Track Drive Motor Overheating

[delectric123]

I have a Kobelco SK250 4300 hours., and have traveled over a mile at a time before with no problem. But yesterday it was 90 degrees outside, and after going a mile(about 15,20 minutes) I started smelling gear oil in the cab. Upon stopping one of the drives was steaming, and both leaked a bit of gear oil inside near the sprocket. Touching the outside of the planetary it was just very warm, normal temp ,I couldn't feel a place where it was hot, but obviously it must have been hot in the inaccessible area near the sprocket I let the excavator stand a few hours, then drove another .75 miles to destination without a problem. I have 80-90( as speced in manual) that I put in last year into the travel reduction units, maybe this would not have happened if I'd have used synthetic 75-90. Any other oil recommendations? Or are the drives on the verge of failing?
Thanks

 

[Kobelco ireland]

If oil is leaking down the back of the sprocket the floating seals are worn out in the drive motors and need to be replaced immediately or drives could leak out all there oil. How often do you change the oil in drives if you are travelling long distances regularly.

 

[John C.]

There is no cooling system in the final drives except for the air circulating around them. Heavy oils transfer heat slowly. I've seen plenty of shovel logger final drives so hot you couldn't put your hand on them for more than a second. On hot days and a long distance, you need to take breaks and allow things to cool off.

 

[delectric123]

If oil is leaking down the back of the sprocket the floating seals are worn out in the drive motors and need to be replaced immediately or drives could leak out all there oil. How often do you change the oil in drives if you are travelling long distances regularly.

The drives do not leak oil, they just leaked a few ounces when they got warm yesterday, didn't even notice any difference with oil level.. I have not had a problem or noticed any leakage since. I do not travel long distances regularly, few times a year. Operator's manual says to stop after 1(or 2?) hours to cool down, but I guess that changes when its 90 deg outside. I replaced the 80-90 with 75-90 today, I've had good results with it in high-demand gearboxes.

 

[Kyle Helmke]

Make sure your hydraulic oil cooler stays as clean as possible. The only cooling available for the final is the oil going through the motor. If they do get hot change to low speed this will put more oil into the motor and help cool.

 

[delectric123]

All right, thanks for the replies.

 

[John C.]

The amount of oil going to the travel motor doesn't change. The swash plate angle in the motor changes which makes it turn faster. The amount of pressure on the oil will change as the mechanical advantage is less in high speed.