Holes underneath in bell housing area of NAA - access plates ???

[Deleted member 66551]

i just bought this NAA a few weeks back. today was changing the fluids and noticed underneath, rearward from the engine oil drain plug, but frontward from the transmission drain plug the following:
1. a tiny little hole with what appears to be cotter pin legs just sticking out. i do see this indicated in a photo in my F0-19 manual. what is this?
2. more significantly....two access plates bolted on the underneath, again, in between where the trans drain plug is and where the engine drain plug is. one plate in front of the other, but they are somewhat staggered, one more to the right, the other to the left. each plate is held in place with a hex head bolt at each corner. i figured these were just access points for the clutch, etc. but on the edge of of the plates, you can see a rough spot on the actual casting of the "block" or whatever you would call that area, bell housing or whatever; that to me questionably looks like some damage was sustained, rock damage, etc. and so my question is.....are there supposed to be access plates in the bell housing area of an NAA? or are these indicative of some damage over the years, that has been patched with these plates?

any help on this would certainly be appreciated?

 

[JC-jetro]

I have the same hole in my 1700 as well. It is a tell tale drain hole. It is open to clutch housing. If you have condensation there obviously you can drain the water to avoid rusting but more importantly, if the seal (crank shaft or transmission input shaft) leak then you'll know.One would be engine and the other transmission oil with different smell and viscosity. On the side of my clutch housing I have a rubber hand hole that i can visually check for presence of oil or water.

JC,

 

[jimmysisson]

Not sure about the holes, but the cotter pin just keeps surface tension from the hole and ensures it will stay open.
Jim

 

[JSUnlimited]

I have a TC24DA that seems to be leaking oil from the hole that has the cotter pin in. I checked the service manual and it look as though it may be the rear main seal leaking.....I HOPE NOT! I plan to start a new thread about it.

Here is a scan from the service manual showing the area in question. I circled the hole in question. Again this is for a TC24DA.

 

[JC-jetro]

I have a TC24DA that seems to be leaking oil from the hole that has the cotter pin in. I checked the service manual and it look as though it may be the rear main seal leaking.....I HOPE NOT! I plan to start a new thread about it.

Here is a scan from the service manual showing the area in question. I circled the hole in question. Again this is for a TC24DA.

It appears that you have a hydrostatic transmission. I think you will have transmission/power issue if you have your transmission input shaft is leaking. i seem it is more likely you rear main seal/crankshaft might be leaking. Can you smell a bit of diesel in the oil? what color is the oil? how viscous is it?

JC,

 

[JSUnlimited]

JC,

I pretty certain that it is engine oil as the level has been slowly dropping.

 

[JC-jetro]

JC,

I pretty certain that it is engine oil as the level has been slowly dropping.

Mega,

I would not run to split the tractor so soon if the leak is a "workable trickle". I'd like to combine that with some other work. How is you clutch situation? seals are not very predictable, at times for no proper reason they get well if you are lucky. I probably put a diaper on it. I probably rig up a container of some sort using bungee cord to catch the drippage to see how bad it is avoiding another "Exxon Valdez" situation

JC,

 

[JSUnlimited]

JC,

I think thats what I'll do. I'll keep an eye on it and check oil levels.

The clutch seems fine in terms of no slippage or grabbing. I'm with you in that if I do have to split it, I'd like to do other work if needed while she's torn down.

Thanks.

 

[TCBoomer]

JC,

I think thats what I'll do. I'll keep an eye on it and check oil levels.

The clutch seems fine in terms of no slippage or grabbing. I'm with you in that if I do have to split it, I'd like to do other work if needed while she's torn down.

Thanks.

I don't want to alarm you, but I'm of the opinion that if it is in fact the rear main leaking and gets worse, it may saturate the clutch. The flywheel will sling that oil around the clutch housing and when it gets soaked enough, it'll start dripping on the clutch. Worst case, the clutch starts slipping and you'll be facing a clutch replacement besides the seal.

There really isn't any other preventative maintenance that I know of that you could do while it's split. Maybe change the hydro fluid if it's close to being due for service? It helps to drain all of it out prior to splitting and then capping all open ports. Otherwise you could have a continual drip out of an open line.

 

[Eagleview]

Just something that you have probably already done as it is simple to o so , is to check the engine crankcase vent . Sometimes they block up , mud wasps etc. and this will cause excess crankcase pressure which will force oil past the lip of the crank seals .