Final Drive leak JD350 Where do they leak.

[jbshocks]

I have a straight JD350 dozer. I changed the final drive fluid last weekend and the right side was low. Where do these leak? There were a few bolts loose on the final which I tightened up. I ran it some more and don't see fluid coming out.

[LeonardL]

There are three places for the final drive to leak. Provided it isn't a cracked housing. Look around the back of the flange where your sprocket bolts onto the final drive. There is a seal behind that flange. Another place is to the inside of the steering clutch housing. There is a seal on the pinion shaft that leads into the final drive. The third place is the pinion cap on the outside of the final housing. It will also be behind the sprocket on the upper face of the final drive. Leaks should be obvious if they are on the outside. However you will have to remove the steering clutch hosing cover to determine if it is leaking to the inside. Usually you will be having issues with your clutch and or brake slipping if it is inside the housing. Not always but normally they will slip or not pull.

[jbshocks]

nothing looks to be leaking on the outside so I guess I pull the cover. I assume the only way to change the seal is to pull the final, is that correct?

[LeonardL]

Yes... You would have to pull the final to change either of the seals. If your clutch housing is dry on the inside, I wouldn't worry about it too much. ( Well... dry from oil!! They are notoriously wet from moisture!) So look for oil because I would almost bet there will be at least a little bit of moisture inside the clutch housing.
They use 80/90 gear oil in them so if you get a leak it will show up. One drop of that junk will cover three square feet!! I have seen those be low straight from the factory. Some I have ran into have never been checked from the time they were built. Pretty amazing when you know how old they are. As long as they have enough in them to get picked up by the bull gear and slung around the bearings then they're okay. Still a good idea to have them where they should be however. So you did good by checking yours.