Ford 4600 Check the level of rear hyd fluid

Anonymous-0

Well-known Member
Is the a plug somewhere on the rear end that you fill to that level. am I right in thinking that the transmission and rear end are separate Thanks
 
Yes, the level plug should be to the rear of the right foot board. Look for an Allen head pipe plug, NOT a bolt or hex head. Should be about the level of the footboard. Transmission should have a plug on the right front ahead of the footboard; again, an allen plug. They are separate compartments.

Rod
 
I think it was more of an early/late model thing.

What gets me is that it took Ford until the intro of the 10 series to finally put a dipstick in the rear end of those things.
 
3 banger tens didn't all have sticks on the rear either... Some might have but I've seen a few with the hidden level plug. That boggles my mind...

Rod
 
I dunno... I guess my point was that thousand series tractors had level plugs. At some point they changed to sticks and I don't know when... I'm just saying if it doesn't have a stick, look for a plug... and don't depend on anything being the way it should be on a 35 year old Ford.

Rod
 
(quoted from post at 18:31:39 07/07/14) I dunno... I guess my point was that thousand series tractors had level plugs. At some point they changed to sticks and I don't know when... I'm just saying if it doesn't have a stick, look for a plug... and don't depend on anything being the way it should be on a 35 year old Ford.

Rod

I have several fords from 53 to 89 and none have a stick on the rear but later ones have sticks on the tranny.
 
Every series 10 3-cylinder I've ever seen had them. The parts catalog seems to confirm this, although I fully realize that the parts catalog is not the final word.

I'm pretty sure Ford kept the level plug even when dipsticks were used, likely as a way to reduce inventories by allowing one axle housing to be used on a multitude of 3-cylinder tractors.
 
There's a 3910 next door to me... it's an 87 or 88 model, fully featured other than open station... so it's got 8x4 syncro box and dual pumps... and no dipstick. It took a while to actually find the level plug on that tractor too... with a couple of us looking for it; neither of us novices.
I think I've also previously mentioned the 1985 7710 I have that came with 8 bolt wheel centers... where the parts book says those wheels ended in 1983. I wish they had, but that's another matter. There's actually two of those tractors in this neighbourhood, both equipped exactly the same, built within a month or two of each other.

Rod
 
I can't imagine a series 10 tractor that "new" not having a dipstick from the factory. I wonder if it had one at one time and then maybe the filter housing broke from impact damage and was replaced with a used 4600 housing???
 
Nope.. it was bone stock. Hardly a thing ever done to that tractor. I think at the time one of the bolts in the unload valve retainer dropped out and went through the transfer box gears... so we had the lift cover off to repair that, had buttoned it back up and were refilling it.. but it just never had a stick on the rear end.

Rod
 
Rear end. Every 10 series 3-cylinder I can ever recall working on had a dipstick protruding back in the area of the LH lift arm. It was attached to a tapped port on the hydraulic filter housing manifold.
 
That's very odd. Either the factory accidentally forgot to put it on, or there was something about that model that made a dipstick impractible, but I can't see what that might be. By chance did you happen to notice if the filter housing was tapped for a dipstick and then plugged?
 
I forget now. I suspect it had a plug in it. It's by no means the only 10 3 cylinder I've seen without a stick around here. 4 cylinder chassis... all I've seen had sticks, but not the 3's.

Rod
 
The first 3 bangers we saw around here with a hydraulic stick were the 30 series. IIRC, most of the older ones I've seen were tapped in the access plate for a stick tho.

Rod
 
As I recall, the dipsticks for the 10 series 3 bangers were plumbed into the hydraulic inlet filter manifold.

I'm starting to wonder if our differences can be explained by A&B versus C serial numbers? Almost makes me want to hunt down an early 10 series owner's manual and look. Almost.
 
The one's I'm talking about are all Brit's... as Romeo was closed by that time.
I'll have to go look at a couple little blue bastards tomorrow and see how they're plumbed.

Rod
 
Mine are:

1971 4000SU
1980 4600SU
1988 2810
1989 3910

The last 3 are like new with very low hours. None of these have the rear stick. 1st two made here and last two are Brits. By the way non have cabs either.
 
As I said above, parts site only shows dipstick for 4610 only if it had a cab, but it shows the dipstick for all 4630 models, cab or not. Plus on the 4610's that had the dipstick it looks like it was trough the inspection plate, and on the 4630 it's part of the filter manifold assembly.
 
Parts catalog (4610) is less than clear, however it may appear that the dipstick option was only on the 4000 series and not the smaller tractors.
a162561.jpg
 
I agree that it's confusing. The dipstick itself doesn't list any limitations, but the two different listings for the dipstick tube both say W/Cab, so the dipstick tube was clearly only on tractors with a cab, and how could you have a dipstick without a tube to put it in?
 
My Ford "82 4610 shop manual still has an errata sheet in it the that states that there is no dip stick and shows where the fluid level check plug is at.
 
(reply to post at 16:24:13 07/09/14)

As I stated before no cabless 3 cylinders had the stick. I always figured the cab models did as it was harder to check them without a stick. Seems to me they all should had it though as it would be more convenient.

I collect these tractors and have never seen a cabless 3 banger with a rear stick.
 

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