New L3901 leaking UDT at Front Wheel Drive Case

[Cathy Liebchen]

Our new L3901 began dripping UDT fluid from the front wheel drive case at 10 hours. Its now at 20 hours and dripping more. Drips faster when the tractor is hot then eventually slows to almost nothing. Not a stream or spray, just a drip.

I got my son to crawl under there and find it. It is where the front wheel drive shift lever shaft comes out of the front wheel drive case, and is shown on page 3-S43 of the WSM. The WSM shows 2 "O rings" and some sort of bolted on ring/retainer that on our unit does not lie flush with the case. I also note some side to side play (about 3/16ths of an inch) in the lever shaft (moves in and out of case) that is not there on my brother's L3301, and his ring/retainer seems more flush. The pictures (which are taken looking up) show the shaft all the way in and then "pulled" out the 3/16" of play. Drips a little bolder when "pulled out"

It doesn't look too complex in the drawing. Is it something we can easily fix? Its still under warranty, but it may be from a tree or hitting something not particularly noticed when we hit clearing brush and not covered? Our dealer does free pickup and delivery for warranty repairs, so other than being without the tractor for a week just as soon they deal with it.

Thanks in advance for your advice and help. We appreciate it.

 

[russell.still.5]

I think it's an easy fix. Seems like I had to do the same think on my dads L3800. I can't remember if I had to take the shaft out of not. Maybe I just took the lever (gray part) off the shaft.

He uses it like a bull dozed and a stick bent his retainer and was allowing the shaft to move. That's likely what happened to yours. It's in a vulnerable place.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Cathy Liebchen]

I think it's an easy fix. Seems like I had to do the same think on my dads L3800. I can't remember if I had to take the shaft out of not. Maybe I just took the lever (gray part) off the shaft.

He uses it like a bull dozed and a stick bent his retainer and was allowing the shaft to move. That's likely what happened to yours. It's in a vulnerable place.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks Russell, very helpful. Its fixed for now by using a punch to bend the retainer ring back down around the shaft with lots of small dimples around it. Not leaking. But to do it right is a dealer chore. The bolt for the retainer ring is not accessible without removing the lever from the shaft. Can get a 12mm open end wrench on the bolt but won't budge. Could not get the roll pin in the lever to budge using any of the roll pin punches we had. Steel in pin too hard to drill it out. Probably needs some special press tool and hate to buy tools to use one time. But for now not dripping after we ran it an hour mowing

 

[lugbolt]

Have done a couple of them. You need a specialized roll pin punch set, and the correct size that fits that pin. They are not flat on the end; they have a nub that fits down into the open part of the pin. Even then it takes some force to knock it out. Kubota recommends replacing them when they're out; but I have successfully re-used them a time or two. Usually some debris gets to the plate and bends it; which is what I see in pic #1. The lever has to be removed from the shaft via roll pin, then you can remove the plate, whack it a few times on a flat plate (or the flat part of a bench vise) to straighten it, then reinstall. While it's off, it's good to reach in and push the O-rings back in where they belong with a small screwdriver. I have one that is worn out (not sharp) that works quite well for o-rings. Takes me about 40 minutes if I take my time and clean/repaint the area afterwards so that it doesn't look like it's been apart. To some that part makes no difference but to me it does. If an owner were to sell or trade the tractor at some point and a potential buyer sees that it's been off (particularly with transmission separation), it can weigh on the offer-and I like to help folks as much as I can.