Case 580 CK rear differential way overfull why?

[dad2six]

Hi all. I just bought a Case 580CK and have a bad oil leak coming from the brake cover area. I checked the rear diff oil and it is several inches above the full line. And appeared to be thinner like hydraulic fluid.

I just need to know how it got there?
Is there a seal between the transmishion and the differential that's bad and letting hydraulic fluid in to the diff?

Or did the previous owner put it there?

 

[HDMRice]

I'm not familiar with the unit, but typically that would be from bad brake seals, assuming it has inboard brakes. Every time you hit the brakes, you'd be pumping oil past the seals and into the rear differential.

 

[fliptop10]

dad2six,

There is a seal. However, it is located between the transmission and the torque tube. So the differential and the transmission both share the heavy weight oil. The torque tube that holds the power shuttle and torque converter has the hy trans fluid. I would pull the transmission cover (cover with gear selector) and first check to see if there is a plastic plug in the upper right corner (when the cover is off, stand on the left side and look toward the front of the tractor). If the plastic piece is there and doing its job, then the seal may be the issue.
The reason the fluid is seeping from the brake covers is because of the differential seals. There is a great thread by 1968 Case 580CK where the brakes and seals are replaced. I used the info from that thread to replace mine. Search 580CK and see all the great threads. Xpackdeals, 68, Juskatla, packrat, myself. We have all posted good info on these. Xpack recently restored his and really went the extra mile. His thread is 1970 580ck Gets her name and surgery.

 

[melben]

There are no internal brakes on that series, the possibilities are the front of the top transmission shaft, a cup plug in the rear of the top shaft if not equipped with the PTO, OR, a missing or damaged plug up under the 4 speed cover. The first 580s to have wet brakes was the Phase 3 Ks.

 

[onemank6]

Is yours the power shuttle if so it could be a leak between the shuttle compartment(transmission) and rear end compartment there are seals to keep the 2 from mixing..I have a 1970 ck and just replaced the seals in mine. If you have a power shuttle model hytrans oil is what the shuttle compartment takes and that is thin like hyd oil....The rear end i run 80-90 gear oil...I have heard of people using the hytrans in both compartments so if it develops a leak it will be the same kind of oil....If you have power shuttle there is a separate dipstick for that oil check it to see what it reads it is further forward and to the right than the dipstick for the rear end check to see if it is overfull that may tell you if theres a bad seal between the 2.

as far as the oil leak coming from the brake cover there are seals inside and behind your brake assembly that are probably leaking and the oil you are seeing is from the rear end compartment and if its leaking bad it wont take long for your oil level in the rear end to drop .....
here is a pic of the rearend while it was split and i have took off the cover where the seals are....

here is a pic of the cover with the 2 seals installed

here is a pic with the cover installed to the rearend

There is also a plastic plug that has been talked about on this link that may be a problem heres some stuff about it in this thread go to page 7 and read it it talks about that plastic plug in the rear end under the shifter cover.You might enjoy this whole thread lots of good stuff....
https://www.heavyequipmentforums.com/showthread.php?56120-68-580CK-Project
Here is another thread that has a lot of good stuff about the ck's
https://www.heavyequipmentforums.com/showthread.php?55963-1970-580ck-Gets-her-name-and-surgery

Do you have any pics of your ck you can post ??
There are a bunch of great guys on here and they are very helpful if you need anything else feel free to ask.....someone will answer ....

 

[dad2six]

Wow thanks for the info guys!
I have lots to learn for sure. This is my first piece of heavy equipment.
Here are a few pics of my 1967 580CK

 

[Juskatla]

If you haven't already, I would drain the oil as you may have water in it. I haven't got that far with my project yet, but will be splitting off the rear and dealing with similar issues. I had a little water but my machine is normally parked under cover. The guys have already posted good info about the seals between the transmission and whatever you have in front of it. Mine is like xpack's with a power shuttle. Good luck, you will find the experienced members on here will help out and the rest of us will keep posting up what we run into on our old tractors. Without this forum, I would have already been on trouble. Over the past 5 or 6 years there have been a couple of very interesting, informative and entertaining threads. You would do well to read them all when you have time, as they reference most common issues we have been running into.

 

[dad2six]

 

[onemank6]

Is that lever on the left side of your seat a shift lever or is it to adjust the seat...If that is a shift lever on the left side of your seat i dont think yours is the power shuttle at least mine dont have that lever but there is a guy on here who im sure will catch this thread his name is 1968 case 580ck and he has the mechanical shuttle on his and he has some great threads about his.....maybe when you can get some more pics of the top of the tranny and shuttle area and maybe a few of your steering column area and post them so we can try to figure out what you are dealing with ....
Here is a shot of the top of the of mine which is the power shuttle the dipstick for this shuttle is under the big nut in front of the shifter just to the right the one behind the shifter is the rear end.....

And like Jusk said definitely check for water in the oil especially if this has been stored outside ....
It also looks like you dont have the linkage coming out of the brake cover and if thats the case someone has been there in the past when i got mine it was missing a lot of the brake parts on one side i have read the brakes get hung up and i think thats what had happened to mine and some knucklehead left some of the internal parts and the cover off so i had to get replacements and fixed mine......

 

[Juskatla]

Great pictures, It looks pretty much original from what I can see. Original colours too. Many are not so nice looking after years of abuse. Is there an additional valve for add on hydraulics? I have been looking at adding a circuit for the front end loader to run a clam to pick up and hold objects in the front bucket. Things to look for are the gusset plates on the right side loader arms, and damage to the top of the hydraulic reservoir towers from rolling back the bucket in conflict with the levelling cylinder. Yours doesn't appear to have either of these repairs from what I see in the pictures. They are relatively easy to work on and although not inexpensive to repair, cheaper than many more elaborate newer tractors. If you don't already have the manuals, I would highly recommend that you look for some. Service Manual, Parts Books for Tractor, and Backhoe Loader, Operators Manual for Tractor and Operators Manual for Loader Backhoe. You can find access to the Parts Manual on the Case web site. I don't have the link but someone else may post it for you. The rest of the manuals can be found used in the usual places or you can get a CD. I prefer the paper manuals to study but that's just a personal preference. Few special tools are needed and other than a decent pair of OTC crowfoot wrenches and couple of the bigger combination wrenches for hoses, I have managed with just the usual hand tools most of us accumulate over a lifetime.

 

[dad2six]

Mine looks just like yours xpackdeals!
And thanks for the pics that really helps.
And the lever it's to adjust the seat. I have the shuttle shift I believe.

 

[dad2six]

Thanks Juskatla I thought it was not too bad for being almost 50 years old!
And yes good eye there is a aux hyd valve to run a snowplow that came with it. It also came with tire chains for all 4 wheels.

 

[dad2six]

Thanks fliptop10 I will pull the top cover and check for that plug first.

 

[dad2six]

Thanks melben sounds like you are very knowledgeable

 

[onemank6]

Mine looks just like yours xpackdeals!
And thanks for the pics that really helps.
And the lever it's to adjust the seat. I have the shuttle shift I believe.

Yea its hard to tell from the pics but if yours looks like mine it probably is the power shuttle but they made what they call a mechanical shuttle for them to and that is what 68 case has and there are some differences between the 2 does yours have a clutch pressure gauge in the dash if so i believe yours is the power shuttle i dont think the mechanical shuttle has that guage....if you can see it mine is just left of the center gauge in the pic and just curious how much pressure are you showing when yours is running in neutral it should be around 180....

 

[dad2six]

Wow yours look clean clean!
Here are a few more pics of my beast

 

[Juskatla]

D26- That's a good looking crew you have. The tractor isn't too bad either... You have a mostly original machine, even with Old Abe still watching ahead. Any of the small stuff is easy, and available locally like the headlamps, shifter knob and the like. When I got mine years ago, the grill was missing so I used a section of grid decking and it looks original and protects the rad and pump. A steel pump guard is missing in your pictures but I saw one on Ebay so they are likely available for little cost. As you get deeper into it, there will be some more expensive repairs but in the end well worth the time and cost.

 

[onemank6]

D26.....Mine started out like most and looked about like yours and i ran her and fixed some things for a few years and just this winter i spent a couple months turning it around ...Yours is the power shuttle for sure and it is in pretty good shape ....i have seen them a lot worse shape and there still using them....Im glad i bought mine its fairly easy to get parts for and its just a workhorse.......After seeing your pics i noticed the shifter doesnt have the rubber boot on it and with that boot missing my money says theres water in the rearend i doubt your seals between the the 2 compartments or that the plastic cap inside is missing....If it was me i would do like jusk suggested and drain all the oil out of the rearend and and put 80-90 back in it and get a new boot for the shifter and do whatever you have to to protect it from the weather tarps ect....Mother nature raises havoc on a lot of stuff with these i had mine at my friends and it was outside for a week and got water in the oil bath breather thankfully i cought it before anything happened....
Once you get going on this feel free to ask questions these guys are great at helping with these and theres a few guys including myself who have tons of pics of the different things we have done to ours that are very helpful if you need a certain pic of something just let us know im sure someone has it....
heres how mine started out......

after a lot of hours of repairs and paint and learning ....i have meet some great guys on here who helped me with this project here is what she looks like now.......

 

[1968 Case 580CK]

Dad2Six.......Howdy fellow 580CK owner. Sorry it took me so long to reply, but I have not been getting email notifications from the H.E. site. I have a 68 580CK, and did a pretty detailed thread on how to rebuild your brakes, including the seals that often go bad which allows oil to leak down onto the brakes and cause failure. Alot of great people on this site, always willing to help, and to clown around here and there.

When I was reading the information above, my first thought was that maybe your gear shifter boot is worn out, or even missing, and the tractor has been sitting outdoors getting alot of rain......and water has been running down the gear shifter and into the tranny/rear end. Also could be a bad seal along the top of the rear end cover or the tranny cover. So, when you drain the fluid, try to see if it is water or just thin hydraulic fluid. (If you had a big clear bucket, you would see the water slowly begin to reform at the bottom of the container after it sits awhile).

Here is a pic of my CK......does yours have the Hi/Lo Range gear selector in front of the 4 speed Gear Shifter? If so, then I believe you have the mechanical shuttle like I have.

 

[dad2six]

Xpackdeals Wow quite a transformation you did! Nice work. Your thought on the shifter boot is s good one. I will have to drain it and go from there.