Well, in the process of changing out as many of the fluids as I can on my new-to-me Case 580M turbo, I came across this little find in the left rear axle housing -
Opps. Sometimes the pics cover up the text, not sure if I did that properly. The first picture is the cap off the left rear axle housing from my new-to-me Case 580M turbo. I am trying to change as many fluids as I can, because I do not know the maintenance history on this machine... I know the previous owner had the planetary gears on the right side replaced, and now I am seeing the above metal chips show up in the left rear axle housing. Not sure how long it has been since it was changed, or if the previous owner even wiped this cap off, so I am not sure how fast the metal is accumulating on the magnet. Is it normal to see *some* metal on these magnetic plugs? My other three plugs were completely clean. Am I about to lose a set of gears?
It would be hard to say if major component failure is gonna happen tomorrow, metal on plug only gives you and indication something is wearing inside, doesn't give you a time line when failure will occur. Frequent removal of plug for inspection would give you a better indicator of how much something is coming apart inside. It could be one of those things that if you worked the machine for 8 hrs a day everyday it would fail quickly, but just occasional use it could last for some time yet. BTW, I looked at editing your post so text would match up with pics a little better, but I'm not sure I can achieve desired result so I left it alone. Here's a thread for you to look at that might help you in posting pics.
From that photo it's hard to tell the size of the metal particles on the magnet. "Normal" particles on a final drive plug will have the appearance of a grey/silver colour paste with the occasional large particle that you can see individually. Did you take any oil samples for the old oil you drained ..? If not, all is not lost. You need to establish some history that's all. Take samples from BOTH Final drives of the new oil you put in and have them analyzed, normally about $10-20. Make sure whoever analyzes the samples also does a Particle Count and gives you an "ISO Cleanliness Code" number for the result. This number will look something like 21/18 or maybe even 21/20/18. Post it here and I'll explain to you what it means. Then in about 250 operating hours take 2 more samples and also have them analyzed. Compare the results of both sides, you are looking not really at the numbers but the rate the numbers are increasing to determine if you potentially have a problem. If the side that had all the metal shavings on the plug is producing higher levels of iron in the same number of operating hours, then wear in that side is progressing more rapidly than the side that didn't have the metal on the plug, if you get my drift. You also need to take note of silicon (dirt) in the sample results. High levels of silicon (over 10ppm at low-ish hours) will indicate that dirt is getting in the final drive from somewhere. So as well as maybe needing to do repairs to the gear set you also need to find & fix the cause of the dirt entry. What oil type & viscosity are you using by the way, and how does this compare to what Case recommends for this compartment..?
Troy, It's not unusual to see some paste on the magnets. Not knowing the last time it was serviced, oil may have been there longer than it should, & that may account for it. Most important - is there any movement in the hub? - more easily checked with wheel on, most likely some bearing movement is happening. What type of oil was in it? From new rear hubs run hy-trans & front hubs run 90 grade. Both hubs are the same, & I don't know why CNH mix it up, I spose to keep the same oil in the hubs as the centre....... Over here I put 85/140 in all hubs front & rear, if you have cold winters maybe 90 grade all round. Often when we inspect these hubs , the bearing cones wear a little on the stub, & the inner wears a little groove in the rear flange of the stub. On ones that have alot of hub movement, the hub rubs on the planetary ring gear & they make ALOT of silverfrost.
Thanks for the oil analysis tip, I had heard of it before, but figured it was pricey. I have replaced all axle fluids with Hy Trans as per manual specs, although 90 grade may make more sense for me here, winter is coming on. I'll keep an eye on that plug, check it in another 50 hours to make sure I do not have a rapidly evolving situation. Thanks for the tips everyone.
I was quoting prices for oil analysis in my location. Yours may be different, check prices first so you don't get a shock. Either way the cost of analyzing a few oil samples is far less than the cost of a new gear set ............ plus the downtime for an unforeseen failure.