BGB Leak!

[Tacey]

My new 3410 is starting to show a wart or two. This morning, I had a pool of oil on my right running board. Until I cleaned off the built-up crud-coating, nothing leaked. The oil's coming from the front of the Bevel Gear Box. I've researched the archives, and I found a good article on BGB removal, rebuilding, etc, but I don't want to pull the BGB right now. I haven't changed any of the oils yet on this tractor, so I was going to change the BGB oil anyways. My question is, is there any additive that may stop the leak as a temporary measure? Another question, how much gear play is acceptable/normal? Thanks. Tacey

[RayS]

I don`t believe any additive would stop a seal from leaking. All though I did see some kind of a additive that someone was trying to sell on ebay. That seal could be replaced in the tractor. The hole that the inputshaft goes through in the frame is alot bigger that the seal. You could remove the driveshaft and the key and do a temporary fix. On new gearboxes I have seen 1/32" to 1/16" movement in the gears by holding one shaft tight and see how far the other travels before they both want to move. I have also seen some move as much as a 1/2" or more. When they get like that keyways, input and crosshaft tolerances and bearing are pretty much shot. I believe the biggest reason that these go bad is because people are to busy to check the oil and would rather rebuild the BGB.

[ddube174]

Hello, Snowblower manufactures such as Ariens, recommend using a product called 00 Grease (double zero grease), which is basically 50% grease and 50% 90 wt. gear oil. In the event the oil leaks out of the front gearbox of snowblowers (typical), at least the gears will have a coating of non channeling grease. Hope this helps. David

[johnmonkey]

I wonder if the BGB is overfilled? Before this site I filled my rear end up to the TOP and it was leaky. Little did I know. I discovered that the top hole is for breathing and you are only suppose to fill it to the middle hole. I drained it down and no leak!!. Just a thought. jh

[ghwrenchit]

Tacey, A suggestion while your researching lubes. I recently replaced the BGB on my Soveriegn with a used unit. The used unit had some wear, but was fine compared to the one I took out which literally drained "gear chunks" when I pulled the cover. I put the replacement unit in, filled it (after cover removal and cleaning ) with 30% gear oil, and 70% Luc~as additive (which is advertised as "use 100% if needed"). Everything was fine for about four minutes of running, then I noticed the "ooozzz" coming from the breather on the fill plug, then it got noisy quick. I shut it off, and immediately drained the fluid only to find a nice frothing, foamy mess coming out. Looked like the lube went thru a whipping blender. No more Luc~as for me. Replaced it with full synthetic gear lube and all is fine. Greg

[ehertzfeld]

quote:

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is there any additive that may stop the leak as a temporary measure?

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Put back the built-up crud-coating!:O:O}:):o) Sorry, couldn't resist!:D

[Willy]

I have used Cassite Smooth Seal on auto transmission with good luck,it makes the seal more pliable. They back there products with a double your money back grantee if your not satisfied. Might work.

[ghwrenchit]

quote:

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Originally posted by ehertzfeld

quote:

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is there any additive that may stop the leak as a temporary measure?

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Put back the built-up crud-coating!:O:O}:):o) Sorry, couldn't resist!:D

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Good one...:D:D I like that! The crud will never return, even if he trys.sm01 Perhaps we we could market "Replacement Spray Crud"$$ Sorry, you got me going... But I truly sympathize with the problem.sm02 Greg

[D-17_Dave]

Upon inspection your likely to find the front bearing on the input shaft is gone and the flop in the shaft has taken the seal out. If this is the case only a rebuild will help things. The longer you put off the repair the worse and more exspensive the repair will be.

[Tacey]

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Originally posted by D-17_Dave
Upon inspection your likely to find the front bearing on the input shaft is gone and the flop in the shaft has taken the seal out. If this is the case only a rebuild will help things. The longer you put off the repair the worse and more exspensive the repair will be.

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I'm not sure I'd call it "flop in the shaft". The shafts are tight side-to-side. The only play is what might be called gear lash, meaning that the rotation has a little bit of a click when changing roational direction. Thanks for the replies, guys! Tacey

[Tacey]

quote:

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Originally posted by johnmonkey
I wonder if the BGB is overfilled? Before this site I filled my rear end up to the TOP and it was leaky. Little did I know. I discovered that the top hole is for breathing and you are only suppose to fill it to the middle hole. I drained it down and no leak!!. Just a thought. jh

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This might be my trouble. When I got the tractor home, I checked each oil level. The BGB level looked low; it was not visible in the fill tube. So, I put a little oil in, just so that it was visible in the bottom of the fill tube (where the fill-plug is screwed in). What is the proper fill level? The owner's book refers to a "fill plug dipstick assembly", which this one does not seem to have. Where is this "middle hole" located? Tacey

[johnmonkey]

The newer BGB's have a dip stick that shows a level about three inches below the top. (i'm guessing). jh

[ghwrenchit]

Tacey, Does the back cover on your BGB look like this? http://www.simpletractors.com/club2/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=76585 If so, the fill level is specified at the bottom of the page. Hope this helps. On my Sovereign BGB, there is no drain or fill plug on the stamped rear cover. The fill plug is on top of the iron casting, with a brass breather and dipstick incorporated directly into the fill plug. Greg

[Tacey]

Thanks for that, Greg. My BGB is the older type, with no dipstick. The instructions call for filling until the fill-pipe elbow is showing oil in it. I am going to change the oil and monitor for a while. The seal is bad on the front side, so in the near future, I'll need to remove the BGB and replace seals. That will be the time to complete my total disassembly/clean-up/reassembly of the entire tractor. Thanks everyone for your input! Tacey