Deere 644E with a leaking rear main 6466T

[fast_st]

Well it looks like the rear main as there's a fair bit of oil back there, not enough to drip on the ground directly but it covers the rear axle housing in a day or two and there was a ton of sludge back there when giving her a good cleaning.

Now I'm more of a gas engine guy versus a diesel guy but if its the rear main, there's not much access from the bottom what with the rear axle in the way. It seems the easiest thing would be remove side and top covers, remove radiator and cooler, that looks like about a 3 hour job and then maybe another 1-2 hours to get the motor completely out. The Kubota M7040 will handily pick up 2000 pounds, does a 6466T weigh less than that? We could likely get a cherry picker/ jib crane to sneak in to give us a hand.

Once an engine is out, is there any 'common sense' items that should be addressed, the hourmeter reads 25,000 but there's very little smoke at full run and it is suspected that it may have been rebuilt at unknown hours. What would you do, check bearing clearance and oil pump condition? is the oil pump in the pan? No other oil leaks at this time. I'm thinking seal saver on the crank, rear main and pan seal at a minimum.

 

[lantraxco]

Well it looks like the rear main as there's a fair bit of oil back there, not enough to drip on the ground directly but it covers the rear axle housing in a day or two and there was a ton of sludge back there when giving her a good cleaning.

Well, I give you points for ambition, way more work than I would take on. Here's a suggestion from an old fart that worked on A's and B's when I was half my current age: Pull the seat and see if the base plate under it comes out, should give access to the driveline between the engine drive damper and the actual transmission input. Then pull the dampener cover if it hase one and the drive dampener, you should then have access to the flywheel. May require some young flexible muscles to work in there and some imagination and rigging with a comealong to swing the flywheel out of the way. Should be plenty space for the installer tool and back in she goes. I am the laziest SOB you will ever meet, so I go to extremes to find the easiest way to do things?

Oh, should be a seal assembly, comes with the sleeve in it and the installer tool (This is a must!) presses the sleeve onto the crank and the seal into the housing at the same time. Manufacturer says do not remove the sleeve from the seal or try to install it without the special installer tooling.

 

[fast_st]

Yeah, under the seat is the heater box and cab floor smack above the transmission body, no floor plate, behind that is the hydraulic tank. Now I could remove the air cleaner and blanket and lay atop the engine to pull the driveshaft to the transmission. Sucking the engine out seems to be a lot less bending and contorting! Thanks for the tips on the seal, tools are easy enough to make.

As part of the machine clean up and check out, we built a new seat frame, has a captains chair from a van, very comfy (came with sitting loosely in cab) pulled the heater, flushed the core, put in all new heat ducts, filter, and removed all the dust and mud, then painted everything underneath.

 

[lantraxco]

Sorry then, who would figure they would take a design barely serviceable and make it worse over the years? How are you supposed to service that driveline, remote controlled mouse? Geeze.

 

[fast_st]

Heh, damn I'd love a remote controlled mouse!! rear axle comes out in pieces, did that already, engine driveshaft would have to be working overtop of the engine and ducking under the hydraulic tank, or maybe sneak in on the starter side between the panels and engine. Doesn't look too difficult, transmission removal requires removing the cab. Axle driveshafts get worked from below.

 

[Zrupp]

It's fasted to pull the engine on a e model. I have had that same job myself. Many times. Can have the engine out in 45 min with a proper lifting device. If you pull the engine with 25000 hrs I wouldn't think twice about changing the torque converter bearings and seals. It can be done with only pulling the engine the hyd tank can stay put.

 

[fast_st]

I'd love to have your service crane to do it, the other options are my backhoe, CK580, overhead beam or the Kubota M7040. torque converter bearings and seals right on the input side of the transmission? Hmm, looks like its only a hundred or so in deere parts. It looks like with a good air gun everything will come right out. It'll also be a great time to clean even more gunk out and straighten the fins on the oil cooler as well or just replace it.