Time for a rear main seal?

paramax55

Member
I finally got most of the little things done on the tractor and I mowed for about 7 hours yesterday. When I finished, I parked it on the concrete. I came back a little while later, and several capfulls of oil had dripped out of the bellhousing. I believe I have a mid-70's 20C, but I'm not certain. Did all of the 3 cylinder Perkins diesels have the same rear main seal back then, or do I need to know exactly what tractor I have? You just break the tractor apart, remove the clutch and flywheel, pull the seal housing, replace the seal, then put it all back together, right? I've done a bunch of automotive clutches over the years. I hope I can tackle a tractor.
 
They did switch from a rope to a lip type seal, the 20C should have the lip type seal, part number 1447691M1, and the gasket for the seal housing 741378M1.
 
Splitting the tractor is not too hard, I'd rather split a tractor than have to pull a engine, or drop the transmission like on a car, or truck any day. Since you have done automotive clutch jobs you can split a tractor no problem, also better to do it on a concrete slab (makes it a lot easier).
 
Just a thought, but when you split the tractor, look at the tranmission input shaft seal area, could be possible your
oil is coming from there, before going to far into the engine side of things?
hope it helps.
 
I'd first park it on an extreme incline. If it drips more it's the rear main. Doesn't sound like enough to worry over.
 
A few caps full? I wish mine was that little!

My 35 Utility leaks engine oil like a sieve out of the bellhousing. So much that I keep the 4-bolt plate loose.

I may be exaggerating a touch, but mine will leak that much while running if I step off for a few minutes. There's always a dark spot under it in the snow.
 
At the risk of sounding like a complete idiot... does the entire rear half share the same oil? If so, it's not from the transmission. One of the next things on the list is a rear-end oil change. The back half is full of chocolate milk right now. The dripping stuff is midnight black. There aren't too many inclines to park it on here in Florida.

I did order a shop manual. Hopefully it can help me comfirm that I have a 20C.
 
Service Manual pictures:

There has been so many Engine swaps, these pictures may assist you:


Bob...MF FE 35 X owner operator:
a176917.jpg

a176918.jpg

a176919.jpg

a176920.jpg
 
(quoted from post at 15:28:19 11/01/17) At the risk of sounding like a complete idiot... does the entire rear half share the same oil? If so, it's not from the transmission. One of the next things on the list is a rear-end oil change. The back half is full of chocolate milk right now. The dripping stuff is midnight black. There aren't too many inclines to park it on here in Florida.

I did order a shop manual. Hopefully it can help me comfirm that I have a 20C.

Yes, from the transmission all the way to the rear end share the same oil. There should be two drain plugs to help drain it out. Expect in the area of 8 gallons to come out.

When I flushed mine out, I was rebuilding the internal hydraulic pump. As such, I had the PTO shaft out of the tractor. Even after a very thorough flush with diesel, I still had about 1/2" of serious, sticky sludge on the bottom of the differential housing. It took nearly 2hrs to clean it. Reached my hand in where I could, used a screwdriver/prybar covered in shop rags. It was NASTY in there.

Do you have a loader on your machine? If so, just lift the front end up with that and see if the leak gets worse? Maybe even rest the bucket on a log so you can get the nose up a bit higher.
 
One thing I do is drill a 1/8" hole where the red dot is (indicated by the blue arrow) so if the rear main is leaking it will come out there first.
3zdz7.jpg


If you have to split the tractor you can put a cotter pin the hole so it keeps it from getting plugged with dirt, and junk.
 
Going off of memory (I'm at work today), it looks like I might have the AD3.152 based on the pictures. That's the one that matches my injection pump.

It's funny that you mention the hole with the cotter pin. I have one of those and I was wondering "What's the cotter pin for?"

No bucket on mine. I do have a pond I coulf back it in to, but I picture bad things happening if I do that - 3 Stooges style.

8 gallons, huh? What kind of oil does it take? I always used 80/90 gear oil in my manual transmissions.
 
(quoted from post at 11:35:19 11/02/17) Universal tractor transmission/hydraulic fluid (no 80w90).
I have 5 gallons of Shield brand AW 46 Hydraulic fluid left over from something different. Is that the right stuff? Is there stuff made specifically for tractors? It seems that hydraulic fluid would be too thin for a transmission.
 
(quoted from post at 10:51:47 11/02/17)
(quoted from post at 11:35:19 11/02/17) Universal tractor transmission/hydraulic fluid (no 80w90).
I have 5 gallons of Shield brand AW 46 Hydraulic fluid left over from something different. Is that the right stuff? Is there stuff made specifically for tractors? It seems that hydraulic fluid would be too thin for a transmission.


It's made specifically for tractors, some auto parts stores like NAPA, O' Reilly, tractor supply, rural king, etc usually stock it.
 
(quoted from post at 17:49:59 11/01/17) One thing I do is drill a 1/8" hole where the red dot is (indicated by the blue arrow) so if the rear main is leaking it will come out there first. http://i65.tinypic.com/3zdz7.jpg
If you have to split the tractor you can put a cotter pin the hole so it keeps it from getting plugged with dirt, and junk.

I'll do just that, good idea. Thanks!
 

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