# Slew gearbox leak bobcat 335



## leigh (Jan 2, 2009)

After a few years of on and off leaks the dam finally broke ! 6 hrs just to get to carriage. Got it all unbolted and lines off. Does anybody know why I can wiggle it around but it won't come out ? Wanted to get it off over weekend so I could bring it in to have the output shaft seal replaced. Are there dowel pins of some sort to align it and keep the torque off the 8 bolts ? Was thinking of putting a jack under the house and try to push it up. Don't want to damage it. Worst case is I hit bobcat in am and ask them.


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## 98Chevy2500 (Nov 27, 2005)

Not sure if this is true or not, but we were told that the house has to be split in order to remove the swing gear... Hence why ours 331 still leaks as well. Can get a hold of my Bobcat mechanic Monday and verify if you need.


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## plow4beer (Nov 16, 2016)

Call your BC mechanic, because jacking the house doesn’t seem right....but honestly I don’t remember, it was a few yrs back when we had to replace the slew/swivel joint on our last mini, and to be honest I opted to pay a BC mechanic to do it, while I disposed of all the beer in the shop


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## John_DeereGreen (Jan 2, 2011)

98Chevy2500 said:


> Not sure if this is true or not, but we were told that the house has to be split in order to remove the swing gear... Hence why ours 331 still leaks as well. Can get a hold of my Bobcat mechanic Monday and verify if you need.


That sounds about right. They'd make you split the machine in half to get a gearbox out. Like changing an o ring in the steering cylinders on a Toolcat, you have to remove the whole axle and split it in half.


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## 98Chevy2500 (Nov 27, 2005)

plow4beer said:


> Call your BC mechanic, because jacking the house doesn't seem right....but honestly I don't remember, it was a few yrs back when we had to replace the slew/swivel joint on our last mini, and to be honest I opted to pay a BC mechanic to do it, while I disposed of all the beer in the shop


We were quoted around 12K to split the house, hence it still leaks and have to crawl under to grease the slew bearing, instead of using the stupid extension hose out front. When the time comes, we will do it in house since we now have more than one machine and can afford the downtime. Lots of hoses to label....


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## 98Chevy2500 (Nov 27, 2005)

John_DeereGreen said:


> That sounds about right. They'd make you split the machine in half to get a gearbox out. Like changing an o ring in the steering cylinders on a Toolcat, you have to remove the whole axle and split it in half.


Planned obsolescence, guaranteed repairs for their mechanics


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## leigh (Jan 2, 2009)

Thanks, I'll stop by bobcat in the morning before I head to shop to continue the battle. The motor/carrier comes out without splitting the machine in half. Should lift right out ,but it doesn't lol. Watched some youtube vids but they didn't mention my issue with it being loose but its reluctance to just pop out into my lap. If we had some snow this year I would have just dropped it off, I'm trying to be economical.(cheap)


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## plow4beer (Nov 16, 2016)

98Chevy2500 said:


> We were quoted around 12K to split the house, hence it still leaks and have to crawl under to grease the slew bearing, instead of using the stupid extension hose out front. When the time comes, we will do it in house since we now have more than one machine and can afford the downtime. Lots of hoses to label....


Interesting.....granted the machine we had the swivel joint replaced on was smaller than your 331, BC only charged me a couple G's (parts & labor...and I'll have to look, but I think it may have been just under $2k??)....i have to call out there tomorrow for some filters/etc, so I'm going to ask my mechanic what they charge for this job to be done on a 331. $12k seems excessive.?...idk, maybe I'm just speshull



leigh said:


> Thanks, I'll stop by bobcat in the morning before I head to shop to continue the battle. The motor/carrier comes out without splitting the machine in half. Should lift right out ,but it doesn't lol. Watched some youtube vids but they didn't mention my issue with it being loose but its reluctance to just pop out into my lap. If we had some snow this year I would have just dropped it off, I'm trying to be economical.(cheap)


Thumbs Up
If your dealer/mechanics there are anything like mine, they are more than happy to take the time to help you fix stuff on your own....granted you buy machines/parts/etc from them.


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## John_DeereGreen (Jan 2, 2011)

plow4beer said:


> Thumbs Up
> If your dealer/mechanics there are anything like mine, they are more than happy to take the time to help you fix stuff on your own....granted you buy machines/parts/etc from them.


Same here. My Bobcat dealer has given me thousands of dollars in free help. Giving me copies of shop manuals, explaining things that don't make sense unless you've been there, shortcuts.

But they're also the place my machines go if we don't have time, or it's out of our wheelhouse on the repairs.

Until they give me a reason to look at other brands, I won't.


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## leigh (Jan 2, 2009)

plow4beer said:


> Thumbs Up
> If your dealer/mechanics there are anything like mine, they are more than happy to take the time to help you fix stuff on your own....granted you buy machines/parts/etc from them.


I'm always asking questions.They will print out the info from there data base with all the schematics. A shop repair manual is 125$ I guess it would be well worth it. The only problem I have is the turnaround is slow.They put an engine in one of my skids,repaired the "creeping machine issue"of another skid and repaired other issues over the years. I bought the excavator from them so I have a good relationship with them. I've got to get my butt off this couch and head over !


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## plow4beer (Nov 16, 2016)

98Chevy2500 said:


> We were quoted around 12K to split the house, hence it still leaks and have to crawl under to grease the slew bearing, instead of using the stupid extension hose out front. When the time comes, we will do it in house since we now have more than one machine and can afford the downtime. Lots of hoses to label....


Talked to my mechanic, and what we did yrs back was different...your right, he said 10-12k...ouch


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## John_DeereGreen (Jan 2, 2011)

plow4beer said:


> Talked to my mechanic, and what we did yrs back was different...your right, he said 10-12k...ouch


10-12k to split it...that's almost half what the machine is worth!


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## leigh (Jan 2, 2009)

got it off, there were 2 dowel pins,just jacked it up and it came free, heavy sucker,gotta be 80 lbs or more.bobcat acted like they didn't want to repair,said the last one they did 4 yrs ago had to be sent out to have shaft pressed of of bearings,didn't exactly inspire confidence.


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## plow4beer (Nov 16, 2016)

John_DeereGreen said:


> 10-12k to split it...that's almost half what the machine is worth!


Complete job (labor/materials), for what I'm gathering is being described in this thread. 
And yes, My mechanic said to me, if I was looking at buying a used machine (of that model/yrs) that needed that repaired, to stay away....it wouldn't be worth the beer money. 
Only way he made it sound feasable, is if you already own the machine and have the means/time to fix it yourself, otherwise offload it.


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## John_DeereGreen (Jan 2, 2011)

plow4beer said:


> Complete job (labor/materials), for what I'm gathering is being described in this thread.
> And yes, My mechanic said to me, if I was looking at buying a used machine (of that model/yrs) that needed that repaired, to stay away....it wouldn't be worth the beer money.
> Only way he made it sound feasable, is if you already own the machine and have the means/time to fix it yourself, otherwise offload it.


Did they give you a number of labor hours to split it and put it back together? I don't own one or have the need/desire to own one but just curious.


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## 98Chevy2500 (Nov 27, 2005)

leigh said:


> got it off, there were 2 dowel pins,just jacked it up and it came free, heavy sucker,gotta be 80 lbs or more.bobcat acted like they didn't want to repair,said the last one they did 4 yrs ago had to be sent out to have shaft pressed of of bearings,didn't exactly inspire confidence.
> View attachment 190866


See if they can get you a BC Reman, usually cheaper than rebuidling. At least on final drives it is, found this out the hard way thanks to the dealer.


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## 98Chevy2500 (Nov 27, 2005)

John_DeereGreen said:


> Did they give you a number of labor hours to split it and put it back together? I don't own one or have the need/desire to own one but just curious.


A Lot, it can take hours just to replace a hose in the base.


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## 98Chevy2500 (Nov 27, 2005)

plow4beer said:


> Talked to my mechanic, and what we did yrs back was different...your right, he said 10-12k...ouch


Make sure you keep the slew bearing well greased, once it starts growling it needs attention ASAP.


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## leigh (Jan 2, 2009)

98Chevy2500 said:


> See if they can get you a BC Reman, usually cheaper than rebuidling. At least on final drives it is, found this out the hard way thanks to the dealer.


 The motor and all the bearings in carrier are in perfect shape, its just the one seal at the output shaft that is leaking. When they split it open they will just replace the soft parts. I actually had the parts, found them and receipt dated 12/21/2003 -155$ ! It was a minor intermittent leak for the last 7 years or so. I ended up dropping it off at a shop that does the work that bobcat can't handle inhouse. They said that bobcat is a very good customer.


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## 98Chevy2500 (Nov 27, 2005)

leigh said:


> The motor and all the bearings in carrier are in perfect shape, its just the one seal at the output shaft that is leaking. When they split it open they will just replace the soft parts. I actually had the parts, found them and receipt dated 12/21/2003 -155$ ! It was a minor intermittent leak for the last 7 years or so. I ended up dropping it off at a shop that does the work that bobcat can't handle inhouse. They said that bobcat is a very good customer.


No reason to get in a hurry...hopefully the new seals aren't dried out.


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## leigh (Jan 2, 2009)

98Chevy2500 said:


> No reason to get in a hurry...hopefully the new seals aren't dried out.


 You never know,but they are sealed in plastic bags. Sometimes I wonder how long parts sit on the shelf. I got a set of decals for my 773 and they were wrinkled and wouldn't even come off the release paper ! Looked like parchment from the middle ages !


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## leigh (Jan 2, 2009)

Got the resealed motor/carrier back today.Got it installed in in 4 hrs. Hooked up the 5 lines while it was loose and then bolted it in, helped immensely !Didn't have enough fluid to test it out ,have to stop by Bobcat and pick some up. The position of the gear was off so I had to rotate the house a couple inches to line up the gears. Going to leave it all opened up until I test it to make sure its good to go, then another 4 hrs to put the rest of it back together.


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## 98Chevy2500 (Nov 27, 2005)

Might as well do the fuel pickup tube while you're in there.


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## WIPensFan (Jan 31, 2009)

I woulda just bought a new machine...


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## WIPensFan (Jan 31, 2009)

payup


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## leigh (Jan 2, 2009)

WIPensFan said:


> I woulda just bought a new machine...


 Works for me, just short 65 K at the moment. Took yesterday off to go snow boarding so I'm not exactly locked into the fast track for making the $$'s needed at this point of my life !


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## leigh (Jan 2, 2009)

I'm holding off getting the fluid filled and testing it out, got this fear it will be leaking like a sieve, totally irrational I know.


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## leigh (Jan 2, 2009)

Finished it off. Got machine back together also. No leaks that I can see. Total damage was 150$ in seals bought 6 yrs ago,380$ for the hydro shop to reseal unit. I've got about 18 hrs of labor into it, just have to put the belly pan back on. If I ever have to do again I can cut the labor time in half .


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## Mr.Markus (Jan 7, 2010)

leigh said:


> . If I ever have to do again I can cut the labor time in half .


...and the swearing!


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