John Deere 350b Reverser Problem?

[osu711]

Hello Everyone I am new to the forum here. I have a John Deere 350-B diesel with a loader front. About 7 years ago I was using it and after it warmed up, the reverser in either direction acts as if it wants to go forward and reverse at the same time, seems to lock up and stalls the engine out. The manual transmission is in neutral and so is the forward / reverser in neutral position. The foot clutch does not seem do disengage all the way as well. There is plenty of oil in the reverser reservoir and the filter was recently changed along with the oil. It used to work fine until it warmed up aside from the clutch not disengaging all the way.
It has sat for a while since then It has gotten worse to the point now that it stalls out now disregarding how warm or cold it is, in addition to the previous.
Does this sound like a broken internal spring, leaky o-rings or valves? Or maybe a combination? Any ideas?

[oljoe]

Have you adjusted the clutch per the manual?
That would be the first thing that I would try.
Joe

[osu711]

I have the reverser so I cannot adjust the clutch pedal.

[JWB Contracting]

Yes, you do not have a mechanical clutch. However, the foot pedal on the right hand side is a hydraulic clutch.

What your describing could be a a simple adjustment to bad bearings in the reverser? Is the reverser leaking any oil?

You will need to test the reverser according to the technical manual first and go from there. Last 3 350's I worked all needed bearings, getting back at the last one Saturday morning.

[osu711]

The reverser is not leaking. I will try to test it this weekend I do have a tech manual

[KenP]

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[osu711]

To remove the reversed under the floor do you need anything special to remove it as far as tools go? I took a look at it the other day and it doesn't look like its too much of a pain. Any ideas or tips for taking it off?

[KenP]

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[osu711]

Oh the whole thing.... I was thinking the housing on the side where the linkages attach. Does that separate and is it possible something is wrong in the housing causing my problem rather then removing the whole thing? If so it would be worth the try rather than dissasembling half the machine

[osu711]

I did notice the lever for the reverser has a lot of slop in it almost as if something is worn in the housing on the side

[KenP]

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[BSims66173]

Reverser will have to come out to remove the valve body. Not enough room between the reverser and frame. I guess you could remove the side frame and get to it, but that would also require disassembling quite a bit. I think I would just pull engine and reverser. If the problem is not in the valve body, the reverser has to come out anyway to repair. Need to start by checking pressures first and go from there.

[JWB Contracting]

Thanks for the correction on the pedal location.

I think you'd have to remove the frame section to have any success at working on the valve. We never attempt it. How about changing a reverser cable on a straight 350? Not much room to work on anything.

We alway remove the loader or Dozer to remove the reverser. I find you need to unbolt the frame sections so that the entire assembly can be pivoted upwards on the rear round crossbar in order to clear the front crossbar with the bottom if the reverser.

It does take a bunch of time to remove and replace a reverser, let alone fix other issues that you come across. Current project is a straight 35o with a 6 way Dozer, started as a reverser rebearing and freshen up both steering clutches. We've had to drill out many broken bolts, reseal a final drive, fix the drive unit behind the motor, Dozer mounts will get custom fit oversize pins to tighten it up. Going to be a nice crawler when were done, but I underestimated labour on this one.

[osu711]

Does anyone have an other possible causes/solutions? I would like to try everything before i decide to yank that reverser out (not looking forward to it)

[LeonardL]

I will echo what has already been said. You really need to check the pressures first. Per the tech manual. Given the information you have given us, I would suspect you have either a accumulator spring broken or the adjustment bolt has come out of the piston. The other possibilities would be the clutch valve itself. There are pieces to it that can get worn both inside and outside of the valve body. This can cause the clutch valve to not operate properly. You could also have either the engagement valve or the lube oil valve stuck or may have broken springs as well. There is also a pressure relief valve that can get stuck or break a spring and cause your issue. These are things that can be checked without pulling the reverser. However, you can't pull the valve body without pulling the reverser. You could remove the side frame but you will have as much or more labor in doing that as you will in pulling the reverser. Believe me... I have looked for a any possible short cuts!
You're saying that it seems to be trying to go in both directions at the same time. So... All of the flow for your directions is done inside the valve body. Unless you have something I have never seen. Your direction flow is determined before the engagement is actually made. With that said your pressures should show this.
Study your tech manual well... and be sure you understand what it is telling you before you try anything. Get familiar with the different components of the reverser and do a process of elimination by the book and you will be able to determine if it needs to be pulled or not.