Hello all, Left final drive came back very high silicon, iron. Pulled plug, lots of black goo on the plug. Lots more than on the plug from other compartment. Do i straight away begin dissassembly or is there other things to check first. Thx Ken
Has this issue been discussed before.? I can’t remember. Whether it has or it hasn't you’re going to have to supply a lot more information to get sensible answers. If it has been talked about before, link the thread where it was discussed.
This is the first thread for this problem. There isn't much more to tell. No visible symptoms. Just a bad oil sample. Oil has about 500 hours on it. Machine has about 8000 hours on it. Ive owned it for 5 years The black goo is telling me there is something going on. May need a duo-cone. Ken
You say there "isn't much to tell". So for a start where are the oil analysis numbers.? Silicon & iron for a start. Also need some previous numbers. Oil analysis interpretation is all about trends, not single sample numbers in isolation. Sorry my crystal ball's broke. We can't see anything of what you're seeing unless you post it here. Photos of what you found on the plugs from the final drives on BOTH sides for comparison. A few questions for a start. 1. Any sign of an external leak around the Duo-cone area.? 2. Is the oil level correct.? 3. What does the oil look (colour, clarity, spraklies, etc ,etc) like compared to the other side final drive.? 4. To your knowledge has anyone been into the final drive before, and how many hours are on the tractor.? EDIT: Really need the SOS results from both final drives in addition to previous SOS history to compare.
No leaks. Oil levels are up. Hopefully you can read that. I didn't take a pic of the oil plug. Its magnetic, had nothing metalic you could feel, but had a teaspoon of thick black goo on it. It wiped off easily so it wasn't particularly magnetic. It looked more like a combustion sludge. The other final drive had a similar material on it, but much less of it. Oil colour is getting dark. Ive seen new engine oils the same colour. Not black, but going in that direction. No sparklies on either side, Nobody has been inside the final drive that I know of. Machine has 7848 hours on it right now. Oil was changed about 533 hours ago, in the summer of 2021
Do you have the analysis results from the other side for the same period as a comparison.? Was there any particular reason why the oil type was changed from an SAE30 TO-4 to a 75W/140 gear oil at the last change in July 2021.? Your answers so far are all mostly focused on the problematic LH final drive. What about the other side.? Comparison is the name of the game here.
This is the right final drive. Iron and silicon are slowly creeping up. We use 75/140 or 75/90 across all final drives. Just to standardize. Thats a habit thats been in place for a lot of decades. Never had a reason to change
Personally I wouldn't use an EP gear oil in a latest-generation Cat tractor final drive if it was the last lubricant left on the planet. There is plenty of evidence out there that the additives in EP gear oils will attack the silicone rubber Toric Rings in the Duo-Cone seals and cause them to fail in the long term. Both final drives are trending the same way, just that one is worse than the other. Personally I'd give both final drives a good flush, switch them back to TDTO 30, and continue sampling at shortened intervals to monitor progress. Does this tractor work in mud/water to any grewat extent.?
Well, you learn something new every day. We have the proper oil in stock now so we will get that in right away. I decided on tdto-50 for those compartments. I went through an exhaustive cross checking and comparison this winter to figure out what to use where, while trying to make some oils common. I can run that in all the CAT final drives.
How much work would it be to get to those seals? They aren't that much money to buy, and if its not a huge job, we have some time right now.
That's why there is no mention of EP Gear Oil in the FD lubricant recommendations...... And before you ask. No, you do not want to be using SAE60. That is more for machinbes operating 24/7. TDTO 50 might be a bit on the heavy side in really cold weather but so long as you don't go balls out with cold oil it ought to be fine. TDTO 30 is your other option if you use a monograde oil. A lot unfortunately. Split the tracks, pull the final drive off, then strip it right down. The Duo-Cone seal #9 is the absolute last component to be exposed when the Hub #8 is pulled off the spindle.