Before I start calling around for a repair estimate, I need to know what is exactly going on. The machine has good working petal on both sides but they are now making a hell of alot of racket. Its like they grab for a split second ,let go and grab and let go. All the while making a steel on steel scraping noise. Off the top of my head, Id say the fiber plated discs have lost their fiber and now I'v got their steel plate core griping the steel brake discs. There looks like 4 fiber disc's and 4 steel brake discs on each trumpet axle with one heavy single steel disc on the end. If I'm correct in my assumption as to whats going on, exactly what should be replaced right off the git go? Or, is it something that needs to be tore apart first to see if the steel brake discs are shot as well? A full set of discs on both ends of just the 18 discs is looking like just shy of $3K according to Messicks. In my better years, I would have considered tearing into the job, but not these days. So can any one give me an idea of what I can expect to pay to get the ol digger braking right again? Typically a rough ball park.....maybe? Thanks
Mine has no brakes due to the seals leaking fluid into the axle. I got an estimate 7 years ago for resealing and at that time they said the discs would add $1000. I guess everything has tripled since Covid.
Ok, a couple of things. Is this machine new to you? Do you know if it was previously driven to the job sites. I have seen the brakes on units that are roaded overheat and cup. The above stated, it is not uncommon to hear the brakes complain on application. If you are new to this machine, I would replace the oil. I would get the correct NH oil. Here is a link to another thread about this. Not NH, but is a common problem. HeavyEquipmentForums If you decide to do new brakes, it is not that hard, just a heavy job to remove the axles from the machine. As another note, I believe the brakes are also available aftermarket. Also, if you do them, be sure to replace the poston o-rings. They are known to go bad.
The first 2 years I owned my 555e the brakes made one heck of a noise when stopping. I changed the oil and put Chevron THF1000 in the housing and all noises stopped immediately. I never would have thought that changing the oil would make that big of a difference.
OK, Great replies. I bought this hoe 10 years ago and its only a property machine for small jobs around the house n grounds. I changed everything but the axle oil when I first got it with 2800 hours on it. Its at 3260 hrs now. So yeah, read that link from Swetz. A good read, Thanks. So clearly I need to do the axle oil with either NH 134D, Hyguard or the Chevron THF1000. I think the brake reservoir is good but will check it for any leak down. I'v only put some 460 hours on it but I'v stumped out a couple hundred trees over the past 10 years. Auction price was just under 14K in Nashville..... whats not to love about a 555E? I'll post back on the oil swap results.
I just want to point out that the brake fluid doesn’t have anything to do with the noise in the rear axle. Checking the fluid is a good idea but it won’t stop the noise. My oil came out BLACK when I changed it. I’ve put another 200 or so hours on the machine and probably need to change it out again.
Yeah, I understand that, but it seems there are folks having the piston seals leaking down some into the axle oil. If leaks bad enough, it can ruin the axle oil. I just want to make sure I dont have any contamination issue going on.
HA! When I drained my rear axle it was 5 gallons over full from the previous owner pouring brake oil in and it leaking into the axle. I can't imagine how much money they spent on brake oil.
My gut is telling me your rear oil has never been changed. I would do that! Look for bad things in the oil (think chunks). I would bet your oil is ugly grey/black. Dont be worried. Tiis is from the brakes. The master cylinder is on the bottom r/s of your dash. Cover comes rite off. These brakes use a special NH oil. Do not use brake fluid! If the master cylinder was low, it would turn the brake light on as there is a level sensor. Nice price! I actually love my NH too. Just gets soo much done!
I picked up a 555e last fall and when applying the brakes they don't seem to hold very well and squeal a bit, but they do stop the machine. I will be looking into the oil for it but, on another note...I've read a few threads on here that talk about having to check the steel or metal strainer/filter in the hydraulic tank that can be accessed through the round cover on the side of the hydraulic tank and am about to change the hydraulic fluid and filter. Looks like a drain plug on the bottom of the hydraulic fluid tank...what size is that hex bit supposed to be for that plug? SAE or Metric ... it doesn't want to budge and I don't want to fudge it up. Sorry for going off topic and hijacking this thread.
Do you have a caliper to measure the hex?
Looks like I've misplaced mine but pretty sure the drain is a 17mm hex. Mine was a 3/8 drive and I broke a pull handle drive square off in it trying to get the plug out. I ground it and welded it on to a piece of bar stock so I could get a pipe on it to loosen the plug. You will need to build a wrench to get the inner screen loose also. 1/4" or 3/16" plate will work. Here is a crude drawing.
I hust spent a half hour trying to find the post with the tank drsin size, then read NH575E's post...LOL! Yes, 17mm, and yes, tight!
Just to pass along another tip, a couple years ago, I needed to replace a couple hoses way up under the floor pan under where the seat bolts down. Absolutely no way to get at them from the bottom. So I took a magic marker and went around the seat base pedestal. Took the seat completely out(heavy dog as it is) and then cut out a big square area of floor between the seat bolt up holes on the floor. I drilled 4 corner holes, then saws all-ed to the 4 corner holes. Now it was a piece of cake to wrench the hoses through this new floor port hole. Once the seat is bolted back in place, you would never know there is a access hole under the seat pedestal. During the past 10 years I have most every hoes changed out. When I bought it, the engine oil pressure light was constantly on but its just the sending unit. I put an oil pressure gauge on the dash and I get 40psi at idle. These pre- polluction engines are absolutely great. Only other big problem is rust in the bottom of the fuel tank. Last year I had it so bad the line out pluged up with rust crap and had to completely drain and scrub clean the tank from the fill port as best I could. A water drain plug on the bottom of the tank would have been a huge plus for long term servicing of water accumulations.
The cabbed E series has the AC evaporator and heater core under the seat. Yes it's a HEAVY MO-DUDE! I re-routed my fuel and AC hoses when I replaced them to make them easier to access and save on length.
Thanks for the reply Andy K and NH575. I picked up a 17mm 1/2” drive and it fit perfectly and got the drain plug open. I will be opening the round access cover on the face of the hydraulic tank next. I plan on making the wrench to loosen the inner screen…thanks again NH575. I picked up a new gasket for that access cover. Any idea if any type of sealant should be used with it or if the bolts should be torqued to any particular torque spec. My guess would be no on both but just in case.
The operators manual...Iknow, not a lot of help. To be honest, when I did mine I didn't use anything but the gasket. I made them snug and no leaks. If you do want to use sealer, prolly something like this, and let it cure before filling the tank.
Decades ago when I did alot of my mechanical stuff, I found Hi Tack spray as the best solution to placing gaskets on valve covers, oil pans and anything else that has holes to line up. Its great stuff and the fact that once you tighten it up, you get virtually no squeeze out hanging into the fluid side. I used to all ways have the permatex brand hanging out. Just hang the gasket on a wire and dust both sides with a few even coats, wait 10 minutes for it to flash off and stick it on the part. Its sticky as hell at that point. found a vid on it.
Thanks xtriggerman and swetz, the gasket is a rubber/neoprene type gasket so probably go with the permatex right stuff if I use it at all seeing that the video suggests the spray is more for paper or cork type gaskets. I also picked up a new sight glass for viewing fluid level, that goes on the face of the tank below the top step near the filter cover plate so if anyone has replaced this before any advice would be appreciated.
I can’t remember where I read it but someone advised cleaning out the residual stuff at the bottom of the tank after removing the filter cover plate. If I remember right, they mentioned a muck type sludge on the bottom of their tank that they more or less scraped off the tank bottom.
I re-used my gasket and I don't think I put anything on it. I do use High Tac often but for rubber type gaskets I usually just wipe some petroleum jelly on them so they can move a little while tightening them down. When you pull the filter look inside it good and in the tube it screws on to. Mine had a rubber disc that is apparently part of the filter that had come loose and was lodged in the entrance of the pickup tube. It seems someone else found the same thing but not sure if I remember that right.
Well, I finally got the axle oil changed out today. What should have been a short job turned into a marathon. The over flow plug was jammed into the pumpkin so bad, my first try at it striped a couple of the 1/2" drive corners out. The plug pocked is not very deep to begin with so I had to grind the blunt point off a drive adapter so it would get all the way into the 1/2" drive port. No way could a loose wrench stay in the plug port and force it to move out with out the wrench popping out. I ended up beating the buggared up port metal back in and setting up an expanding 1/2" bolt against the 2 swing cylinder backs and the other end of the expanding bolt against the back of my beaker bar wrench. This way it was impossible for the wrench to move out of the plug port. I just had the bolt slightly snug against my beaker bar wrench just so if the plug moved, it could in fact turn out ward , a fraction. Then just loosen my expansion bolt so the plug can turn out a hair more. What a PITA..... But after a few hours, I got the plug out. The top fill plug is a 3/4 drive and that came out just as easy as can be. In the end, it had only 5 gallons in it. I put about the full 6.5 gallons in to over flow port. Now the brakes work like new. NO more screeching!!! Thanks to all who put me on the road to the fix. CNH no longer uses the 134 name on their fluid. Apparently, that number is not licensed to them any more so their new stuff is $133 a 5 gal pail.
I replaced mine last year. It comes with a gasket. Pretty straightforward.
That was me. Mine pancaked itself to the suction line and cut off all flow. I ended up having to buy a new filter.
Told ya it would get rid of the noise
Great news! What designation did they sell you for fluid? Messicks still shows a gallon size of the 134. New Holland #73344280 Multi Grade 134 OIL HYDRAULIC MultiGrade 134™ Hydraulic Transmission Oil #73344280 is bench tested, field tested and approved by CNH Industrial engineers to protect hard-working agricultural and off-road equipment. Formulated with the latest additive technology and high quality base oils, it provides excellent overall... www.messicks.com The first New Holland dealer I bought a hydraulic kit and oil from sold me 303 fluid. I had to travel a ways to them and got curious as I drove home and stopped by Tractor Supply and bought their 134 compatible oil. That was the only and last time I bought any hydraulic parts or fluid from a NH dealer. I have only use the Travelers Premium from Tractor Supply but I have never had brakes on my machine to begin with. I put it in my Hydraulic system, shuttle transmission, and rear axle. Sorry for the above thread hijackings. We should have moved the other discussions to e dedicated thread.
This happened about 3 to 4 years ago. The way my local dealer put it, NH got a new supplier that mixes oil that is essentially the same as the old 134, but uses a different name now. I know it is spendy, but you will not have to change it for many years now. The bottom line is that it has the correct wet brake additives so you are good to go. And even better, no more brake chatter . Was the old oil grey/black? I am still betting it was never changed. Thanks for the update!
If you want the original 134A-D fluid, the Valvoline VV813 Unitrac is still available. They blended it for Ford and haven't compromised on quality yet, as far as I know. Much more important for transmissions (the shuttle and powershift, not crash box) than brakes. It's all about the additive package. Cheaper cost oils use cheaper additive packages. There's no free lunch.
The Power Shift transmissions use ATF.
The oil was just dark black but as it was draining out, I could see a bit of dark honey color through it. The plug magnet was maxed out with a hump of metal grease on it. A little bit of bottom sludge came out as well. The VV813 looked like the most expensive before I bought this NH so now they are about the same cost with the THF 1000 a few dollars cheaper. The bucket has no actual designation now. The 2.5 gal jug has the same label.
The old ones, the original powershifts, use 134. Good point. I didn't even think of the new ones that appeared with the E series. Is that what you have in yours. Any idea who built them.
That oil should be backwards compatible but it wouldn't hurt to verify. They probably replaced the zinc with moly or like additive. You can check out Schaeffer 315 also but it's around $200 a pail. I've been using it for oil changes that are at the end of their service interval.