B80....Rear axle maintenance

[jay1 8]

I am going to change the rear axle fluid  in my 1876 B80.  Never did this before, in the 35 plus years I owned it.

Going to use 90W140 IF I can find it, otherwise 84W140.

Here is my questions that I would like some help on.

1.  Just on planning to drain the 2 quart system and not sure if I should then run some gear oil, maybe 75W140 into it and ride around for 5 minutes and then drain that out and add my final 90W140.  Or is this not necessary.   I read somewhere that people fill it with kerosene and ride around for several minutes---but that does not sound right for me.

2.  In replacing the gear oil, do I have to be concerned with any type of bleeding of the system like ones does in some other systems.  If I seen air bubbles in the final change, is that of concern and if so how to eliminate it.  Perhaps, I am raising a question that is not going to happen.

3. I know the system is 2 quarts.  When the dip stick shows the current level is at the very bottom---does that mean it is 1 quart short, or 1/2 quart, or what.

4. If when draining I see some water in the drain pan, should I be doing anything beyond what I indicated above.

THANK YOUR, AND HAVE A HAPPY T.G.

[rmaynard 15,610]

Remove the drain plug from the bottom of the transmission. Should be a plug with a recessed 1/4" Allen wrench hole. Clean it well so the wrench doesn't slip out and tear up the hole. Lift the front end of the tractor off the ground to get all the oil in the front of the transmission to run over the hump and to the back. After all the fluid is out, check it for water. Water will usually separate and go to the bottom, oil to the top. After running, it forms an emulsion that takes a long time to separate. If there is evidence of a lot of water, fill the transmission with 2 quarts of kerosene or diesel fuel. Run it around for a few minutes to splash the liquid around. Drain it again, and refill with gear oil. Any good GL-5 oil 80/90, 90, 90/140, 85/140 will be okay. Walmart sells a store brand gear oil that is fine.

 

After refilling, check for leaking seals, and replace the shifter boot.

 

Good Luck! Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.

[Digger 66 3,488]

 Walmart sells a store brand gear oil that is fine.

 

 

 

X - 2 ^ , I'm a big fan of that stuff for things like diffs & transmissions that don't require " exotic " lubricants .

[squonk 41,397]

If you don't feel like doing the Kerosene step, Get a can of seafoam engine treatment and put 1/2 a can in it (don't over fill) and drive it some. Put the other 1/2 can in our vehicle's gas tank. The stuff will loosen any carbuncles hanging around in the trans and will help get it out when you drain it.

[jay1 8]

thank you--and, and as an aside--I just got done baking two apple pies for our T.G. dinner later today.   No reason why a grease monkey cannot bake pies.

 

Squonk---I never used seafoam engine treatment, but it sounds like that would be the easier way of going instead of draining, filling with kerosene, do a 5 minute drive, drain kerosene and fill with gear oil.  I want to do it the easiest way, but want to make sure it yields the same approximate results as using kerosene.  Would you agree?  Or, I read somewhere that seafoam is very strong and am wondering if on a 40 year old tractor, that may also take out he seals (moreso than kerosene).

 

Maynard----when lifting the front end off the ground, I am thinking a few inches higher.  Or are we talking more like 6 to 8 inches higher??  Thanks for input, I had no idea that this should be done.

                   When we say IF IT HAS ALLOT OF WATER..........am I correct that means more than a trace amount, for example if it has say more than several spoon fulls of water that would be ALLOT.

 

Kelly--I may take you up on it.  The on-line supplier who I contacted say now there is a delay (whatever that means) in mailing of the Woodruff.

 

EVERYONE---enjoy the holiday.

Edited November 28, 2013 by jay1

[rmaynard 15,610]

You can tell how much water there is by the color and consistency of the fluid. More than a few teaspoons will give it a milky look.

 

Lifting the front end is not always easy, but I try to get it up at least 10 to 12".

[sorekiwi 761]

The reason for lifting the front of the tractor is that there is a "hump" in the center of the case that traps some oil in the front of the case (the drain plug is in the rear half of the case.

 

 

Unless your old oil shows traces of water, I'd just refill it with gear oil and be done.  The kero flush is for removing the nastiness caused by a lot of water.  I've drained gearboxes that have contained a quart or more of water - the result of them sitting outside with a bad shifter boot, or sitting there with 6" of snow slowly melting down through the shifter hole.

[Digger 66 3,488]

I wish I knew about the " hump " before I drained & filled mine last summer . .

[oldblue1993 98]

Just gonna throw my   in, When ever I have done this after years of never being done I have found that the set screws in the shift arm like to loosen up, cant say why just seems to happen "3 times now". so I just suggest after a bit of running go and make sure everything is still tight.

[squonk 41,397]

Sea foam eng treatment is used in engine oil with no adverse effects on their seals. It's not like your going to leave it in there for a long time anyway.

[Martin 2,133]

i used to clean them out with kerosene, but switched to using diesel. i also leave it sit a while before and after running it around a little.

 

use the diesel as well on engines that have had little or no maintenance before i got them. usually fill them more than the full mark on the stick ( up almost to the crank seals is good)  let them sit overnight. all the crap flows out with draining and from then on the engine oil runs much cleaner. never had a problem with leaking seals on engines or transmissions that weren't already leaking beforehand..... 

[jay1 8]

UPDATE---

I jacked the B80 up, drained all the original (1976) axle fluid out.  1 quart drained out, but the dip stick showed that it was empty before draining, so I am assuming it might have been down about a quart.

Could not get the drain plug loose with the 1/4 inch allen, even though it was a perfect fit.  I did something that some of you guys must already know about, put a vice grips on the end of the drain plug and it turned right out.

After 40 years, the oil drained out quickly (much like my car oil) and had no signs of water in it.  Just looked like the car old oil when I change oil on my car.  No need for a diesel bath.

 

I bought Coastal SAE 85W 140 gear oil (GL5)  and noticed a big difference between the original oil and the new oil.  

Whereas the original oil drained quickly, the new oil was much ticker, took forever flow first quart to the fill plug (even though I kept it at room temperature).  Only put one quart in so far, letting it settle in for a while before completing second quart. 

Wondering if the old oil was thinner because of broke down over the last 40 years, or the formula was different 40 years ago, that would make such a big difference in flow.  The temperature in the garage is 40 degrees while working.

Should I be concerned since there is such a big visual difference---thinner old oil , new oil (85W 140) is thicker.  I do use the tractor during the winter also, for snow throwing.

[jay1 8]

Who is going to share the secret with me.

Today I spent hours getting the second quart of of 85W-140 gear oil into the transmission.  It took a little longer than forever to do---a shot-glass at a time. 

Yes, the weather was only 45 degrees, and the oil is heavy (compared to the oil I use for auto oil changes), but there must be a trick to getting the into the transmission.

The oil was at  room temperature (70 degrees), and I quickly discovered that the second quart cannot be added through the add  plug opening since that below the bottom of the dip stick.  

So I added it through the dip stick hole.  But what I went though to do this took well over an hour for the last quart--no way a professional would do it that way.

[sorekiwi 761]

Take out one of the bolts that are in the center of the top of the transmission to let the air bleed out as you fill it.  Speeds up the process considerably.

[stix217 0]

So I was searching around the internets for info on how to change the transmission oil on my B-60 and came across this thread.  There's some great info here, but like others, i too struggled with how long it takes to refill the transmission with oil.  Well, I came up with a solution that worked well for me, and figured i'd pass it along for others to try.  This process save a LOT of time versus pouring it directly from the bottle.

 

1.  Go to Harbor Freight and buy the three pick of 8 oz. plastic storage bottles (Item No. 66170) or similar.  You only need one, but they only come in a 3-pack...you'll find a use for the two others at some point.  

2.  Snip about 1/8" off the tip of one of the twist-on caps.  The more you snip off, the faster the oil will flow.  I found that 1/8" or so worked pretty well and was still long enough to pass the narrow part of the fill tube.

3.  Poke a small hole in the bottom of one of the bottles.  This will allow air to escape as the oil drains in step 5.

4.  Fill the bottle with oil.  Be sure to cover the hole on the bottom of the bottle with your finger so the oil doesn't drip out.

5.  Screw the top back on and dump the bottle into the fill hole on top of the transmission.  The tip of the bottle is long and narrow enough to penetrate through the narrow piece of the fill tube, so it will drain pretty quickly.

6.  Repeat steps 4 & 5 as necessary.  Obviously you're going to want to check the level after each time the bottle is empty.  Then maybe fill the bottle less when you're getting close to capacity.

 

Hope this helps....like I said, it made the process a lot faster for me.

Edited October 15, 2017 by stix217

[ericj 1,578]

an easier and simple way is to remove one of the bolts on top of the trans that hold the gas tank bracket on

 

 

 

 

 

 

eric j

[rmaynard 15,610]

I remove the shifter and pour the oil in through there. To vent, I remove the dipstick. I there is no dipstick, I take one of the bolts out that holds the fender or seat bracket to the top of the transmission.

 

[stix217 0]

In my experience(which is minimal) removing bolts didn't help speed the process. I didn't try filling through the shifter so I can try that next time, but I know the procedure i outlined above works much better than trying to pour directly out of the bottle into the dipstick tube. 

[chevy40972 1]

Just remove top trans bolts, costs nothing, lets air out. Sheese!

[Skipper 1,788]

On my C120 I just took the trans dipstick plastic tube out. It unscrewed and now there is a good big hole. Is this different on the B80 ?