I have several of these machines and they have never given me any problems, all are in the mid teens hour wise. This last week a 544J and a 644J have gone done with the same issue, front axle gets red hot and pukes hydraulic oil out of any orifice it can go. Any ideas? Brakes etc work fine. Thx in advance.
They has wet brakes. When brake piston Orings wear in (out), everytime the brakes are applied, hydraulic oil bypasses the pistons, and eventually overfills the axle housing. Same thing occurs on all my Deeres and Komatsus. On a 544G, they have a single friction disc per side. Starting with the H series, they went to a multi disc setup on each side. On the J series, they even added recirculators for the axles. The multi disc setup (H and newer) get stupid hot when roading the machines. After eating several setups on my TC54H, and cooking the axles on my 544Js to the point that brake application was accompanied by a 3 second delay, I now have the optional axle coolers installed on all my J and K loaders. The bottom center hose, under the yoke, has a screen that must be cleaned at every axle fluid change. And, on my K machines, there are two spin on axle oil filters, next to the transmission. Can't recall if my Js have them.
The hot is by design (or lack of). The overfill is brake piston(s) bypassing. Screens under yokes are frequently overlooked. Only oil I can run in Deere axles that doesn't cause brake chatter is Deere Hygard.
I have a 544j with the same 3 second delay problem when the axles get hot - just purchased two pails of Hygard and some diff additive. In your experience are my axles cooked? Where exactly is this screen under the yoke? I appreciate the help.
With that bad of a delay I’m going to guess you are in for at least a brake job. Here is a pic of the screen location. It’s number 6 on the breakdown.
#27 in this image is the screen. As for the brakes vs heat, they've all lasted over 8k hours before a piston seal began to leak. I dont believevthe lining on yours is damaged, but, without coolers on mine, the problem would still be there. Depending on your build, you may or may not have recirculators, and, if you have recirculators, you may or may not have spin-on filters. Regardless, the screens are present (#27) if there is a hose there.
Thank you! Going to tear into it and see what's going on.