350 Reverser Hot No power to left track

[Wv350b]

Hi all. New member...love the forum. But I’m here with bad news (for me ).
I just purchased another 350 dozer to replace our old 350 that just blew the engine. Unfortunately the seller was not too honest and we didn’t check the machine out as good as we should have.
1) We changed/topped off fluids and took her for a spin.
2) Within a few minutes it was obvious the left side was weak. If you push on a solid object, only the right side track will spin. Thinking that’s just steering clutches. However if you think an adjustment could help, I’m all ears.
3) Within 15 minutes smoke started coming from the area between the engine and the reverser. It still pulled strong in forward and reverse (at least the right track). Shut her down and the reverser was very hot to the touch. Nothing else was though.

Really bummed and not sure where to start. This machine has the direction control lever on the dash and the other machine has lever by the operators left hand. Hoping that a lot of parts are interchangeable as the plan is to use 2 to make 1 good one.
What do you guys think is wrong and where would you start ?

[dtoots1]

i assume you did check fluids for reverser?...believe they have clutches also...and there is adjustment in reverser, i would start there...then check steering adjustments..if it that hot could be toasted and need new clutchs in reverser

[Lavoy]

Reverser is wet, nothing to adjust. Smoke from the bellhousing is quite concerning, you need to find out what that is. Clutches may be an adjustment, may be oil soaked or shot. Adjust according to the service manual and try it again.
Reverser on the dash is a Straight 350, on the LH arm rest is a B model, some compatibility, but not totally, there are running changes throughout the model years, and within the different series.
Either way, you are looking at a teardown most likely.
Lavoy

[Wv350b]

We definitely checked fluids and topped off so the reverser has plenty of fluid. I’m just stumped why it would operate just fine but get so hot.
Any thoughts on the smoke from bell housing area? We’re definitely looking at a tear down, just wondering if we should cut our losses. We paid $10,500 for what was supposed to be a turn-key dozer. And then never got to push a shovel full of dirt.

Another question- my dad says you can replace steering clutches without pulling the final drive. After rebuilding the final drive on the other 350B I just don’t think it’s possible or practical. Am I wrong?

[Lavoy]

Give me a call at 701-361-1006 when you get a chance.
Lavoy

[Wv350b]

I absolutely will. What time zone are you in so I call at an appropriate time. I’m in West Virginia.
Thank you!

[Lavoy]

Central time zone, will be on the road most of the day tomorrow, so can take calls all day.
Lavoy

[Wv350b]

Sorry for the long delay in response (been swamped at work) but I did want to update with how things turned out. Got a chance to really work on it over the weekend and was pleasantly surprised.
A little embarrassed that I jumped to worse case scenario but here goes:
1) I decided to try adjusting the clutches before proceeding with any tear-down. Just to see how bad things were. Glad I did. Both sides were badly (or improperly) adjusted. Followed the procedure exactly and now both side work perfectly. I hope the previous owner didn’t operate it much as it was, since the clutches were being held in a slipping state. But so far so good.
2) The “smoking” reverser - boy do I feel dumb. Turns out there’s a little reservoir for the power steering that sits on top of the engine. The hoses going to it were leaking BAD and then the fan was blowing the oil all over the manifold. The airflow from the fan was pushing the smoke back and down to the reverser area and made it look like it was coming from there.
We ran it pretty hard for about an hour and all seems good. Need to fix the hoses and fill the power steering reservoir to see if that system will start working properly. The reservoir was empty so you could tell there was no power assist with braking but it was still pretty easy to operate as is.
Definitely going to switch the new track chains from our old 350B that blew up onto this machine. The tracks are so sloppy the derail very easy. Spent all day Saturday breaking 4 tracks. Forgot how hard that process can be. Lots of heat, sledgehammering, and even a plasma cutter involved. When the master pins go back in this time they are getting a little grinding and some anti-seize.

[Clark]

The reverser cooler is in the bottom of the radiator. The reverser is going to run atleast as hot as the engine. Very poor design..my 350 B reverser runs hot as well. In my opinion too hot. Im am looking for some sort of real cooler that doesn't brake the bank.