Left front wheel locking up

[JamesSavage]

Odd left hand front wheel intermittent lock up on my '21 GC1723EB, about 575 hrs, and could benefit from some advice. Only really happens in cold weather after sitting overnight. If I fire up and if I work if forward and back for a few minutes it eventually let's go and works normally. No noise at all. When it's locked up it does move a degree or 3 in rotation and when it finally frees up it's sluggish for a rotation or two before it's completely normal.

Diagnosticaly, in 4wd, the Right side wheel rotates at 2x revolutions when this occurs. This tells me it's in the hub and knuckle. I pulled the oil plug over the king and bevel set and there is minuscule rotational movement there so again, outboard of that. She does have a leaky oil seal between the axle and knuckle but I visually confirmed there's still ample oil and it's still seeping. I plan to address this when I sort out the lock up issue.

Anyone have any idea what this could be? I've been dealing with this since last winter and I really can't keep ignoring it. It doesn't make sense to me that it's not making any noise like a bad bearing or tore up gear and the chances of always stopping on a bad tooth of a gear set seems impossible.

Possible water ingress that keeps freezing up and seizing up the drive? Low lube that just seems like enough?

Any ideas welcome. I'm hoping to get parts on hand before tearing into it to minimize down time. I can fix most anything but this is a new animal to me.

 

[mikester]

Look up your parts diagram sounds like a broken/damaged ring pinion gear at the wheel

 

[JamesSavage]

I've crawled the parts book extensively. The axle is on like 4 different diagrams so it's a bit of a pain. Wouldn't a bad gear be a plague in warmer weather too?

 

[Tinhack]

Pieces of gears or bearings get pulled up into works when cold. Not so much when warm or hot. I wouldn't be causing more damage running it until you get it looked at. Perhaps disengaging 4WD if you must use it.

 

[JamesSavage]

Seems odd that it only freezes up when it sits overnight in the winter but otherwise works flawlessly and has for more than a year. I reckon I'll plan to borrow another machine and tear this on down. Parts are around 2 weeks to turn them around and this could be in excess of $500 in parts depending on exactly what's actually going on. I suppose it's prudent to know what it needs first.

 

[dicktill]

Seems odd that it only freezes up when it sits overnight in the winter but otherwise works flawlessly and has for more than a year. I reckon I'll plan to borrow another machine and tear this on down. Parts are around 2 weeks to turn them around and this could be in excess of $500 in parts depending on exactly what's actually going on. I suppose it's prudent to know what it needs first.

Never torn into these parts, but it sounds suspiciously like water freezing up in there as you suggested. If you do need parts, Ryan Gillespie at Boonslick Equipment (boonslickequipment@gmail.com) has parted out a GC 1720 with just 100 hours on it and has those parts; hopefully they are the same or interchangeable.

Good luck, Dick

 

[Dmacleo]

Seems odd that it only freezes up when it sits overnight in the winter but otherwise works flawlessly and has for more than a year. I reckon I'll plan to borrow another machine and tear this on down. Parts are around 2 weeks to turn them around and this could be in excess of $500 in parts depending on exactly what's actually going on. I suppose it's prudent to know what it needs first.

not so odd if you add in temp as a factor.
up to you but if were me...do it once do it right.
gonna cost ya.
all due to a messed up fill/vent adapter on left side of axle housing.
replace everything from that fill/vent on left side onwards INCLUDING the fill/vent cap and be done with it.
cap has leaked, water in system.

edit: do NOT forget to put NEW o-ring on cap/vent. that 1$ item is prob what caused this.

 

[JamesSavage]

not so odd if you add in temp as a factor.
up to you but if were me...do it once do it right.
gonna cost ya.
all due to a messed up fill/vent adapter on left side of axle housing.
replace everything from that fill/vent on left side onwards INCLUDING the fill/vent cap and be done with it.
cap has leaked, water in system.

edit: do NOT forget to put NEW o-ring on cap/vent. that 1$ item is prob what caused this.

When you say everything I presume you mean seals and bearings. From what I can ascertain, there's no backlash to set and no real way to check it. That's to say that essentially there's little more than swapping the parts that can be done if they are damaged. Presuming it is water freezing up and after I clean the gears there's no indication of damage I would presume them good, unless you know something I don't.

I have trouble with any other theory just because of the behavior. Once it moves, 100% problem free all day. It's only stuck first thing after it sits.

I might see if I can match that oil cap's thread with something more robust. It's a lousy design. If I can find a better cap I might loctite the threads for a more robust seal.

 

[irvingj]

I'm going with water, too. Put it inside where it's warm (and give it plenty of time to warm up), drain the axle fluid. Bet you'll find water in it.

 

[Dmacleo]

When you say everything I presume you mean seals and bearings. From what I can ascertain, there's no backlash to set and no real way to check it. That's to say that essentially there's little more than swapping the parts that can be done if they are damaged. Presuming it is water freezing up and after I clean the gears there's no indication of damage I would presume them good, unless you know something I don't.

I have trouble with any other theory just because of the behavior. Once it moves, 100% problem free all day. It's only stuck first thing after it sits.

I might see if I can match that oil cap's thread with something more robust. It's a lousy design. If I can find a better cap I might loctite the threads for a more robust seal.

this is just me being me but I would pull the 4 bolts holding the vertical stub shaft off and work from there. that is only 1 cheap gasket. top of the stub shaft is prob ok, no need to get into specific gravity of water vs hydraulic (which is whats there) oil.
your issues will start at the bottom of that vertical stub shaft and go horizontal from there to include bearings and seals.
having the whole vertical and horizontal stub shafts on a bench in front of you will be easier for you.
anyways thats my thoughts here. as well as only way water got in was from a bad oring on fill/vent cap. you're gonna spend a LOT of money, buy a new fill/vent cap.