Hi guys am new to this site and am asking this question for my father in law. He has a CASE 580 super E and when he drives it it makes a "CLUNKING" noise. We opened up the oil drain plug under the tractor and a tooth off a gear came out. Was wondering if anyone has had a similar problem and possibly what gear could be damaged? THANKS
Assuming this is the rear-most drain plug, likely ring and pinion damage. Pics from a 580B. Could be side gear, but less likely.
You can remove the cover at the rear and get a good look inside, seen more side gear teeth than ring gear issues on them. Just need to see what it is to decide how your going to repair it. They do this every now and then, hope it's just a side gear, is it a 2wd or 4wd machine ?
If the noise is only heard when you drive it straight, no turning, it's ring and pinion. The side gears don't move until you make a hard turn and they have to spin at different speeds to accommodate the inside and outside wheels moving on different arcs. So if you hear more noise during a turn, probably side gears and the ring and pinion if that was making noise during the straight test. Other thing is the gear tooth you found. If it's curved, it's ring and pinion. Straight tooth is a side gear.