warmer weekend day to do the job.
I believe we will be good to go replacing and loctiting the bolts, then replacing the tie rod. My main concern is if the seal damaged and will leak more than a dribble each time I use the tractor. I surely don't want to run out of hydraulic fluid...I'm quite sure the pump won't like that... $$$

Will update this post once we get the job done.