Potential cause of your leaky wheel motor?

[KMA]

My '06 PT422's front driver side wheel motor has had a slight leak for a few years now. I ordered a rebuild kit (p/n 200222001B) on ebay, but hadn't installed it yet. I've been moving a lot of dirt/rocks over the last few weeks, and noticed the wheel wobbling when driving on Monday night. I pulled it off and found the motor mounting bolts had loosened and wallowed out the holes. Based on the damage to the hub and motor box, I believe the bolts have been slowly loosening over time and may have been the reason for the leak (more torquing on the motor shaft as it moves around inside the box). Otherwise, it is just a coincidence that the leaky motor is the same one that came loose.

I rebuilt the motor on Tues night. I filled the motor with oil prior to reassembly. To remove the hub, I heated it with a torch, placed a large crow bar behind it and hit the motor shaft from the front with a mallet. This worked well because the motor was able to move backwards due to being loose. Yesterday, I "ugly" welded on some washers to add support to the wallowed out holes. (Side note: I'd really like to get a new welder... my cheap HF has paid for itself a few time over, but I borrowed a friend's Lincoln for some exhaust work on my Jeep, and it was night and day difference!) I drove the PT around last night and the fix seems to be working fine (with no more leaks). Hopefully it holds up.

If you have a small leak in one of your motors, you might want to pull the wheel off and make sure the mounting bolts are snug to avoid further damage. Good luck!

 

[woodlandfarms]

Did you document rebuilding your wheel motor? Right now I am very uncomfortable with the thought of rebuilding either a pump or motor on my own.

As for the welder. I have a lincoln 180 and love it. This said, if I were to do it again, and because I am not a pro welder, I would probably save the cash and get something from Everlast.

 

[KMA]

The kit I mentioned comes with decent instructions. The only tough part was timing it on reassembly... I didn't know if I have a 200 series motor, or the 201, and couldn't find out. I guessed that it was 200. If you read through the 2 page instructions a few times before taking it apart, you should be able to answer those questions yourself and make a note of where the timing mark is, etc.

I'll checkout the Everlast welders, thanks.

 

[MossRoad]

Aren't those holes supposed to be tapered for the lug bolts? Does it really matter if they aren't anymore with the addition of the washers? Probably not. Just check em once in a while to make sure they stay tight.

 

[KMA]

They may have been, but I'm using new "normal" grade 8 bolts now. I also used red loctite on the threads, and will be paranoid and constantly checking them from here on out.:reminder:

 

[PTWannaHave]

Hmmm... Will you be able to ever get those bolts off if needed with red Loctite...? I would've been inclined to use blue Loctite...

Thanks for the posting,

 

[KMA]

Need to use heat with red loctite, which should be fine in this case (won't hurt the motor).

 

[Bigger mike]

I have an 2011 2425 with the "wonderfull" eh 72 piece of garbage. Won't run when it's hot ant can't start when it's cold. The bullet proof kholer engine in our 03' starts and runs way better than the replaced one pt switched to. I fight with it all the time. I would give up my first born if someone could tell me if there is an engine swap that works. Any info would be great, thanks for looking, Mike

 

[MossRoad]

Welcome to TBN!

 

[coolconnection]

Just sent my front wheel motor down to Tazewell too get a new seal in it. I couldn't find anyone locally to do it for me. They all just wanted me to buy a new motor. I called down and said. I couldn't get the brake hub odd of it. Terry said just send the whole thing down. The brake thing is hydraulically pressed on so they use a press to get it off. They fixed it and pressed the brake thing back on. Glad I sent it down because the outer bearing was going bad which caused the seal to leak all replaced and shipped back in 6 days. The price wasn't bad either and only $30 dollars in labor.