Case 1845B planetary fluid change

Does anyone know if you have to remove the pump and planetary assembly to change the fluid in the planetary? I just bought the machine and want to service it completely and can't find the information in the service manual I bought for the machine. It has 2 drain plugs but they are both on the side of the planetary assembly. Thanks, Joe

I don't have a book for the 1845B but I believe the 1845B would be the same as the 1845 newer S/N shown below. Not a real clear picture but might give you some ideas of where to look!

Thanks. I will get it jacked up and remove the lower panel and check it out. That's a different picture than was in my manual.

I just did this job last week, but I didn't flush mine, just drained the fluid. The drain plugs (on my 1845C) were easy to access after locking the lift arms all the way up and removing the floor plate. One plug on top (fill) and one on bottom (drain), that use a 3/8" square drive (extension) to remove, similar to the kind of plug you might find on a truck differential. Mine calls for 1 pint gear lube per side ...or half a bottle for both. The most time consuming part of the job for me was cleaning all the rocks, sand, stick and other debris off the belly pan ahead of time. If you remove the seat panel you can also lube up all the steering joints at that time.

It's also a good time to drain and replace the drive chain fluid and grease up joints that are sometimes overlooked, like the U-joints and wheel bearing zerks. Not sure on the "B" versions, but on the "C" version there is a hidden zerk on each axle ...often blocked from view by the rim/tires that, when not greased enough, leads to expensive wheel bearing failure, and the zerk on the side between the front and rear wheels that you can see.

Thanks, Jeepwalker. I will get the pan dropped and check it out. Mine is also full of crap laying on top of it. I just serviced both chain cases since the bearings went out and trashed the gear cluster and shaft on the left side. So it got a new cluster, shaft, and bearings. Also put all new chains in on that side and adjusted and inspected the other side while I was at it. I'm still not sure about the planetary tho because I see the 3/8 plugs and they are both on the sides and not the top and bottom which doesn't make sense to me, but when I look at the part diagram it shows them as being on the sides as well.

Ensure you are not confusing the level plug/s (which are on the side). The drain plugs on mine were on the top/bottom. But if they do happen to be on the sides of your machine, consider attaching a thin hose (~3/8", or 1/4") onto a suction gun and insert the hose as far as possible and draw as much fluid out. Then, fill with oil, maybe drive a little, and suck it out again ....then fill with gear lube or whatever lube your machine calls for.

It took me a good 1/2 day to clean and scrape the belly pan clean. Not a fun job. I found that a small gardening scoup/digger and gasket scrapers or screwdrivers make scraping the crud around the hoses easier ...then suck out with a shop vac. Good luck, let us know how it goes.

Jeepwalker said:

It took me a good 1/2 day to clean and scrape the belly pan clean. Not a fun job. I found that a small gardening scoup/digger and gasket scrapers or screwdrivers make scraping the crud around the hoses easier ...then suck out with a shop vac. Good luck, let us know how it goes.

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Not a Case, have done one but no pictures, this was a JCB a little over a year ago!

Before:


After cleaning:

...or half a bottle for both.

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Whoops, that should read: 1/2 a bottle of gear lube per side or a whole bottle for both sides (per the 1845C manual). Your 1840 may differ slightly, refer to the manual on type of lube and qty, obviously.

kshansen: you did a mighty good job cleaning out that belly pan. It's amazing how filled up that area can become!

And that was not the first time or worst, just the time I took a picture. I also had to do the same on the 1845C to get at a failed drive hose to the hydraulic motor. Dirt was level with top of the motors. Actually had to use an air chisel on much of it then take a garden hose and let it run in there while digging around with an old screw driver, took most of the after noon! I did replace all the hoses connected to the drive motors that time as I did not want to have someone else go through the same thing a couple months later. It was one of the last projects before I retired and the guy taking my place is a good guy!

Been crazy busy lately and finally just got around to servicing the planetary's. I just wanted to give an update for anyone that may need the solution to this. I did find that their are two 3/8 square plugs on the sides for filling/level of the oil. Their is also a drain plug on the bottom that is small allen plug to drain the gear oil.

I will be doing this soon as well....it appears that on my 89 1845C that there are access plates on the main belly plate for servicing the planetary assemblies. So should be easier then having to remove that big heavy plate.

to check the planetaries level can you do that from under the seat?

I have an 1840. Do all have planetary gear setup?

Any 1840 or 1845c with serial number before JAF0067438 will have planetary gear. Those are 1989 and earlier machines.

This is a picture of what I have. Doesn't look like the planetery type, but not sure. And thanks for your respnse

No, that is not a planetary drive.
It's possible someone previously had a problem with either a drive motor or planetary and just replaced them with new style motors (that don't require the planetaries).
With those style motors you should be using HTO additive.

Thank you so much for your help. I picked up a Quart of HTO already.