135 dropping oil and clutch problems

JeffScott

Member
My newly restored 135 was put to work mowing 4 acres of tall grass yesterday and it did great. Once we parked it on the trailer for the day, it immediately began bleeding engine oil out the trans weep hole as shown in the last photo.








A little history, My engine runs perfectly, but since I've owned it it has always run at about 60psi oil pressure, no matter the engine speed. I noticed just as we were finishing the mowing yesterday that it had slowly worked its way down to 50psi and when I went to idle, 20psi. It had never done that before and that was just before it started spewing oil.

The other problem I found yesterday, is that the PTO clutch doesn't engage easily, it grinds. And while it is fully depressed to the floor, it vibrates and make a lot of noise. I figure it needs to be replaced. I also thought that maybe the vibration from the clutch disturbed the rear motor seal and caused the oil drop.

But I've come here to get a prognosis from you gents, the experts. What needs to be fixed and how to proceed?

Thanks a lot in advance for any help you can give me!

Jeff
 
Hi Jeff from South Wales, UK.
Sorry to be the conveyor of bad news. It does not look good for the clutch. The oil that you have leaking can come
from two places. The most likely source is the rear crankshaft seal. Older 135s are fitted with what is know as a
'rope' seal. This is in two halves which are effectively squeezed around the crank journal to form the seal. As
they wear they allow oil to pass. This can also happen with a good seal where the engine has been overfilled with
oil. To access the seal you will need to split the tractor, remove the clutch and flywheel and then remove the
seal housing which will come off in two parts.. I would absolutely recommend that you refit only a genuine Perkins
seal. Other seals look the same but are of a harder material. I had one some time ago that lasted about 5
hours....so its genuine only now. You will need a new gasket for the seal housing as well.

The other possible source for the oil leak is the rear seal of the sump (oil pan) gasket allowing oil into the
clutch housing. The gasket consists of two paper joints at the side and a rectangular cork packer front and rear.
The rear cork can harden and split. There is no way to tell where your leak is coming from until you have either
split the tractor or replaced the sump gasket and still have a leak. You will have to do one so it would be
advisable to do the two at the same time. Let us know how you get on.
I think that your gear engagement problem is related to the oil leak. It is very likely that oil has found its way
onto one or both clutch plates and is causing a drag when you try to engage gear. If you remove the plate under
the clutch housing and use a good flashlight you will probably see and feel a film of oil on the clutch cover.
DavidP, South Wales, UK
 
You done scratched the new paint on your oil pan!! I would also suggest dropping the oil pan, and look at the main, and rod bearings along with a look at the oil pump. Might as well while you have it split, sounds like it may have started nibbling on some bearings, or it may have chunked the thrust bearings into the oil pan (as much as I hate to say all that).
 
That engine is, I'm guessing, the Perkins diesel.

I scratched my head over a similar oil leak on an overhaul (my work!), went through all David's recommendations. back together and still leaking . . . Rather annoying . . .

Finally found it around the tiny expansion cup sealing the rear of the oil pressure galley. It had corroded to the point of leaking, and with the relatively high oil pressure blew a fair bit overboard. That was the only defect found with that item in probably 15 overhauls over the years.

By the way, the oil pressure readings you mention are normal for the several in our fleet.
 
thanks for the response everyone. I'm taking a two week vacation to plan my strategy on this and enjoy some time off.

Looks like I will become a tractor splitting expert. Can the rear seal/thrust bearing be done with the engine in tractor, or should I pull it off the axle and put it on a stand? I'll most likely replace the clutch assembly. Anything else you can think of? Oil pump?
 
(quoted from post at 07:23:23 05/29/16) thanks for the response everyone. I'm taking a two week vacation to plan my strategy on this and enjoy some time off.

Looks like I will become a tractor splitting expert. Can the rear seal/thrust bearing be done with the engine in tractor, or should I pull it off the axle and put it on a stand? I'll most likely replace the clutch assembly. Anything else you can think of? Oil pump?



After you split it, and remove the flywheel you can get to the rear seal. You have to drop the oil pan to get to the thrust bearings.
 
(quoted from post at 04:17:55 05/27/16) Hi Jeff from South Wales, UK.
Sorry to be the conveyor of bad news. It does not look good for the clutch. The oil that you have leaking can come
from two places. The most likely source is the rear crankshaft seal. Older 135s are fitted with what is know as a
'rope' seal. This is in two halves which are effectively squeezed around the crank journal to form the seal. As
they wear they allow oil to pass. This can also happen with a good seal where the engine has been overfilled with
oil. To access the seal you will need to split the tractor, remove the clutch and flywheel and then remove the
seal housing which will come off in two parts.. I would absolutely recommend that you refit only a genuine Perkins
seal. Other seals look the same but are of a harder material. I had one some time ago that lasted about 5
hours....so its genuine only now. You will need a new gasket for the seal housing as well.

The other possible source for the oil leak is the rear seal of the sump (oil pan) gasket allowing oil into the
clutch housing. The gasket consists of two paper joints at the side and a rectangular cork packer front and rear.
The rear cork can harden and split. There is no way to tell where your leak is coming from until you have either
split the tractor or replaced the sump gasket and still have a leak. You will have to do one so it would be
advisable to do the two at the same time. Let us know how you get on.
I think that your gear engagement problem is related to the oil leak. It is very likely that oil has found its way
onto one or both clutch plates and is causing a drag when you try to engage gear. If you remove the plate under
the clutch housing and use a good flashlight you will probably see and feel a film of oil on the clutch cover.
DavidP, South Wales, UK


Hi David. Do you know of a source online for the Genuine Perkins rear seal? I've searched and am not coming up with anything thus far. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

Jeff
 
Hi David. Do you know of a source online for the Genuine Perkins rear seal? I've searched and am not coming up with anything thus far. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

Jeff
 

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