BX front axle oil leaks

[jeffmazz]

Thanks for pointing that out Junkman. It won't happen again.

Jeff

 

[jeffmazz]

Kubby,
I don't doubt there could be a design flaw in the front axle. One thing about axle oil seals though, once they start leaking they usually don't stop until they are replaced. If there is pressure build up in the axle the oil can work its way out of one or more seals. If the pressure unseats or flips the lip of the seal it will leak forever or until it is replaced. Again I'm not saying we don't have a design issue here. I would replace the leaking seals, use regular or synthetic gear oil instead of UDT, and keep the axle vented.

Keep in mind also, like everything else in life some things are good and some things are not. Some transmissions, for example, last 200,000 miles and some of the same type don't make it 30,000 miles. The same goes for oil seals and everything else for that matter.

Regards,
Jeff

 

[ericbx1500]

In my bx1500 manual it shows that the RH and LH case have a breather plug in them /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[kubby]

What they refer to as "breather plugs" are solid bolts that need to be removed when refilling the oil. They allow air to vent the outer housings so the oil can get in. There's no venting unless they're removed.
-Bill

 

[jim_wilson]

Well I finally got my BX23 back from the dealer last night. It turns out that the pivot seal was not the problem. The shop supervisor initially told me that they had replaced the seal because they thought that it was the problem - and the axle still leaked. So they took a closer look at it and found that the housing itself had a hairline crack in it. He also said that he checked with Kubota on their dealer tech line and talked with people at Kubota and they claimed to have never seen this happen before. When I asked him if there was anything that I could have done to cause something like this he said that short of driving it off a 2nd story it was unlikely to be anything that I did - most likely cause was an inclusion in the casting which caused the crack. He also said they sell hundreds of BX's and this was the first time he had seen this happen. So the good news is that it is fixed and under warranty.

For some of the other people out there it might be worth taking a closer look at your front axle leaks to see where the fluid is really coming from. I have seen it mentioned that some people got their leaks to stop when they installed gear oil instead of hydraulic fluid. These are cases I would be suspicious of - gear oil would probably be thick enough not to leak thru a fine crack. Just because Kubota has never seen this before does not mean it isn't out there - it just means the dealers are missing it.