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1955 TO-35 transmission seal failure

P

Paul1234

New User
Hi everyone,

This is my first post here, hopefully you all can help me out.

I'm repairing a 1955 Massey Ferguson TO-35 for a friend of mine in my spare time. The failure occured when he was doing some work on his property and he noticed oil pouring out of the starter motor and from the bottom of the bell-housing. He's not very mechanically inclined and asked my advice. The oil is gear oil and actively pumps out of the starter motor with the engine running.

I know that I will need to break the tractor apart and replace the clutch, but I'm not to sure where the oil came from. I've read some material about the hi/lo speed shaft support sitting below the transmission input shaft being the weak link but nothing definitive. I can feel the hi/lo speed shaft cap when I reach my hand inside the inspection port. The edges of it have silicone sealant squished outside so it's been repaired before apparently. Nothing is loose, but I'll find more when I pull the halves apart.

Has anyone else heard of or experienced this kind of failure? If so, is there a more robust way to repair the cause? :?:

Thanks everyone!
 
Most likely it's the input shaft seal leaking. It's an easy fix once the tractor is split. If it's a deluxe, it will have a dual clutch, there will be an inner and outer seal.

But they usually won't really pour out unless the gear case is over full. The proper level it to the bottom of the round inspection covers under the seat.

Also have to be careful filling the transmission. If the seal is bad, and oil is poured in the fill plug too fast, it will come out the shaft seal and into the clutch faster than it can transfer back to the rear housings.
 
Thanks for the tip on the refill process. I would have missed that!

I'm going to replace the input shaft seal just in case while I'm in there.
The owner described it as a "catastrophic loss of oil" and the trail it left on the ground sure looked like it. Would the input shaft seal leak that fast?


(quoted from post at 15:17:22 09/26/16) Most likely it's the input shaft seal leaking. It's an easy fix once the tractor is split. If it's a deluxe, it will have a dual clutch, there will be an inner and outer seal.

But they usually won't really pour out unless the gear case is over full. The proper level it to the bottom of the round inspection covers under the seat.

Also have to be careful filling the transmission. If the seal is bad, and oil is poured in the fill plug too fast, it will come out the shaft seal and into the clutch faster than it can transfer back to the rear housings.
Click to expand...
 
It shouldn't leak that fast unless it were over filled or parked pointing down hill. There is also a drain hole in the bottom of the bell housing. If it were clogged, possibly oil could have built up and all came out at once. There is supposed to be a loose cotter pin in the hole to keep it from clogging, so if it is missing, a good opportunity to replace it while it's apart.

If the leak is not the seal, you will be able to see it if it's that bad. You shouldn't need to drain the oil, the input shaft is above the oil level. With oil still in the transmission the leak will be obvious.

It may be time for an oil change, those are notorious for getting water in the gear case. It gets in around the shifter boots and the top link boot under the seat. It holds 8 gallons. The original oil was 90 weight mineral oil (not gear oil). Even that is too thick for cold weather use. Most prefer 15w-40 engine oil.
 
The cotter pin is still there and loose in the drain hole and there is oil coming from it, so that seems to be fine.
There is no oil left in the transmission, though no visible external case breakage.

Thanks for the tip about the oil too!

I'll post what I find when I get in there, if it's anything interesting. Thanks for the help!
 
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