ZT 2348XL hydro fluid leak at one of the wheel motors

[deckeda]

Am I better off installing a seal kit or buying a new wheel motor, in terms of reliability? The motor is part # 04915500 and the seal kit (Hydro Gear 706262 HGM P SERIES) if of course much cheaper. 440 hours on the machine.

(I've never replaced seals on anything involving hydraulics. I'd need a walkthrough for that if you know of one.)

Thanks

 

[mechanic mark]

When posting, include Manufacturer, year, complete Model & Serial Numbers please. Hydraulics under pressure, like your mower, should be worked on by a Certified Technician. Fluid under pressure can penetrate the skin & worse, take a life. Please take to a Certified Dealer or have Dealer pick up & return mower. Thanks, Mark
Identification numbers help us to locate Technical Information & parts pertinent to your specific mower.

 

[deckeda]

Thanks, Mark. If I elect to replace the seals I'll keep that in mind. That's my first consideration, because disconnecting and reconnecting the hoses seems to be straightforward from initial research.

I am curious however where you found there to be differences in serial # or year for this model. I could get that info later this week but so far doesn't seem relevant to this issue.

 

[clubairth]

Go to Hydrogear. They can give you a manual for your hydro's and the proper instructions. Yes rebuild yours instead of replacing them. It's only leaking fluid so the Hydro is still good. It's not dangerous at all.
Get the Hydrogear part number. It should be on the hydro itself if the tag is still good. Your part number looks to be an Ariens number.
I think your Hydro is a HGM-12P-7172.
See if the attached manual matches what you have??
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[deckeda]

Yep, saw that earlier today thanks. The doc is pretty sparse actually and applies to several within the series. So I'd have to first remove it and follow whatever directions it says for the actual motor. My goal would be to disassemble as little as possible, not a full teardown necessarily. Presumably whatever the "outer" seals are (like axle seal) is my bogey. The inside of the mower's rear wheel on that side is very wet from oil.

I have not yet removed the wheel motor but all signs point to that model since the Gravely manual only lists one model of wheel motor which interchanges to that Hydro-Gear model.