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What goes in this hole? '96 Champion 720a

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Silveroddo

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Jun 23, 2010
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Northern MN
Hey There,
This is a really dumb question, but I've got a '96 Champion 720A Series 4 w/ an 8.3 cummins and 8 speeds trans. Tonight while I was running it I got a low trans pressure light, shut it down to discover on the passenger side in the engine compartment on what I would call the "fly wheel housing" I'm missing what I am assuming is a vent, breather, or plug of some kind (I found where the leak started but wasn't able to locate anything and don't see anything hung up in the engine compartment). There is a clean hole high up on the housing where I apparently lost my trans fluid. I've attached a picture but unfortunately I didn't take a 2nd one for better location orientation. The picture is located as you look at the engine, toward the front of the machine and as you can see it is fairly high on the fly wheel housing. Never have had an issue with this before and can't find this side of the housing in any of my books. Any help is greatly appreciated. Going to call the dealer tomorrow, but trying to brainstorm a temporary solution in the meantime
 

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Fatgraderman

Fatgraderman

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Silveroddo said:
Hey There,
This is a really dumb question, but I've got a '96 Champion 720A Series 4 w/ an 8.3 cummins and 8 speeds trans. Tonight while I was running it I got a low trans pressure light, shut it down to discover on the passenger side in the engine compartment on what I would call the "fly wheel housing" I'm missing what I am assuming is a vent, breather, or plug of some kind (I found where the leak started but wasn't able to locate anything and don't see anything hung up in the engine compartment). There is a clean hole high up on the housing where I apparently lost my trans fluid. I've attached a picture but unfortunately I didn't take a 2nd one for better location orientation. The picture is located as you look at the engine, toward the front of the machine and as you can see it is fairly high on the fly wheel housing. Never have had an issue with this before and can't find this side of the housing in any of my books. Any help is greatly appreciated. Going to call the dealer tomorrow, but trying to brainstorm a temporary solution in the meantime
Click to expand...
I think that is the barring hole. It’s used to turn the engine over when doing a valve set. Should just be a plastic plug go in there. Did you lose all your oil? One issue I had with those machines was by the time the transmission pump was toast, the accessory drive was as well.
 
Fatgraderman

Fatgraderman

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I wonder if the transmission filler plug is the same size that it could tighten up in the hole?
 
S

Silveroddo

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Jun 23, 2010
Messages
294
Location
Northern MN
I think I did lose all of the oil, I got the trans pressure light and shut it down immediately. The dipstick is behind a panel that's bolted and I didn't have any tools with so I wasn't able to check it, but I'm guessing I lost most of it. If its just a plug I have a few ideas to seal it up until I can get one ordered in. Thanks for the quick replay, really appreciate it
 
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Silveroddo

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Jun 23, 2010
Messages
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Northern MN
Am I barking up the right tree on this assuming that by some weird event the plug became dislodged and I lost oil through this somewhat "Naturally" or is there something more serious going on here?
 
heymccall

heymccall

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A) that ain't your leak
2) as stated above, that hole is for a flywheel barring tool
iii) it's just a plastic plug with an O-ring perimeter (O-ring provides friction fit.
D) the plug's sole purpose is to prevent unwanted debris from entering the flywheel housing.
This one is 5.9 Yours may be the other size, though.Screenshot_20180605-232918.png
 
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Silveroddo

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Northern MN
Someone correct me if I'm wrong, But isn't this housing a wet clutch connected to the trans, trans fluid circulates through this housing, I.E. if that cap is gone oil can splash out... It took about a mile to lose enough oil to trigger the pressure light, and it really looks like the source of the oil for a variety of reasons, just trying to determine if this is possible and if its a possible indicator or an underlying issue. Or its possible I'm misunderstanding the system
 
heymccall

heymccall

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Even if you have a "wet", by design, flywheel housing, with a wet clutch system, the housing oil is in that compartment only. The transmission oil is totally separate.
 
D

DB2

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Winnipeg MB Canada
Champions of that vintage did in fact use the transmission oil to lubricate the clutch housing. There should be a sight glass bubble about half way up the l/h side of the transmission and the oil is checked with the engine running. Judging by the way the dirt is washed off below that hole I would say it could be the source of the leak. I’ll have a look at one of ours tomorrow and see what exactly is missing. In the meantime refill with oil and run it to see how much oil comes out of there.
 
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Silveroddo

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Well, for the short term I found a 1 1/4" rubber expanding frost plug and added 10 gallons of oil and everything seems to be good to go. Now I just need to find a part number for the plug that's supposed to be there, Strange thing, no idea what happened or why it failed, I checked the breather and all was well with no sign of oil coming from there. Thanks for all of the help, 4 champion books and a cummins parts book and no mention of that plug, so I'd still likely be scratching my head without your input!
 
D

DB2

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Sorry but my two have are different.
One has an 8.3 and the other an M11.

With a vent to atmosphere there isn’t any pressure per se and it is splash lubricated. May have taken a while to lose the oil.
Was there a telltale trail that you coujd see ?
 
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Silveroddo

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Yeah, I had roaded on a tar road for about a mile and found the spot where it started.
About the time I turned around and saw the trail was about the time to low trans pressure warning kicked in. Really weird deal. Thanks for looking DB2
 
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jnolan234

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Jun 28, 2020
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billings
I have a sieries V /5 and am getting the low pressure light and alarm. my sight window shows fluid. I pulled the filter and fluid looked dirty and darker than i expected. Looks like regular motor oil? I cannot find the trans fill spout??? I found a drain plug on left side to drain. Can anyone help me with which fluid i should replace it with and where fill spout is?? My hydraulic filter is also up front under cab and I changed it also. Same filter for both??
 
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Silveroddo

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Jun 23, 2010
Messages
294
Location
Northern MN
I’d have to look in the book but I think it calls for 10 to 30 weight motor oil depending on the temp range. Fill should be on the driver side rear bottom of the cab, 2 bolts and a small panel comes off on mine. Same filter for both
 
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