At Texas Final Drive, our new and reman/rebuilt final drives are covered by warranty. Our warranty, and warranties in general, are meant to cover defects in the company's products. That said, there are things that customers can do (or fail to do) that void the warranty. In this Shop Talk Blog post, we are going to discuss five ways to void your final drive warranty so that you can make sure they don't happen with you.

Skipping reasonable maintenance.

If we open up a final drive and the gear oil smells terrible and has the consistency of pudding, then we know that the gear oil wasn’t changed per the manufacturer’s guidelines. If a customer fails to perform basic maintenance on their final drive motor, they will void the warranty. Basic maintenance in this case would refer to checking and changing the gear oil, using the proper gear oil, and addressing leaks in a timely manner.  This type of negligence can ruin a final drive, and will void your warranty when it comes time to replace your final drive.

Installing the final drive incorrectly.

If the customer installs a replacement final drive incorrectly and the drive is damaged as a result, it is no longer covered under warranty. An example of this would be leaving the case drain port blocked and trying to run the motor -- that causes a dramatic rise in pressure for what should otherwise be a low pressure line and can quickly cause serious damage. That type of failure is not due to any defect in the final drive motor, and wouldn’t be covered under warranty. Take the time to make sure the final drive motor is installed correctly before trying to run it.  Here's a helpful video with Travis that explains how to identify the ports on your final drive.

Failure to replace the case drain filter or other obstructions in the return line.

If the owner doesn’t take care of obstructions in the return line, then the final drive can't be blamed for failure. It is designed to function properly only if the return line is free of obstructions. The same goes for the case drain line: it is a low pressure line, but if it becomes blocked, the pressure rises. If a blockage or obstruction in the return line (or case drain line, if applicable) causes damage to the drive, the warranty is voided.

Contamination in the hydraulic fluid.

If a final drive is exposed to contaminated hydraulic fluid and filters, the resulting damage will not be covered under warranty. It is the customer’s responsibility to make sure that they are using clean hydraulic fluid and replacing filters per the manufacturer's recommendations. When contamination causes damage to the final drive motor, it is not a defect in the motor that is the problem. Thus, this is not covered under warranty.

Disassembling the final drive.

If the customer decides to take the final drive apart to work on it themselves and then send it back to us, it is no longer under warranty. If something goes wrong with the final drive, it should be sent back to us first so that we can personally address the issue and get it fixed. We pride ourselves in being experts on final drives, but we cannot vouch for anyone else's expertise. When someone else tries to repair our final drives, those drives will no longer be under our warranty.

Conclusion

There are a whole host of ways to void a warranty, but these are the most common problems that come up. To make sure you don’t void the warranty on your new or reman final drive, remember to perform regular maintenance, make sure the final drive is installed correctly before you try to run it, replace the case drain filter (if applicable), clear obstructions in the return line, avoid contaminating the hydraulic fluid, and don’t take your final drive apart. Our own warranty information can be found here -- always check the warranty details when you replace your final drive.

Texas Final Drive is your partner in providing new or remanufactured final drive hydraulic motors from a single mini-excavator to a fleet of heavy equipment. Call today so we can find the right final drive or hydraulic component for you, or check out our online store to find your O.E.M. manufacturer brand motor now.