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Topic: Chelsea spline grease . (Read 4853 times) previous topic - next topic

Re: Chelsea spline grease .

Reply #20 –
Looking at the Chelsea manuals and dimensions I think the wet kit will fit. It is just a tee fitting and a small 1/4 line run to the coupling side of the PTO. The tee connects to the existing line from the trans. that wet lubes the PTO gears. Maybe it has something to do with the seal on the hydraulic pump FOT used? I was up into mine when I  greased it and it is not that tight of an area.

Re: Chelsea spline grease .

Reply #21 –
Quote from: esaulten –
After The initial report of the damage done to Brads unit, I pulled mine and not only was it dry the splines were virtually gone.  With less than 35,000 miles on mine I decided a complete replacement was in order.  Was able to replace a rebuilt pump, splines on the female side were also shot.  With removal of the batteries, necessary hoses and the PTO the job took 6 hours.  Really tight in that area. As previously stated a ton of oil needed to be replaced.  All in all not a terrible job and once the batteries were out I replaced them at that time.  Costly but a necessary preventive measure if you don't want to break down.  I once posted that we can't use the wet kit because of the tight space.  CC and Monaco use this pump PTO combination for steering so a break down for them is even more catastrophic.

Very interesting that your spline was in that bad of shape at 35K miles. I pulled mine that has 62K on it and while there was definately wear of the spline it was just a small amount. And Brad's failed at about 70K miles.

Talking with the Chelsea rep, he thought extended engine idling time added to the wear of the spline.

Then again, Brad noted that his radiator fan was running on high speed for some time. Maybe the additional load of the higher fan speed adds to wear?

Re: Chelsea spline grease .

Reply #22 –
Its possible that high speed fan could cause the wear as mine was on high speed for a year before Foretravel put in a new solenoid from the pump assembly.  This stopped the high speed and actually it never goes on at high speed anymore.  As I mentioned the splines on the PTO male assembly were worn to a level where they were Knife edged and almost completely gone.  The female pump splines were worn flat by the male assembly and ready to stop turning.  I think that with summer approaching we would have broken down in less than 3000 miles.

Re: Chelsea spline grease .

Reply #23 –
Then it sounds like one possibility contributing to early failure is the fan running on high speed at idle. Assume this puts additional stress on the spline and contributes to early wear since both "esaulten" and "Brad" had this exact issue. My fan, thankfully, runs normal and I did not see extreme wear on the spline.

I am disappointed in FOT on this issue. They know it is a failure point as was pointed out in James T. email. It is not "if" it is going to fail, but "when". FOT should note the build number and alert customers when they are in for service to have this checked or replaced. I have been to FOT numerous times for service and this issue was never mentioned. If it wasn't for this forum and Brad's post, I'd be driving down the road with a ticking failure waiting to costs me time and bucks or maybe worse. When this failure occurs your engine will overheat and shut down. A potential safety hazard if on a long climb.

Re: Chelsea spline grease .

Reply #24 –
You're lucky FT even mentioned or "admitted" to any design flaw.
 

Re: Chelsea spline grease .

Reply #25 –
I would think they would come up with a fix for this other then greasing a closed system.  it is going to be a mess over time and there is no information that i have seen that shows the interval for replacing the grease.