520-H Leak?

[WheelHorse520H 706]

Hi all,

I (as you can guess by my username) have a 1988 520-H that has a leak back at the H. The transmission/transaxle seams to be leaking a lot more every time I look at it. Everything under the rear fender is soaked with oil. I have been seeing a small leak for a while but only the left side of the trans was wet, now the whole thing is. Does this mean I need to replace all of the gaskets? My apologies I have no pictures today.

Thank you,

Andrew

[squonk 38,844]

First guess is a hyd. line and the temperature sending unit. Pull the fender. Re-read it and run it to see if you can find the leak

[Handy Don 10,552]

I agree with @squonk. Look for places where a hose or tube is being rubbed by a moving part (belt, pulley, motion control, etc.) Gently wiggle the connectors to see that they are firmly attached.

The line down the left side of the tractor back to the oil filter and the line from the filter to the pump are relatively low pressure. the one from the pump's right side that runs diagonally near the bottom of the frame over to the lift control valve is high pressure and would be my first suspect. If you aren't seeing a leak and want to up the pressure in that line to its maximum, activate the lift control lever and hold it in lift or lower position until you hear the relief valve open (it squeals).

 

Before you look for leaks, if you can, after the fender is off, give it a good wash down with detergent to break up the oil and then hose it off before starting it up again, that'll make it easier to ID the source of any newly leaking oil. Do keep the hose away from the top of the dipstick tube and the fuel filler cap -- both of those have vents and you don't want water going in either one!

[WheelHorse520H 706]

@squonk, @Handy Don Thank you for the advice, I can only check loose hoses and connections at the moment because I am fixing some engine issues.

 

Andrew