Front Wheel Drive on JD650

sporteus · Nov 8, 2015

So, had to share this story and ask about next steps. I changed all the fluids on my auction bought JD650 (never trust another man's maintenance). Glad I did, it was a mess. The gear oil in the front end came out like liquid ****. Brown, think, almost chunky, it was gross. Then I pulled the dip stick (hadn't actually checked it before) and it was bone drive and ...rusty. Sigh.

Changed out the oil, made sure it was full, ran it for while over a couple of days, and then when I was changing out the coolant, I looked down and saw the left side wheel leaking. Checked the oil and the dipstick was dry. Well, it's a used tractor, I have to expect this stuff, right?

So, going to need to replace the seals on the front wheel drive I think. Really don't want it to be a huge project, just get it sealed up and git 'er done. Any advice on this? I have the tech manual, but of course that section starts assuming you've disassembled the whole front axle assembly already! Will I need to drop the whole axle off the tractor or can I remove the wheels, drop the wheel axle units (I don't know what the heck you call them) and replace the o-rings and seals. Might repack the bearings while I'm at it.

Thoughts?

whis · Nov 8, 2015

shouldn't have to remove axle, just the ends, bearings run in oil

joecdeere · Nov 10, 2015

shoot me your email and I'll send you a PDF of the Deere Tech manual for the 650

Joe

sporteus · Nov 11, 2015

joecdeere, thanks for the offer. I have the tech manual. (wish i bought it in print though, since the dang PDF is not searchable!! what a pain!)

sporteus · Nov 13, 2015

So, after letting the tractor sit for a week (because of moving back to standard time...sigh...I miss daylight.) I checked the front end and realized that both left and right sides are leaking and fairly significantly (noticeable puddles under both sides.

Might start the tear down this weekend, but would rather order the parts first so its not sitting on jack stands for a couple of weeks.

So, looking at the parts diagram(below), the leak is in the assembly between parts 13 and 22. So, should I just order all those parts in between (parts 15-20) or just the seal? I don't expect that I need to replace everything to fix the leak, but since they all seem to work together on that joint and aren't overly expensive (seal is most expensive part), do I just get them all and rebuild that joint?

whis · Nov 13, 2015

I would replace all seals and any bad bearings

Oldtink · Nov 13, 2015

Hate to rain on your parade but item 15 (ware sleeve) is no longer available from JD but you can check with SKF or Timkin for an after market sleeve that fits the dimensions. Last resort is having a machine shop turn one for you. The sleeve is .1" thick and rides inside the oil seal.
You'll want to attack that little job through #22 and there is an oring on it's face you might want to pick up.

sporteus · Apr 4, 2016

Oldtink said:
Hate to rain on your parade but item 15 (ware sleeve) is no longer available from JD but you can check with SKF or Timkin for an after market sleeve that fits the dimensions. Last resort is having a machine shop turn one for you. The sleeve is .1" thick and rides inside the oil seal.
You'll want to attack that little job through #22 and there is an oring on it's face you might want to pick up.

Got all the parts today, except for that ware sleeve. But, I think I've found a place for those! Weaver Tractors Weaver's Compact Tractor Parts & Compact Tractor Salvage Going to order them, since the seal will only be as good as the sleeve.

sporteus · Apr 6, 2016

sporteus said:
Got all the parts today, except for that ware sleeve. But, I think I've found a place for those! Weaver Tractors Weaver's Compact Tractor Parts & Compact Tractor Salvage Going to order them, since the seal will only be as good as the sleeve.

And the parts will be here Friday and they're coming from ....Fredrick's! So I guess Weaver just locates the part for you or something. Must be a comparable Yanmar part is all I can figure. I'll have to measure the new parts against the older when I get them. I'll let you know if they have a Yanmar part number on them, if they're John Deere, or if they're a generic aftermarket.

sporteus · Apr 7, 2016

So, has anyone done a tear down/rebuild of the MFWD on a JD 650 (or 750)? Looking for any "gotchas" or "goddahaves" before starting the project.

Printed off the relevant tech manual pages this morning and going to take a look through them tonight. But, I find the tech manuals written in the 80's to be less that specific in a lot of cases and have already found a couple sets of instructions in the tech that were missing key steps. And the pictures SUCK. I'm a visual learner, so I count on the pictures when I get confused. (I do real well with instructions from Ikea! LOL!)