RK55 Oil leak at hydraulic rear end plate

[Melancholy Bear]

Just out of warranty (of course), I found an oil puddle on the ground below my pull bar. The RK mechanic told me that even if it was under warranty, it wouldn't be covered because gaskets and sealant are considered wear items. So I had a local independent mechanic fix it. There's a plate above the pull bar. We drained the oil into clean 5-gal buckets. He took the plate off and found a very thin line of white silicone, which he said is not really good stuff, applied incorrectly mostly inboard of the mating surfaces and missing in a spot... exactly where the drip was. This plate and the oil get very hot and will cause the leak or make it worse. He also found two divots on the plate mating surface where the manufacturer must have dropped something on it. After cleaning and flap-wheeling it, he applied Loctite high flex gasket maker (red tube). Then he put it back together and we refilled it. I lost about 1.5-gallons. He told me to just let it sit for an hour and I am good to go. He also didn't like how the bolts were placed in this plate, not uniformly, leaving a portion with a wide gap between bolts. How this was manufacturered was sort of a disappointing find.

RK55, 78-hrs

 

[agjones]

Thanks for the detailed post. Sorry for your find, hope you're trouble free a while.

 

[5030]

Had my rear cover off more than once in the past on both tractors and Kubota don't use a gasket. They use Kubota grey 3 bond sealant. Never had a leak issue with either.

 

[ruffdog]

"..... even if it was under warranty, it wouldn't be covered because gaskets and sealant are considered wear items."

I had to laugh at that one. Is that what they would say about pistons, gears, or pumps?

 

[sengli]

Good to know. What a PIA to have to drian all that tranny/hydro fluid out to fix this.

 

[Handsfree]

I got the same issue at the rear end on RK55 HSC. I thought the same thing as that is the area its looking like it coming from. Thanks for the post.

 

[Melancholy Bear]

As an update, the leak continued after having that plate fixed. This time, it turned out to be a round plastic plug (not threaded--just pushed into the hole) behind the draw bar on the back end for accessing the gears I presume. The mechanic was flabbergasted at this design. There is no way this will not leak as designed. He again used the Loctite high flex gasket maker around the plug itself and then over and around the plug on the plate before reinstalling. It seems to have worked.

 

[agjones]

Thanks for the update and pics. Good luck with it.

 

[sengli]

Looks like a job for some flex seal! What a stupid place for a plug, holding back 10 gallons of tranny fluid.