Mahindra 5155 Anyone?

[Andy1969]

Well that sucks. Let us know what they find when they dig into it.

 

[DaBear3428]

Well that sucks. Let us know what they find when they dig into it.

just got the word, they found broken spider gears, the service manager (also a great guy btw) said that they never see these break and it is the same assembly as used on other mahindra heavy tractors. he thinks that this is a one off manufacturing defect. I would think that this is a manufacturing defect also because the spider gears are usually not the weak link in a diff. I was betting on ring or pinion. Also they expect parts delivery to not be an issue,

 

[Andy1969]

just got the word, they found broken spider gears, the service manager (also a great guy btw) said that they never see these break and it is the same assembly is used on other mahindra heavy tractors. he thinks that this is a one off manufacturing defect. I would think that this is a manufacturing defect also because the spider gears are usually not the weak link in a diff. I was betting on ring or pinion. Also they expect parts delivery to not be an issue,

Well all the n all that’s great news. Both in that it’s not the load carrying components of the axle and that the parts are readily available. Yes very unusual to have spider gears go bad. If they suffered from brittle failure then they likely were heat treated to too high a hardness. Which is what is likely or it simply could have been a bad lot of raw material. They likely don’t hardness test every piece but instead do a lot hardness test on a sample or a few samples from one lot or batch. So it’s possible for a “one off” bad piece to happen from time to time. Also good to hear it’s the same pieces as used in their bigger tractors. That lines up with everything I understand about this series. They were designed to be very stout mechanically. Let us know when you get her back. I’m at 40 hours now so getting close to doing my first service.

 

[DaBear3428]

Well all the n all that’s great news. Both in that it’s not the load carrying components of the axle and that the parts are readily available. Yes very unusual to have spider gears go bad. If they suffered from brittle failure then they likely were heat treated to too high a hardness. Which is what is likely or it simply could have been a bad lot of raw material. They likely don’t hardness test every piece but instead do a lot hardness test on a sample or a few samples from one lot or batch. So it’s possible for a “one off” bad piece to happen from time to time. Also good to hear it’s the same pieces as used in their bigger tractors. That lines up with everything I understand about this series. They were designed to be very stout mechanically. Let us know when you get her back. I’m at 40 hours now so getting close to doing my first service.

Yes I'm waiting to hear about how hard it is to drain the transmission for the 50, are you doing it yourself or the dealer?

 

[Andy1969]

Yea I waiting to hear about how hard it is to drain the transmission for the 50, are you doing it yourself or the dealer?

I’m going to do the service myself. I kind of enjoy doing that stuff. Last weekend I did a full greasing on the tractor and loader. Good to see lots of fittings to grease. One thing I like to do at the first service is to actually change out the transmission/hydraulic fluid. I switch over to a synthetic blend fluid at that time because it works better in the winter time. So I’ve got to get a couple 5 gallon pails ordered from my NAPA store.

 

[DaBear3428]

yes i went around and greased all the fittings i could find at 10hrs but i found some more while checking this problem out.
i bought some bright yellow covers for the fittings to help me find them in the future, but i'm still considering that option, i don't think that the covers will stay attached.

 

[SoldierP]

DaBear...good to hear that the diff problem was not as bad as first thought. On the yellow zerk caps, I had them on my previous 4550 and they were very helpful when greasing. I think I lost a couple under the tractor but the ones not exposed to brush stayed in place. Gonna put them on my 5155.

 

[DaBear3428]

DaBear...good to hear that the diff problem was not as bad as first thought. On the yellow zerk caps, I had them on my previous 4550 and they were very helpful when greasing. I think I lost a couple under the tractor but the ones not exposed to brush stayed in place. Gonna put them on my 5155.

Thanks for the info I will have to complete that task

 

[Woodstock Walt]

There is actually a handy diagram on pg. 10-1 of the 5145/55 operators manual that shows all of the grease fittings on the tractor (loader is not included). There are a few that you might not otherwise know are there, like the two rear axle carrier bearing fittings, and two under the floor mat for the pto and clutch shafts. I've greased mine a couple times since I've owned it.

I'm planning on doing the 50 hr. service myself, and I've got just over 31 hrs. on my 5155 now. I did all of the service on my previously owned 4540, including the 50 hr.. I'm with Andy in that I'm planning to just change the hydraulic fluid at the 50 hr. service. It's much easier to clean the strainer if you drain all of the hydraulic fluid first anyways. Other wise you'll just end up with 10 gal. of hydraulic fluid gushing out of the strainer housing while you're trying to remove, clean, and replace it. Been there with the 4540, it's not fun.

Another pro to changing the fluid is it's a good chance to replace it with a synthetic, winter-weight fluid if you live in colder climates. I can tell you from experience that "Mahindra" hydraulic fluid turns to extremely thick goo when the outdoor temp. drops past 25*F, and the pump really strains to push it until the fluid gets warmed up. Like, nails on a chalkboard straining. I actually used some high-dollar Liebherr fluid in my 4540 which worked really well, but I'm planning to try to same stuff that Andy uses this time around. I forget the name of it, he posted about it earlier in the thread.

Another thing to consider is changing type and viscosity of engine oil. Again, "Mahindra" 15W-40 engine oil is definitely not cold-weather friendly. I actually made a short video regarding the topic on my 4540, which I'll share if anybody is interested. Long story short, I highly recommend using synthetic oil if you live in a colder climate. I actually used 5W-40 synthetic in my 4540 which helped significantly with cold starts. Oddly, 5W-40 isn't on the recommended list of oil viscosities for the 5100 series, it calls for 10W-30 for cold weather operation. It's the same engine though, so honestly I'll probably use 5W-40 anyways since I've become a pretty big fan of it.

 

[DaBear3428]

There is actually a handy diagram on pg. 10-1 of the 5145/55 operators manual that shows all of the grease fittings on the tractor (loader is not included). There are a few that you might not otherwise know are there, like the two rear axle carrier bearing fittings, and two under the floor mat for the pto and clutch shafts. I've greased mine a couple times since I've owned it.

I'm planning on doing the 50 hr. service myself, and I've got just over 31 hrs. on my 5155 now. I did all of the service on my previously owned 4540, including the 50 hr.. I'm with Andy in that I'm planning to just change the hydraulic fluid at the 50 hr. service. It's much easier to clean the strainer if you drain all of the hydraulic fluid first anyways. Other wise you'll just end up with 10 gal. of hydraulic fluid gushing out of the strainer housing while you're trying to remove, clean, and replace it. Been there with the 4540, it's not fun.

Another pro to changing the fluid is it's a good chance to replace it with a synthetic, winter-weight fluid if you live in colder climates. I can tell you from experience that "Mahindra" hydraulic fluid turns to extremely thick goo when the outdoor temp. drops past 25*F, and the pump really strains to push it until the fluid gets warmed up. Like, nails on a chalkboard straining. I actually used some high-dollar Liebherr fluid in my 4540 which worked really well, but I'm planning to try to same stuff that Andy uses this time around. I forget the name of it, he posted about it earlier in the thread.

Another thing to consider is changing type and viscosity of engine oil. Again, "Mahindra" 15W-40 engine oil is definitely not cold-weather friendly. I actually made a short video regarding the topic on my 4540, which I'll share if anybody is interested. Long story short, I highly recommend using synthetic oil if you live in a colder climate. I actually used 5W-40 synthetic in my 4540 which helped significantly with cold starts. Oddly, 5W-40 isn't on the recommended list of oil viscosities for the 5100 series, it calls for 10W-30 for cold weather operation. It's the same engine though, so honestly I'll probably use 5W-40 anyways since I've become a pretty big fan of it.

Do you mean to tell me the air temp can get below 10 deg, I thought you had to be in a freezer for that to happen. Also how do you get the sand in your bucket to be so white mine is always a bit brown you must have great beaches there sarc! I will be fine with 15w40 I may see 2 days a year below 30 deg