'73 - 450B Crawler/Loader/Hoe Restoration

[cordlesscarpenter]

Dude if you haven't put your coolant in yet then put water in first to check for leaks. Then when your satisfied with having no leaks you can drain it and then put the coolant in.

Very good point! I was literally just getting ready to start adding all the fluids. Will do the water leak check. I've always done that in the past but it totally skipped my mind this time around, the leak check will be important, especially putting COOL-GARD in, thanks for the reminder!

Yesterday was all about finishing up the ether injection instal including this mod https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tExPo62gCa8 along with new 1/8" line, new 90* compression fitting and new adapter fitting coming out of the operator port. The 90* 1/8" compression fitting I bought came with no compression ferrule/sleeve so I had to go to town for a 20c piece lol. Why would JD sell a compression fitting without a ferrule is beyond me, that's pointless?

Also, I had to get the entire wiring harness correctly routed (which meant relentlessly disconnecting and re-connecting everything multiple times), getting the harness all cleaned up in conduit, cable tied to their route through the machine and all that... I must say, it looks super clean for a bulldozer!

[cordlesscarpenter]

Darn good thing LeonardL reminded me to leak check the rad because when I did, the petcock leaked! No biggie, I had a new one just like it not 5 feet away from me for some reason. Swapped it out and and let the pipe dope dry most of the day (it is now filled with COOL-GARD )

Engine oil in, trans oil in.

Got back to the finals, got 6 pumps into filling one side and it started spilling out... Hmmm, I could swear I drained these way back in the very beginning. Apparently I did not and both sides had the full 6.5 qts still in them. Good news is that the seals are likely good and I got to take a good look at what came out... it looked exactly like one would expect, like a dark transparent amber, I'm betting the last guy filled it with something like 90 weight. No metal and no big chunks came rushing out (which I did kinda expect having inspected as much of the finals as I possibly could). Anyways, got those emptied, flushed and filled.

Tomorrow I'll be picking up some fresh Diesel and more HY-GARD for the Hyd system but for now, Hyd will be disconnected for startup. The I'll go over the machine one last time and bring her to life. It'll be raining all day tomorrow so I'll probably wait until Thursday for startup.

[cordlesscarpenter]

Ran through and double checked EVERYTHING and it's a green light for tomorrow!

Adjusted free play on the clutch pedal (will follow the procedure in the book for adjusting shift speed once she's been warmed up and tested, along with re-checking valve tappet clearance).

Re-plumbed the fuel tank drain, it now sports a sleek and tucked up, centered 1/4" drain line with inline 1/4 turn ball valve and a tail that gets either a plug or a drain hose. This way if the valve fails, the plug is still there to keep the fuel from draining out on me and all I have to do is pull the plug, slide the clear tubing onto the nipple and open the valve to drain any water or sludge that builds up in the tank. I wanted a solution that makes it a simple and clean procedure, that way I'm more likely to do it as often as I should (without eating lunch whilt smelling diesel on my hands at the same time lol) .

All in all it was a good day, all that is left to do is top off the batteries and prime the fuel system before startup.

Lavoy, is it proper or not to post pics on the facebook page??

[Al Swearengen]

it's a green light for tomorrow!

Hope all went well!

[B Town]

it's a green light for tomorrow!

Hope all went well!

Right! Definitely waiting for a report

[cordlesscarpenter]

The sweet sound of victory!

She started up like a CHAMP!

Had a small leak on the primary fuel filter but snugged it up some more and no more leak there.

The main issue was the dang power steering... it had a pretty substantial leak in the area where the 3 lines come out of the pump. Couldn't get a good view of exactly where it was coming from because the oil was getting sucked into the fan and slung right in my face.

I just got done pulling the rad, fan and belt to get a better look and I think the leak may be caused by the seats on the suction and discharge line connectors... the seating surfaces are not terrible but there is a step big enough to catch a nail (not bad enough to feel it needs replaced but worth noting at this stage). I am going to clean up the connectors and re-tighted using the JIC 2 flat method with all the same fitting that are on there now... if it still leaks, I will replace all the connectors coming out of the pump as well as bend up a new section of line to replace the front pressure tube since it is the only old line left that comes out of the pump.

Good news is the engine sounds Soooooooo good and smooth and the starting system is super strong. It's got that nice "click boom"... as soon as the starter cranks the flywheel, its off to the races baby!

One small problem that maybe you guys can help with, it sounded like it was at 1/3 - 1/2 throttle with the lever all the way down, in other words, it idles high, is the screw on top of the injection pump for adjusting idle? I thought the throttle linkage yoke might need to be adjusted longer but it is right there at the beginning of the spring return so it that "should" be good, just gotta figure out how to adjust idle.

Ok, back to work, see if I can't get this tight and back together before I loose the sun.

[B Town]

There is a set screw on the motor side of the injection pump. The set screw has a jam nut, this is what you need to adjust to get full throttle range. Idle is 850 IIRC.

[cordlesscarpenter]

Thanks, what is llRC?

* Googled it lol (If I Remember Correctly)

[Stan Disbrow]

Hi,

CW shorthand for If I Remember Correctly.

So, now you get to ask; What is CW?

Ha!

CW is what radio guys call the International Radiotelegraph Code. You might think of it as Morse Code, although there are differences between land wire line Morse and what is used on radio. CW stands for Continuous Wave, which is what replaced Spark Gap. SG was used on the Titanic, which has its anniversary in the wee hours of this morning.

Anyway, most of the text shortcuts came from CW. Saves a lot of spelling things out.

BCNU

73 (ok, that one is old Western Union. means Best Regards)

W2CK (my callsign)

[cordlesscarpenter]

Ha, thanks Stan, good history lessons are always a plus in my book.

[cordlesscarpenter]

There is a set screw on the motor side of the injection pump. The set screw has a jam nut, this is what you need to adjust to get full throttle range. Idle is 850 IIRC.

The only screw I see on the engine side is the one on the right side of the throttle arm itself (as you're looking at the pump) with a long nut (presumably the lock nut)? It does not look like a normal set screw though, it looks like a machine screw with a flat tip screwdriver head. You're saying I'll loosen the long lock nut and move the screw in or out to adjust idle?

In the book all I could find was the section where it talks about advancing or retarding timing which would be the long set screw on the outboard side of the pump at the very bottom, which would also require a timing window (according to the book) that I don't have. I am not sure the timing needs any adjustment, how would one even know whether or not the timing needs adjusted? The pump was sent out and rebuilt, it was also installed on the engine by the guy who rebuilt the engine. The guy who rebuilt the engine actually owns a few 450s himself and has rebuilt not only his but many others like it over the past 30 years so I am assuming he timed it correctly when he installed it. Are there always minor adjustments that need to be made to injection pump timing at this stage?

Got everything nice and tight, new o-ring in the pressure tube connector and otherwise put back together last night but ran out of light... getting ready to give her another go

[cordlesscarpenter]

Ok, got the face shied on to protect against the slinging oil, fired her up again and it's still leaking... Good news is that it doesn't seem to be leaking from the connections, bad news is that it looks as though the o-ring between the pump housing and the pump cover are blown.

I wish I was putting on tracks today, nope... I'll be tearing it all apart again, cleaning it all up again, and tearing down the pump. Thankfully I was able to get the o-ring and it comes as a set of two so I'll go ahead and replace it and the one between the housing and the base plate (the pump assembly uses 2 of these big o-rings).

As you already know, I don't like the idea of cracking into a pump like this but it needs to be done and hopefully it's straight forward, hopefully it is designed in a way that allows you to replace the o-rings (washers as JD calls them (number 27 in the online parts breakdown)) without removing the shafts and disturbing the packing but then again, who knows what I'll find when I open it up... here we go. If anyone out there in FORUM land has experience with this pump, please offer any advise you can.

B Town, the adjustment a the throttle arm itself made sense to me so I adjusted it a little... it still needs more adjusting but I really can't jump into all that until I can actually run the engine longer than 10 seconds.

[B Town]

Yes, you are on the right path. You have described the correct screw and location. Best regards Bruce

[cordlesscarpenter]

Thanks Bruce!

Got everything torn back off and cleaned up, I feel like a professional radiator puller these days… time to pull the pump and crack it open. O rings are on order.

I suppose I should start rebuilding the cylinders while waiting for parts.

[cordlesscarpenter]

In addition to the 2 O-rings that go between the pump cover, pump body, and pump base, I also went ahead and ordered all 3 connectors as well as the main oil seal and of course a new gasket.

Basically I'm rebuilding the pump, I'm hoping the pump body is in good shape because the book speaks heavily that "As no gasket is used between cover and pump body, the finished surface on body must not be scratched or marred". If the surfaces are scratched or marred, the book says to replace the whole section basically, C'mon JD, what a terrible design. It is confusing to me because although there might not be a gasket there, there is an O-ring, so what gives

Also, I'm hoping the idler and drive shaft bushings are good because if they aren't, book says to replace the complete pump base

Remember back when I talked about a re-build kit and all I could find was a "rebuilt" pump for like $1,300 ($18?? if you have no core)... well that is a little steep for a pump IMHO and while there is no "rebuild kit" per say, I was able to locate all of the parts I think I'll need for the rebuild individually so we'll see how this goes.