Left front wheel locking up

[irvingj]

Thanks for the update and let us know what you find!

 

[LouNY]

Myself I'd drain the differential and both axle drops, flush with some diesel, blow it out with air and refill with synthetic, such as;

 

[WranglerX]

Myself I'd drain the differential and both axle drops, flush with some diesel, blow it out with air and refill with synthetic, such as;
View attachment 2003396

Aaaaah, but the front axle uses hydraulic 10w30 semi synthetic fluid.... AKA Permatrans 821XL....

 

[LouNY]

Aaaaah, but the front axle uses hydraulic 10w30 semi synthetic fluid.... AKA Permatrans 821XL....

Most manuals will spec either/or. Many will come with hytran/fluids in them but it is usually not a required fluid.
And I would not put a "hydraulic" fluid in with bevel gears, regardless of what the manual may say.

 

[Hay Dude]

Most manuals will spec either/or. Many will come with hytran/fluids in them but it is usually not a required fluid.
And I would not put a "hydraulic" fluid in with bevel gears, regardless of what the manual may say.

Agree. I only used hydraulic oil when I had a leaking seal. At least when cold, it resisted leaking.

 

[JamesSavage]

Alright. I let it drain on the warm day and left it until it was well below freezing. It definitely emptied out once it thawed. Spins free now with no issues. This is what came out:

I wasn't super impressed by the color after 250ish hours. She's due for fluids again and I'm doing them myself this time so there will be no doubt it'll be fresh. I suspect the dealer screwed me on that bit of the service.

I poured off the oil to see how much water was there and was pleasantly surprised:

I wasn't going to calculate the volume but it was about 1/4" in that pan so, not life changing. Just enough to bind the gears a bit. Not rusty and no debris suspended in it.

I topped off the axle with duragard Duragard® Diamond Plate® UNIVERSAL TRANS/HYDRAULIC TRACTOR FLUID. I keep it on hand for my Deere and it meets or exceeds about everyone's specs. A bargain at~$100 for 5 gallons. I double checked that seal and it certainly looks to be leaking but what looked like bearing play is really slop in the rod end. Doesn't change the leaky seal but at least it lessens the likelihood I'll be changing those bearings. I'll flush and fill it fresh when I change that seal. For now, it's up and running though. Looks like ice was indeed the culprit.

 

[WranglerX]

My question now is how did you get that much water in axle, and how much is on other side....

 

[JamesSavage]

My question now is how did you get that much water in axle, and how much is on other side....

Those are both good questions. I'm going with 1) faulty o ring seal on the filler vent as the main point of ingress. It's likely happened over time but mostly during the first year I owned it before I built my barn. I mean, it may have just not been tight enough but it felt tight and there was wet rust around those threads.

2) probably not much in the right side as evidenced by it not freezing up, so long as my ingress theory is correct, the filler vent is a straight shot into the left hand side knuckle.

 

[irvingj]

Looking at your ice pic (get it, get it??? sorry...) above... yep, that'd do it for sure.

And you haven't been fording any streams with that thing?

Glad you got it sorted!

 

[Dmacleo]

Those are both good questions. I'm going with 1) faulty o ring seal on the filler vent as the main point of ingress. It's likely happened over time but mostly during the first year I owned it before I built my barn. I mean, it may have just not been tight enough but it felt tight and there was wet rust around those threads.

2) probably not much in the right side as evidenced by it not freezing up, so long as my ingress theory is correct, the filler vent is a straight shot into the left hand side knuckle.

yup straight shot. however I would also replace the filler cap/vent to be safe.
part # 3707864M92 (item 66 in parts breakdown) runs around 14$ and and LOOKS to include oring.