Gentlemen,

Hi. About ten years ago I washed the right steering clutch with kerosene as directed in the operators manual and the clutch then worked properly for about twenty minutes... then back to slipping. I think I then lost interest probably because I didn't have the nerve or know-how to do much more.

First question (probably more to follow if someone is nice enough to help with this one): Is there an oil seal inside somewhere that when defective will allow oil to come into contact with the steering clutch?

Any help will certainly be appreciated.

R. Smith

the oil put into the clutch release bearing cups, the oil in the bevel gear case and the oil in the final drives, each can potentially leak into the case and accumulate enough to oil the clutches.

Not real likely in the short run, but along with moisture/water accumulation to float it up a bit, over time it can really mess one up.

Have you adjusted the steering clutch linkage so that you have free travel as the manual shows? If you have free travel you might try washing with kerosene or diesel again or just pull them and get on with replacing them. There is a limit to the amount of wear before the drum hits and the springs can no longer compress the disks.

If you want to check and see if it is in fact oil, leave the drain plug out. Then oil would never get high enough to effect the clutch discs. Just something to try. Stay out of deep water and mud if you try this.