Track roller maintenance

[Seven Gables]

Was in my shop few days ago and happen to spot about a 11/2" diameter spot of oil on the track of my ec60e Volvo , first leak of any kind on it with 1200 hrs. Sure enough the roller right above it had a drip hanging off it, outside seal only . Looked at the other 9 rollers both inside and outside seals , all fine . Knowing once the oil leaks out your on borrowed time decided to pull it and see what I could do. Just two bolts to get it off , they were torqued down tight with red locktite but 3/4 breaker bar broke em free. Pulled the Allen head plug on inside end and drained into small coffee can. Found a diagram and discription in my service manual which said they held 120cc of 80/90 gear lube, that 120cc translates to 4ozs. After letting it drain for a good hour I measured what came out, 6ozs and was clean no water. The service manual I've found has plenty of obvious mistakes so no surprise to find another. Refilled it with some Lucas hd oil stabilizer i happen to have on shelf which I occasionally use in gear boxes . Had to hold the pointed tip tight in plug hole to get it to go in, squeeze burp, squeeze burp. Really wasn't too bad gettin it to go in. Took 7ozs to fill it to the 3 o'clock plug hole position with roller on its side , just a guess but made sense. The roller was still tight no slop or wear on outside track flange, rolled it over few times with the Lucas in it and seemed perfectly smooth. Reinstalled , it's been about a week now and I've used it one day for few hours with zero leakage. I'll keep my I on it but really think it's gonna work fine. Important thing is to spot the leak early. If there's any issues with it I'll report. B

 

[Lawnranger]

Did you replace the seals on the leaky roller, or just clean them? Is the Lucas hd oil heavier or the same viscosity as the gear oil? Just curious how it faired. I agree with you when you see the leak it is best to take some action.

 

[Seven Gables]

No I did not replace the seals or disassemble the roller itself, just cleaned it up very well from the outside. By all accounts the roller seemed in perfect condition except for this small leak. The Lucas is substantially thicker than the 80/90 gear oil, that's why I figured it might not leak which it has not. I used the machine only a couple times since the oil switch out and now with winter here it's parked in my shop, glad to report not one drip has leaked out and think it's going to work out fine.

 

[Lawnranger]

Thanks for the info. I will watch this thread in the spring in case you have any updates. Good luck.