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CT332 with Drive Motor Problem

G

gumper

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Hello, I have a 2009 Deere CT332 with 2,400 hours on it. I know the drive motors are typically failing around this number of hours. The other day I noticed a burnt oil smell and stopped the machine and found leaking oil on the left side motor. See the attached pic... My question is whether it's easy to take a cover off the look at the internals and see if maybe it's just a bad seal, or is it more likely just time to replace? Thanks for any advice.IMG_2295.jpg
 
mg2361

mg2361

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gumper said:
My question is whether it's easy to take a cover off the look at the internals and see if maybe it's just a bad seal, or is it more likely just time to replace?
Click to expand...

That cover can come off and there is an O-ring on it that seals it. It might be a bit of a bugger to get the cover out however. I made an adapter to screw into the center hole and use a slide hammer. Even then I broke 1 or 2 covers removing them:eek:. It is not uncommon to see that type of leak on those. While the cover is off take a real good look at the planetary gears to make sure they are in good shape. That vintage motor has had a lot of gearbox failures as well as drive motor failures. With that being said we have seen failures at about your hours and we have seen these things run double that or more. Flip of the coin I guess.
 
G

gumper

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Thanks very much for the info. I looked at the parts drawing and it shows a O ring and also a snap ring? I am going to make a adapter to use with a slide hammer too...seems like it will be the best way Can this be done with the track still on and the motor/gearbox on the machine? Is it just bang on the slide hammer or are there any other tricks you can recommend? Is the cover just press fit into the housing?
 
S

skata

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Looks like you might have to remove the fill bolts. Then pop that snap/expansion ring out. Then cover should come out. Soak that area with some lube first too.
 
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skata

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You can remove cover without taking track off. And the cover theoretically should slide out easy if you remove the snap ring. But dirt and rust is your enemy.
 
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skata

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Oh and drain the oil out first. Position hole near bottom and remove plug and drain. And I'd have a new oring on hand before taking the cover off.
 
G

gumper

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I managed to get the snap ring off pretty easily. I'll need a new one for obvious reasons... Ordered a new o-ring and snap ring. I hit it with some PB blaster and gonna let it soak overnight. Definitely has some rust but not too bad...didn't have to worry about draining the oil cause there wasn't any :)

I'm pretty sure it's gonna be toast but got my fingers crossed it might be repairable
 

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Tones

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Before you do anything check the oil level. If it's over full then the problem is the hydraulic motor and the planetary should be OK after a flush and topup. Don't fix what ain't broke.
 
G

gumper

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I finally found time to look into this....used the slide hammer trick to remove the front cover (worked great). I welded the center plug right onto the end of one of the slide hammer attachments. 2 pulls and it was off.

At first glance it didn't look too bad, but once I cleaned out the oil residue, there's lots of fine metal fragments which look like they come from an area behind the sun/planetary gears. I guess my question is should I remove the whole drive motor assembly from the machine and tear it down to see if maybe it's a bearing or is it toast and just order a rebuilt? If it is a bearing, can I repair replace while it's still attached to the machine? Of course I'm working 5 hours from my home....

I think the problem is on the gear side but don't really have enough knowledge to know for sure. Thanks so much to everyone who has helped on this so far.IMG_2398.jpg IMG_2399.jpg IMG_2404 (1).jpg IMG_2398.jpg IMG_2399.jpg IMG_2404 (1).jpg IMG_2402.jpg

Here's a few pics...
 
mg2361

mg2361

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You will be buying a drive motor assembly. Planetary parts are not sold separately. Not by Deere anyway.
 
heymccall

heymccall

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The contamination from running dry may find its way into the primary bearing set and floating seal, BUT, if it were mine, I'd flush it out, fill, run, drain and refill, then look at the oil again in 20 or so hours.
Right now, from these pictures, the thrust wear on the sun gear and housing cover look excess, and that may be the only issue, aside from metal particles in where they can't be cleaned.
 
Tones

Tones

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mg2361 said:
You will be buying a drive motor assembly. Planetary parts are not sold separately. Not by Deere anyway.
Click to expand...
There plenty of business who specialise in servicing planetary drives. Many carry spear parts as well. From my own experience a total rebuild is less than half the cost compared with buying new drives from the machine dealer. For example complete new hubs and motor for a Rayco C140 here in Australia was $14,000 per side and are exactly the same as used on a Kobelco 8 ton excavator, rebuild cost $4-7000.
I also found an outfit who specialises in cutting gears. I took the sun gear and and 2 planetary gears to them I case I couldn't get them from the factory. A 2 week lead time with the gears hardened to Rockwell 60 compared with 11-16 weeks from the factory and the gears hardened to Rockwell 35.
 
Tones

Tones

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Gumper, on the back of the hydraulic motor there may be a tag. That will give you all the information required for buying parts. It's not often planetary hubs are made for one machine or one manufacturer.
 
S

skata

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Did you try pulling the gear assembly out? Not too familiar with the deere. But I think you can just grab that whole gear assembly and pull it out, then inspect the gears on the back side.
You may buy some time by cleaning the gears and refilling with oil.
 
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