DX55 dry front axle?

[agford4x4]

So, i havent looked at the dipstick in 300 hours and i noticed some noise in the front of the tractor when driving. So, i pulled the dipstick....nothing. there is no oil visible inside the axle from the dipstick hole. I am pretty sure it had some in it, where can this stuff 'go'? It is ALWAYS parked on concrete, so, so if it was leaking, it would be there.

The tractor has 300 hours on it, and the front end is very clean, so 1.5 qts of oil leaking should be very obvious, and i dont see any.

 

[agford4x4]

The dipstick in the axle shows it to be dry...so, i drained the fluid to put some fresh JD fluid in to get me by. I drained out 2 qts of fluid.....almost 1/2 qt more than the manual says should be in there, so it had PLENTY of fluid, but it didnt show up on the dipstick. Kind of useless.

 

[MFRED]

That doesn't seem like much oil at all. I assume that's a 55 hp tractor? Most I've seen hold 4-5 quarts or more of oil in the front axle.

 

[agford4x4]

Yeah, 55hp.

Thats what the manual says...~1.5qts. If i made it touch the dipstick, it would probably take 3 qts. However, 1.5 is enough to keep the gears in a bath.

Didnt sound like much to me either though.

 

[Ford850]

My DX55 manual says the differential axle housing fluid capacity is 4.23 qts. The final reduction gear case capacity is .95 qts.

 

[agford4x4]

Thats very strange. I can't believe there would be a typo, but clearly, that is the case. Mine is a 2004 model i think.

However, it DOES say 'approximately 1.5 qts', so i guess 4.23 qts is approximately 1.5qts.....

 

[agford4x4]

I hope it didnt damage anything, i don't see how it could, the gears should be pretty much covered with fluid. Its been like this for at least a couple hundred hours, so i guess its ok. Ill get fluid and fill it up.

 

[Ford850]

I'll bet it was filled at the main axle fill point only, and once the oil settled into the final gear cases it was low in the main axle housing. I think the additional fill points at the final gear cases are there to solve that problem when refilling. ie - fill each final gear case to full, then fill the main case to "full" on the dip stick.
My manual is the first printing of the newest edition - 02/2007, when they made some minor changes to the DX55 and added the DX60. I have some typos in my 2007 loader manual though. Obvious paragraphs that were copied and pasted from the earlier edition, but some sentences were cut at the ends.

 

[Bedlam]

I agree with ford 850. I replaced seals on my ford, and filled the reductions and the the main axle, ran it and waited a few days and added just a slight amount to fill the tops.
Sounds like the reduction ones weren't filled before the top .