Frozen Transaxle

[FreddieFarmall 1]

I know this is a dumb question, but if water gets inside the transaxle (through a bad shifter rubber, for example) Could it freeze things up enough to prevent wheels from turning? I tried to move a parts C-125 this past weekend, and that is what I suspect happened. How do I remedy this short of waiting until spring?

Fred P.

[stevasaurus 23,272]

Fred...not a dumb question at all...the answer is yes it can if the water is frozen in the trans. Short of tearing it down (I assume you have an 8 speed manual transmission). you need to get some heat under the trans (a 100W light bulb or space heater will do it in a garage), and melt the ice. At this point, drain the trans, put in about 1 1/2 quarts of diesel fuel and spin the trans as best you can...drain and put in about 1 1/2 qts of 90 WT oil (until it starts to drain out the fill hole...located by the back axle about an 1" up). Depending on how the oil looks when you drain it, this may get you by until spring. If you think you have some sludge in the bottom of the trans, I suggest tearing it down and cleaning it out when you can. Plenty of help here when and if you have to do that. It is the only way to really know what you have going on inside. I do not know how long it has been setting or what the oil coming out looks like, but you have to warm it up and get it drained first. Let us know. :)

[Don1977 604]

You need to jack up the front of the tractor to get every thing to drain out. You can see why in this post.

[Kelly 1,033]

I use a ready heater to thaw them out, if it just going to set unused drain it and fill with motor oil till you need to use it, I've seen them freeze and break the trans case.

[3609horse 27]

I got one last winter that was frozen solid. I was able to put it in my basement and let it thaw out, things were quite sticky but got it to drain and I used some atf fluid to run

through it to clean out the water and sludge and after I got everything working I filled with gear oil. I put it on my son's tractor and it worked fine. I found a good way to keep

the water out if you don't have a good boot it to cut about a 5" circle out of a tire tube and poke a small hole in the center and push it down over the shifter and it covers

the inlet. This works for me.

Good luck with yours.

[FreddieFarmall 1]

Good News-The mild temperatures has allowed the trans to thaw out enough that I could move the tractor closer to the house (in case I need to warm it up again). I pulled the dipstick and what is on there is really ugly and stinky. I will try to flush it out as you guys suggest.

Have Merry Christmas!

Fred

[Save Old Iron 1,571]

one quick caution about not splitting the trans case. I have opened a few that have sat out unprotected in the weather. If water does enter the trans case and condenses on the inside roof of the trans case, a fairly heavy buildup of scale forms on the trans case above the oil line. Just filling the case with kero or diesel and running the trans around in gear may dislodge significant particles of scale which could then catch in the exposed bearings - the expensive ones on the axle.

[SousaKerry 503]

I had 2 C-81's I picked up a few years ago one was sticky the other froze solid. The sticky one I cleaned with diesel and use it in my puller never split it and it runs fine.