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D6D leak at track outer bearing

mlaird37

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Aug 21, 2025
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Need help identifying this dripping leak in the outer track bearing. It looks like according to the parts book I could undo these 4 bolts and replace number 3(shell)in the diagram with a new sleeve and 2 seals which have superseded that part. Am I on the right track here? I am not sure if the leak is coming from this side or the final drive side




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Nige

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G..G..G..Granville.........!! Fetch your cloth.
That is not where the leak is coming from. I have circled in red the parts you marked in your parts manual and on the machine. See below.

The seals you refer to are only to keep the grease in the pin/bush joint of the track frame for those frames hat have grease zerks in that location.

Need a machine Serial Number so that someone can pull up a parts diagram of the final drive because that's where I think the leak is coming from..

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Nige

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04x04494 serial number. Dang thought chance it would be easy
I don't know about anyone else but I am of the opinion that the back end of the dead shaft is leaking. The $64k question is why.? Loose nut maybe.? But if the nut is loose the dead shaft is probably also loose in the rear case.

The dead shaft fits through the indicated hole in the rear case and the nut I indicated is what you have circled on your original photo.

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mlaird37

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Tx
Are you referring to the axle nut on the outside of the sprockets. Tightening that nut could possibly solve this?
 

mlaird37

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Ok now I see the part that is leaking is actually a large nut with threads in the inside. Is it possible to tighten that
 

Nige

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Ok now I see the part that is leaking is actually a large nut with threads in the inside. Is it possible to tighten that
Not recommended as a first step. As mentioned above you need to find out if the dead shaft is loose. If it is then attempting to tighten that nut is going to do you no good whatsoever. FYI the arrowed part of the dead shaft is pressed into the tapered hole in the rear case of the tractor using somewhere around 30 tons of force, therefore under normal circumstances it should NEVER come loose.

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The attached list of tooling is what it takes to get that shaft out and back in again.

EDIT: If you look at the photos accompanying Post #3 on Page 1 of this thread you can see the tooling in action. What you also may notice is that similar tooling is needed to remove the track sprocket before access can be gained to pull the dead shaft. Caterpillar refers to it as the sprocket shaft.

 

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tctractors

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You will need to pull down the F/Drive and then inspect the Dead Shaft as it's been rotating in the main case, the cause of this is most usually linked to lack of grease in the outer hub, you could always try your luck at removing the peg under the wire clip holding the nut in place, ease the F/Drive pre-load off then tighten the dead shaft nut up then re drill the shaft to insert the peg followed by resetting the hub pre - load,to get at the nut you really need to drive the Tractor up on timber bulks.
 

D6 Merv

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Is usually a sign of sadness and spanner swinging to come, if you find oil weeping out of that inside deadshaft nut on any caterpillar
Drop the oil out of the final drive on that side see if any 'glitter' or toothache is to be found. Any sign of either you may as well start pulling it all to bits.
Totally agree with everything TC says, and it totally does often start if nobody ever greased that outer bronze bush.
 

mlaird37

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Aug 21, 2025
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Tx
I did find some glitter in the final drive oil and some gunk on the magnetic plug but it might not have been changed in years. No chunks or anything.
 

mlaird37

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Tx
It’s a new to me machine and neither outer bearing will take grease even after removing and cleaning the fittings so I have ordered new ones
 

Nige

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And as per what Merv said above there is the reason why the dead shaft is most probably loose.

I think you need to accept that the final drive has to come apart to fix this issue, and sooner rather than later. Your challenge is finding someone local to you with the tooling and the expertise to actually do the job.
 
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