Deere 540A help

[teakwood]

Hi guys, i have a 1971 Deere 540A and need some advice.

i see oil dropping (pretty sure its engine oil) between the engine and dry clutch housing. i'm pretty confident its the back seal of the crankshaft that's leaking. while in there of course i check the what deere calls "dry disconnecting clutch" which helps to start the engine because it disconnects everything from the engine, even the hydraulic oil charge pump.

so my question; do i have to take out the engine or is it easier to remove the "upper cowl" and transmission and clutch housing  

[BargeMonkey]

I'm not savy on the banana nose 540s but I think the engine would be easier to pull than the romps and trans. Alot of oil ? Does that have an inspection door ? 

[teakwood]

Yeah, engine is probably easier, just all that upper cowl and the steering colum has a lot of stuff to remove. 
It's starting to leak, starting to flow down and all the front dif has oil drops underneath,  i will still use the skidder, but definitely something i need to do the next 2 months 

[arojay]

Your 540A is much like my 440B.  It sounds like you have a powershift transmission?  I've had the engine out a couple of times.  Long ago, to replace the transmission charge pump in the powershift and last year to rebuild the engine.  Pulling the engine is not so difficult although there is not a ton of space for hands and tools to remove some of the bolts.  Remember to shim under the transmission before separating the two components.   It makes reassembly easier.  Of course the rear main seal is a suspect, but, does your tachometer work, or did it ever?  Oil can leak back through the port where the tach drive goes in to the engine or if there is no tach there should be a rubber plug in that port.  That could also be a source of an rear engine oil leak.  And yes, the cowl etc. is a lot to remove.  I actually disconnected all the hoses etc., unbolted the cowl and steering valve and lifted the whole works up with a chain hoist hooked to chain wrapped around the canopy when I replaced the charge pump... in the bush... at 30 below.

Good time to replace the pilot bearing.  There are several different sizes.

[teakwood]

thanks. yes, powershift.

by tachometer you mean hourmeter? because there is no engine rpm gauge on this skidder. yes, it works, i put a new one on when i bought the machine, it's crucial in my mind.

what do you mean by pilot bearing? the bolts between trans and engine are a tight fit for sure

[teakwood]

got it, clutch pilot bearing, centers the input shaft of the transmission

[arojay]

Yes, pilot bearing in the center of the flywheel.  The tach reads engine rpm and some record hours too but it's not strictly an hourmeter.  It looks like there is a little oil on your starter.  The port for the tachometer drive is just above there, through the flywheel housing and into the engine.  When you separate the engine and transmission there should be a seal if you have the drive cable or a plug if not.  Either way, that could be a source of oil leaking as they will likely be hard and dried out.  In any case you want to make sure about that before you reassemble.  When I did the charge pump I had lammed a few 2x10s together to make a rail from the top of the canopy to an a-frame ahead of the blade.  I could support the engine and rad and slide them forward after disconnecting hydraulics and electrical and taking the hard front off.  That way I didnt have to lift the engine right out.  I had limited resources at the location where I was working, but it was simple and I'd do it that way again if I had to.

[teakwood]

Thanks arojay, that is very helpful. 
No rpm tach on this machine, only hour meter which i installed. 
The starter has always looked like this because the engineblock has a crack behind the starter. Previous owner welded some there, it's only a sweat so i don't want to touch that.
Now there's much more oil running down to the diff, thats why i suspect crankshaft seal, but i will def check the things you pointed out.

No need to do a bushfix here, i have a big lumber storage building with concrete floor and a forklift to lift out the engine.