I bought this 2003 40XT with a little under 900 hours on it a few months ago. Its not new by any stretch but it had low hours and we have an acreage that we are clearing that was completely overgrown. The machine runs great and I've been beyond happy with it. The previous owner only put 90 hours on it over the last 8 years. I've been going through it as time permits and its been raining non-stop here in OH so i decided to pull it apart and check the drive chain adjustment since I'm approaching the 1000hr mark. 3 of the 4 drive chains look like new but the other is chewed up. I got in there with a flashlight and it looks like the forward left drive sprocket has some teeth that are chewed up also. Based off the photos, what do you guys think? I know the right thing to do is take it apart and replace them. I'm not opposed to that, I just don't know 100% what all that entails.. Have any of you had damaged components like this and kept running them? Will it cause more damage? There is no noise, vibration, or anything so it was a huge surprise when i took the side plate off and found that damage.. How in the world would that have happened in the first place? I checked the tension and while I plan to tighten them, i don't think they are too loose by any means according to the 1.5" tolerance the manual states. If I do replace them, I need some pointers. The chain is the one on the inside so the rear chain is in the way currently. If i loosened the rear and slid the rear axle housing forward, would it loosen it enough to get it out of the way? Can the sprocket come out of the side access plate without removing the drive motor? Also, the oil on this side is slightly milky colored while the other side is clean/clear oil. Would moisture cause that? It wasn't full like others have experienced from drive motors leaking, just milky.
I apologize all.. I meant to post this in the skid loader forum not the wheel loader forum. Admin please feel free to delete.
Its hard to tell the condition of the chains in your pictures, so you will have to use your judgement. If your sprocket isn't too bad, then just change the drive chain. You may have just gotten a bad chain. The milky oil is from water getting into the chain case. Water can get in through the side cover, the drive motor mounting, or the sprocket inspection holes. Silicone them all. As I remember the axle sprockets could come out of the side inspection hole without removing the drive motor. The chains are endless, so its easiest to remove the axles to get the chain out, then remove the drive motor sprocket, then remove the axle sprockets. When installing, put the chain on the axle sprocket and drive motor sprocket, then slide the axle into the axle sprocket. No special tools required for this, but the bolts for the axle sprockets can be hard to get to, takes a 15/16" socket.
Thank you guys for the replies. I’ve got the cases draining tonight and I’ll get in there with some paper towels and get it all cleaned out. I’ll do a thorough inspection. Like I said it hasn’t had any noise, vibration or anything. I’ll run it slowly also with the cover off to see if anything looks off once I get the chains adjusted. I reuploaded the photos at a higher resolution so hopefully they are more clear.
Looks like the chain was dragging some. Once you drain the oil you will likely see where it was dragging on the bottom (it will leave a sharp edge, so wear gloves). If that's the worst of the damage, I would probably just tighten the chain, change the oil and keep running it as is. As long as the rollers on the chain look and feel ok, the chain should be fine.