After changing all the fluids this week, I noticed oil dripping out of the bottom of the starter housing, so I pulled the drain plug at the bottom of the flywheel housing (see picture) and got about a couple of gallons of oil out. I am assuming that is a bad deal to start with but can anyone tell me the most likely source?
Rear crankshaft oil seal would be my first thought. Was the oil dirty black as in engine oil or cleaner like maybe transmission..?
There is always a good way to look at a possible problem, this look would suggest the seal(1) is A-OK between bell housing &rearengine
Well, that was my first thought and on any other motor I would not even asked the question. But, with Cat, I know not. The previous owner just changed the engine oil, so both (engine and transmission) were about the same color, so no help there. I cannot find if this model has an oil filled flywheel area but have read that the D5s had oil scavenger pumps to keep this area with about a gallon of oil in it and the starters were sealed to prevent oil leaks from the starter. My starter is leaking around the seating surface and based on the oil and dirt buildup, has been leaking for a while. A cat mechanic I spoke with yesterday afternoon told it was normal, he sees all of them that way, in the past he is batting about .300 with correct answers. I guess the real question is it normal to have oil in the flywheel area?
Thanks, even in your darkest hour, I guess the sun does shine somewhere in the world.
Housing has oil in it. Later Bob
Where exactly was the oil coming out of the "starter housing"..? Do you mean the case of the starter motor itself or was it coming out of the joint between the motor and the front of the flywheel housing..? If the latter then it probably just needs the gasket between the motor and the front of the flywheel housing to be replaced.
After cleaning and wiping it down 4 days in a row, it appears to be coming from the joint for the starter and housing. I feel better knowing that space is supposed to contain oil, now I just need to replace a gasket. Thanks Bob and Nige.
Sometime people who are not familiar with wet flywheel applications will install a rebuilt starter with out a gasket. Other times if it is a difficult place to wrestle a starter into position the gasket can be damaged while installing the starter. And one more thing, some starter nosecones have extra holes to allow more mounting options. If these are present the unused holes need to be plugged with rubber balls made for this purpose. Lacking those I supose you could fill the extra ones with silicone and let it set over night to cure before operating machine. And there is also an oring or gasket that seals the nose cone to the motor. That should give you a few things to check out when you remove the starter!
That's why I asked the question. If someone has replaced a starter motor at one time and not replaced the gasket at the same time there would be a good chance the gasket got damaged during removal of the old starter. The gasket is a 4H-7869 BTW.