a 350. Has not been started in 11 years, IT RUNS !!!

[Scottyb]

The guy I bought this 350 straight, diesel, from today bought it 11 years ago at auction and it was already loaded on this truck. The truck was part of the deal. When he got them home it never moved until today when we pulled it from a snow drift and I winched the 350 back onto my trailer. It almost fell through the rotten deck of the truck but a little help from his loader and some 2 x 8 planks, and it was soon on. It was all the 9500lb winch could do to get it to move. The tracks are very stiff!



Now that it is home in the driveway .....




Some things I noticed....
It must have had a grapple at one time....

there is hoses to the front as well...

the MODEL number is there...SNT4E3D024385T



AND SERIAL ON DASH SNE7350006173W

The best one is that the seller told me it was a wide pad loader...turns out ....What he meant is... that "The pads are too wide!"

They are up very close to the loader frame and this crawler has not been used much since the new Dozer pads and rails were installed.
I'm not sure what to do here, Cut them back?

I do not think they changed the sprockets though...
however is this a big problem????




All in so far it looks like It is a good project crawler for me. I put a winch on my 350b loader and I need a home for my backhoe. I might move the winch to this 350 if it has a good engine etc and put the hoe back on the 350b. The Dozer tracks would be good for pulling logs with the winch.
Missing...the belly pans, the ignition key, one bucket tooth, most of the seat cushions, the weights that were on the back (wont need them anyway) .

I plan on starting it tomorrow if it is willing. I have new oil and filter, Diesel fuel and fuel filters and batteries. Any suggestions on pre start things to do are appreciated.



I will try to post tomorrow night after I give it a go!

Scottyb

[JD440ICD2006]

That looks like a great find!
I know very little about 350's, but I know enough about undercarriages to be dangerous.
If you are going to use it as a loader, best get those grousers off of there or it will ruin your U/C and/or throw a track.
What a loader must have is the semi grouser (T11787T) pads. The reason is all of the weight on the nose, especially when you have a bucket full. The semi grouser pads will give some traction yet slide over the surface. The grousers will bite in to the surface and something has to give. Usually it is giving out of your wallet.
Not being negative, again, looks like a great find.
Have fun!

[Scottyb]

JD440ICD2006, thanks for the heads up on the tracks, I had not been thinking about the safety/risk of the grousers as I was pretty excited to see new undercarriage parts. My 350b loader has the proper pads and it is also nice that they do not chew up my yard or natural trails. They are however on chains that are near worn out.
On a recent trip to Alberta, Jason showed me how they had converted loaders to 6 way dozer with a cool bracket and some nice welding\ hydraulic work. This kind of a setup might be on the top of my wish list if I keep the pads and move the winch to this 350.
I just came in for lunch and am near ready to give the 350 some turns over to see if it will start... I'm excited.
Scott

[whiteclipse16]

This does look like a good project Scotty.
Hurry and get back to the computer, I'm anxious to know if this thing fired up this evening.

[JD440ICD2006]

Scott,

Let us know if she fired up!

[Scottyb]

Rats! It did not fire. I guess I will have to pull the head off and inspect. The starter is now not turning it over. I got it hot but let it cool between trys.
Scott

[JWB Contracting]

Scotty,

A few more things to check before you pull the head.
Nice looking undercarriage so it is very worth getting the motor running. Others on here are going to tell you that the dozer pads are hard on the steering clutches on a loader when doing loader work as there is more weight making it harder to turn. They are right to some extent, but in a winch/arch configuration it might not be that bad.


1. Are you getting fuel to the injectors. Loosen off an injector line and see if you are getting fuel.

2. Check you air intake, might be a moose nest or something else blocking tthe air flow. You might want to check the exhaust as well.

3. Hook up more batteries and get it turning over quickly.

If you have fuel and air it should fire. The piston rings could be stuck from sitting, which means pulling the engine and doing a rebuild.

You could always pull your winch, re-install your backhoe on your 350, and then trade the 350 winch back to me for a 450 winch. That arch came off a 450B so it will fit on your 450 as well!!!

Either way, I know you'll have fun fixing them up and working them. I had very limited deere time this weekend as I went sledding but will be back fixing deeres again this coming weekend.[/b]

[Scottyb]

The starter did not have much life in it. It did not sound good right from the start. I will take it off tomorrow and have it rebuilt.
I had the injectors cracked open at the first try and turned it over until it had fuel. I had drained all the lines, tank, filters and had a good feeling about it starting. .the starter had only 6 or 8 tries in it and it started dragging then lost strength and is engaging but no chance. Two good batteries does not help.
Air intake had lots of mouse dung in the filter housing. I took the hose off at the engine and it looked clear so I left it off for the trial start. The exhaust blew out some nest material on the first few turnovers but little after that.
I was hoping that if it would fire then it would blow itself clear. Could a mouse get by an open valve into a cylinder?

Good news, when I checked the reverser, trans and both final drives they all have clean oil and are full. I changed the engine oil and filter before trying the start.

I like the thought of putting the hoe back on the 350b it came off of. Undercarriage on it would be good enough for the amount I would use the hoe.
After that I will have to make a decision by the summer so I will be ready for next winter logging.

I hope the snow was good for you, we had a spring storm two weeks back and had one great day of sledding. Mostly melted now.


Scott

[whiteclipse16]

Well sorry to hear that it didn't fire up, but at least you have an idea of what you got now.
Be careful when you get that starter rebuilt. It seems that some of the shops that do this try to pull one over on you because a lot of people think there's more to a starter/generator than there really is.
If they try to tell you it's junk I would get pics for us or something. New starters are very expensive and individual parts to rebuild one aren't that bad.
My theory is: if the housing is ok, then rebuild it.
I'd say your solenoid and field are ok. If the solenoid was bad it wouldn't be working, if the field was bad then it would be acting like a short.
I'd say it needs a good cleaning, clean the brushes and brush holders good and maybe new bushings.
If you got it pretty hot, it might need an armature.

[JD440ICD2006]

Ben,

Good points about the starter and same goes for the old Deco Remy generators.
I would check with Lavoy first to see if he sells rebuilds kits for the starter. If not, Classic Generators in Texas can fix you up.
If the cables are old, you may just need new ones. Also check all connections as a starter draws a lot of amps. If there is a bad connection, it can act like a bad starter or low battery.

[JWB Contracting]

Last winter I priced put a rebuilt starter with the local Deere dealer (brant tractor) and the price was around 350. I thought was fairly reasonable as I like to get 250 for a working or rebuilt starter. Normally it's the bendix or solenoid. My dad has even started to rebuild the selenoids. Nice to fix your own but not to bad to buy a rebuild

[whiteclipse16]

Good points 2006. It could be as simple as the commutator just needs shined up and the grooves recut a little. If it's been sitting as long as he said, this is a very good possibility, easy to do also.

[Scottyb]

The starter is not the real problem, I found. It will still go to the service guys for a quote on a tune up as it smells like burnt wire, and I can see that the front bushing is a little sloppy.
When I removed the starter I put a bar on the flywheel and discovered the engine was jammed tight. I put the booster cables on the starter and it turns over OK so at least it is going to be OK.

Well then I had to pull the head off and see what I am dealing with......





Canola seed and some other mixed in mouse treats.
With a little oil mixed in as when it did not start I thought... add little oil in the intake to help with compression.....

This is coming out of the exhaust manifold and obviously they were storing it inside the cylinders as well...



It cleaned up nicely..



Although the valves are
a little bit of a concern



They might not seal very well with the seeds gummed in them. The head too is still full of seeds.
Should I remove the valves for cleaning?

And then, I have not got the engine un-stuck. I tried a rubber mallet on the #2 piston but no luck. Any suggestions?

Scottyb

[JD440ICD2006]

Looks like a real cheap way to increase compression, that should make her start right up on a cold morning.

Not sure what may be locking the crank down. Always go easy. If it takes a lot to turn it, you are likely going to break something valuable in the process. May need to pull the oil pan to see what is going on.

[Scottyb]

IT'S LOOSE !!!!!!!!!!

When I came in for lunch I thought I might as well spray lots of wd40 in the cylinders, what could it hurt?

Checked the Messageboard over lunch and when I went back out....

I thought give it one more try so... I put the bar on the flywheel where the starter goes and no problem at all


So now it's clean the head of the rest of the seeds, decide what to do about dirty valve seats? or, just leave them and let the engine clean them out, and tune up the starter, assemble and try again to get her going.

I'm excited again!

Scottyb