My first post--Question?

[Landreo]

It is not clear to me what fluid you are finding. If there is a pint of liquid overflowing then that can only come from a few places. If it is a pint of foam , then that is completely different. Why do you think it is coming from the final drives? If you slanted the tractor enough that may be possible but the brakes would be soaked also. Has the level in the finals been going down? If not then I would forget that final as a source of the fluid. The pump typically leaks fluid into the engine but if the somehow a leak was on the low side of the gears then I suppose oil could be sucked out of the engine into the hydraulics but very unlikely. If you truly have a pint of fluid and not just foam then you could be overfilling while the hydraulic cylinder is in the down position and it will displace at least a pint as it moves to the upper position, condensation is possible but would not occur that fast, engine oil as stated before, and that is about all that can raise fluid levels.

If you are really finding foam and not fluid then look for a suction leak as others have said. The suction line is long with a few fitting that may leak after 40 years. They may not leak towards the outside and may not show any staining.

I expect you are really describing foam and not fluid, big difference.

Increasing fluid would be interesting. Foaming is just a suction leak somewhere between the bottom of the transmission up to and including the pump, just a matter of spraying some penetrating oil on the lines and fittings looking for external suction.

[BigBill]

To foam you have an air leak on the suction side of the pump. Checkout your hydraulic filter its on the suction side. Check all the fittings on the suction side too. It appears to me with the larger tubing on the filter housing its on the suction side of the pump. The smaller tubing is the high pressure side. It doesn't take much to make if foam if there is an air leak. If you had a bad air leak the pump would cavitate, you would hear it. Cavitation can be caused by the pump and oil supply not being on the same plane but thats another situation. (pump too high)

Also depending on what year your tractor is, I would also check the suction line at the bottom of the tranny too. Something loose or bent in this area could be a problem too. The difference between the years is one has the return line on the bottom of the tranny with the suction line, while the later 154's have the return line at the top cover, its a clamped hose next to the shifter.

[Giles]

PROBLEM SOLVED!!!!---THANKS for the help.
I removed several of the covers and gave the tractor a good cleaning. Upon inspection of all suction supply, I only noticed a spot where the PTO shaft had made contact with the large suction tube. This was OLD damage, done before I purchased tractor, and there is about 1/2" clearance between the shaft and line.
I mowed a small section of my yard and then did a thorough inspection of the cleaned suction line.
Although the fluid was still escaping from the top of the transmission, I saw no signs of a fluid leak to the suction lines.
I made a "temporary" repair with a dab of JB WELD to the worn pipe.
After about three hours, I cut the rest of my yard with no signs of leakage from the transmission.
The pump is also quiter.
When time permits, I will remove the pipe and weld it.
Strange that the line was letting air in but no oil was escaping!!

It just goes to prove that problems don't always follow a set rule plan.
You are a great bunch of guys and I really appreciate the help.

[Jim Becker]

Strange that the line was letting air in but no oil was escaping!!

It is an (apparently not well) known fact that air will go through an opening too small for oil to go through. Of course, any time the tractor is running, a vacuum is drawing air into the pipe. OIl only has a chance to escape when parked and only has the pressure of the height of the oil to push it out. If vibration has any effect, it will only be present when the vacuum is drawn as well.

Same thing with water. We once had a rear tractor tire that only went flat when parked in a certain position. The tire was filled with CaCl/water and it only lost air if the leak was near the top. If the leak was below the fluid level, it didn't loose any air or water.

[BigBill]

Don't weld it, i would go to ebay or contact hamiltonbob and get a used replacement tubing for it. I'm afraid to weld tubing incase some slag or brazing residue gets into the line and into the pump. I'm not sure how your luck is but it would bite me again for sure.

[Rudi]

Giles:

If I could see a transmission diagram, I could figure out the problem.?

Ask and ye shall receive


TC-131 Parts Catalog Revision 8 Index You can check out the rest of the PowerTrain on the server.

You will find that I do have some Numbered Cub resources on the server, and more will be coming down the pipe in a while. So far in the [url]Numbered Cubs[/url] pages, there is info on all 3 models, but the 154 is the most complete so far.

[BigBill]

I think he needed the hydraulic print to see how its tubed up.