TC33D Transmission trouble with pics.

jacobd · Sep 11, 2012

I need some help. I was doing some bush hogging for a friend running about 2300 RPM and everything was going great, working my way back and forth through some thick brush when I started to notice a funny smell and the tires were getting wet. I thought it was just dew since it was getting dark out and the smell was just something I was cutting. I did consider that it might be hydraulic fluid but I glanced around and couldn't see any obvious leaks so I kept going at it. I went to go forward and heard the hydro tone change and as soon as that happened I slammed my foot on the clutch and disengaged the PTO, put it in neutral and idled it down. I got off and wiped one one of the tires and felt the oil so I rushed back and turned the key off. After some investigation I found it was leaking (pouring really) oil out of this hole in the rear right below and to the left of the PTO.

Its almost exactly 15mm in diameter and from what I can tell its just a service hole to install a shift rod or something in the transmission. I think its supposed to have a rubber plug of some sorts but I cant find it on any diagrams. Does anyone have a part number for it?

How likely is it I damaged my trans? I was on edge already so I was pretty fast to get my foot on the clutch and get everything shut down.
Do you think its more likely that the plug wiggled loose and fell out of the tractor, or got pushed in by a stick or something? Has anyone had one come out on them? If the plug is inside the trans does it even matter? Will it hurt anything?
Sorry for all the questions I'm just stressing out over this, I should've known better then to run it after dark.
Thanks for any help.

jinman · Sep 12, 2012

Jacob, that plug is above the level where the fluid pickup is in the reservoir. You were very low, but probably caught it because you were listening to (and smelling) your tractor's responses to a very low fluid level. I suspect you will find there is very little damage because you stopped whenever you should have. Your NH dealer can order that plug for you. Several are listed in the transmission casing parts list, but I'm not sure which it is. After you install the new plug, fill-r-up with fluid and give it a whirl. I'd bet you will be pleasantly surprised.

thclimer · Sep 13, 2012

I've attached a picture like yours of my TC33D. There indeed is a plug there. It appears to be plastic. It almost reminds me of the plastic plugs you see in holes to protect internal threads. Is it really just a friction fit by pushing it in the hole?

Hope its an easy fix and let us know how it runs when you get a plug and fill it back up.

Edit: I just noticed its the bottom hole on yours which is open, I didn't look too close at that one, it does seem like its more than just plastic.

jacobd · Sep 20, 2012

Finally got this sorted and to make a long story short the plug did get pushed into the trans and I painstakingly fished it out with the help of a borescope.

You were right jimman I pulled the drain plug and was relieved to find about a gallon of fluid still in the tractor.

There are three available plugs for the back of the transmission. SBA064600016 which is just a plastic dust plug for the threaded hole, SBA322140960 which is a 16.1mm rubber coated steel plug and SBA398460390 which must be the same only a millimeter smaller since the one I got out of the tractor was 15.1mm. Of course out of my three choices I ordered the plastic dust plug and the 16.1mm plug, neither of which do me any good :mur: I opted to just reuse the original plug. Refilled it with Armbra multi-G 134 and everything seems back to normal.

I took a few minutes and fabbed a little plate to protect the plug and prevent this from ever happening again. I was temped to thread the hole but I didn't want to risk swarf getting in the trans or other damage. I'll try to get a picture of it.

thclimer · Sep 21, 2012

Good job fishing it out! Did you go through the fill port on top to get to it? That was a good idea on the plate to give the plug some protection.

jinman · Sep 21, 2012

Good job on the repair. You should be okay to go once you get fluid into the reservoir. It may take a little longer to get things going and all air out of the system since it sucked in quite a bit of air. Otherwise, if no strange noises and everything works as normal, you dodged a bullet. You probably don't feel like you dodged the bullet, but it could have been much worse. At least the cleanup will be easy since it's at the rear of the tractor.

erosol · Sep 22, 2012

I had the same thing happen to my tractor while bush hogging. I was able to find the plug and put silicone to hold it in now. Been doing good for years now.