Oil

[succor]

I've switched over to using rotella 5w40 synthetic oil since about 100 hours on my foton 254. I've got about 424 hours on it and noticing a possible rear main seal leak, very very slow leak. I've switched the oil pan gasket thinking this might cause it but no. Would this oil cause the seals to fail? Up here, it's great oil for very cold winter starting as it will get down to -40C! I've checked the bolts around the bell housing again and are tight. One was a little loose at the bottom so I tightened it. I've read the work about changing the seal, ouch. Am I getting the right bolts for this.

Cory

 

[farmerben8]

yeah, you need to eliminate all other possibilities first, but it seems from numerous accounts on here that the clutch housing bolts are notoriously not torqued correctly at the factory, which eventually leads to them loosening further and then the seal starts leaking. Better to deal with it soon, as it could lead to catastrophic engine failure if you don't keep on top of the oil level.
I'm waiting on a clutch alignment tool from Affordable Tractor, then I'm going to be splitting mine open to address this exact issue in the next few weeks. Good luck!!!
- Ben

 

[Bob Rooks]

FWIW, I tried using a premium synthetic hydraulic oil in my then new LW-06 backhoe. Turned all the cup seals to mush and blew them out in short order. I had previously been using standard hydraulic oil with no problems. I subsequently changed the cup seals to urethane, instead of OEM rubber or whatever they were, and had no more problems with the hydraulics.

 

[succor]

So it's the housing bolts that hold the engine on or is it something else cause they all seemed tight.

Cory

 

[farmerben8]

Its my understanding that the flywheel housing bolts to the engine block, holding the main seal in place. These improperly installed or torqued bolts tend to loosen over time causing oil to leak from between the engine and transmission. There is no way to know if these are tight or not without splitting the tractor in half and removing the clutch and flywheel assembly.
Again, this is why you want to be absolutely certain this is where the leak seems to be originating, before going through the whole trouble of taking it all apart. It sounds like a very common problem from what ive read on this site.

 

[farmerben8]

read this : Major Tractor Woes in Paradise | CHINESE TRACTOR WORLD FORUMS, by about page 5 he gets into the tractor and finds the culprit. I guess its actually the gasket that gets chewed up and maybe not the rear main seal. Regardless, its a job to get it done, and a shame to have to do it. It would be nice if we didn't have to repair mistakes made at the factory!

 

[Keno Tractors]

All of our Tractors use H46 Hydraulic fluid-it seems to work very well

 

[succor]

I'm more specifically referring to engine oil but thanks for the input for hydraulics!

 

[Keno Tractors]

Oh ok, well in that area we use Chevron Delo 400 15/40 non synthetic. The Mechanics say it works the best on these Tractors.

 

[Bob Rooks]

Oh ok, well in that area we use Chevron Delo 400 15/40 non synthetic. The Mechanics say it works the best on these Tractors.

It's what I use in all my equipment.