76 350c clutch, tranny and maintenance questions

[dozingdozer]

I am new to this forum and just getting familar on how to post this publicly . In numerous posts you guys seem to be very experienced with the 350. it is new to me and i spent the last weekend getting very familar with the unit with just the operators manual and a lot of grease. if i understand previous posts:

1. my unit has a reverser so no dry clutch for tranny. therefore it is all a hydraulic system, i think from reading in this forum. In checking fluids initially, reverser was bone dry and milky looking, transmission was over filled and milky. A related problem? I filled reverser with new oil to proper level. After working on it and warming up and running tranny fluid was seem leaking from left side of tranny where clutch pedal enters housing. not mutch maybe half a pint. this was a new leak.
2. deisel was running rough and lost power when pushing so replaced fuel filter (sump drain in fuel tank clogged or frozen. Has been below freezing in Maine for awhile). Ran fuel out of feed for a few minutes when filter was off. deisel now runs smooth.
3. gears will not shift without grinding and cluch petal is real soft without much resistance. spring is easy to replace and had floor plates off but now, from previous forum topics, seems this problem might be related to fluids and 'rate of shift' adjustor? does this sound correct? no blockage of linkage -cleared out leaves, stick, dead mice etc.
4. when in gear, after moving forward and then put in neutral on reverser dozer will continue to creep forward slightly until i break or floor the clutch pedal, wont creep after that on level ground.
5. buddy of mine that had another unit, same age, swears by putting iso alchol in all fluids expect for engine oil. sounds weird to me except for fuel. what do yoyu guys think.

this is alot of questions so i appreciate your answers and tips in advance. this is a 76 with 3000 hours, previous single owner but has been sitting in a yard for about 3 years with no TLC. i am changing that and getting service manuals hopefully soon. thanks

[Tigerhaze]

This may help you with the reverser fluid issue, or at least give you some ideas:

http://www.jdcrawlers.com/messageboard/ ... 0+reverser

[JWB Contracting]

I have seen the creep in reverse before in a 450C, which ended up being bad bearings in the HLR, which would be comparable to the reverser in a 350.

Leak on the side of the reverser would be from the reverse valve block, start with the external steel hydraulic lines as they have a habit of leaking.

We have two 350C widepads with hoes that we have been working for 25+ years. Excellent machines, but they do need maintence from time to time. Before we purchased a directional drill, we would have to do frame, cross member, rails and the odd tranny, rear end and reverser almost every two years as we did alot of digging and clean up when installing utility road crossings. We cannot find a better machine to do the work that we do.

Best bet is to get a technical manual and do some reading on how the reverser works and then go thru the adjustments. Milky oil is common in our machines and usually don't notice until the fluid freees and the machines don't move.

Remember, nothing leaks like a deere. Our equipment is sporting original paint and there are no rust areas, just one benefit of a self changing fluid system.[/quote]