350C Reverser operation questions

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Tjgerow
430 crawler
430 crawler
Posts: 50
Joined: Wed Oct 14, 2020 9:27 pm
Location: Central Virginia

350C Reverser operation questions

Post by Tjgerow » Mon Aug 30, 2021 11:55 am

Several observations and questions with my reverser on the 350C. After getting the final drives back together I have been using the dozer a bit, maybe 4-5 hours total. It seems to be running well, but I have a few questions below. This is my first dozer and so I am trying to learn what is "normal" in both sounds and operation, as well as what to look out for.

1. When I first start the dozer up (from cold) and go to put the transmission in gear it will lurch just a bit in reverse with the clutch pedal fully depressed. It moves only enough to be noticeable, it doesn't "take off" or start crawling, just a small bump. I checked the linkage to the Clutch pedal and clutch valve. The clutch arm is moving full travel to the hard stop, so it should be releasing all the pressure, unless something internal is out of adjustment.

After running the dozer a while and all fluids up to temp it doesn't "lurch" when put into gear. That only seems to happen when the machine is cold. And by cold I mean the dozer has been sitting for a day or more, start the engine and let it warm up for a few minutes, then attempt to shift into gear. Outdoor temps are currently summer (80F).

2. This maybe related to #1 above. When the dozer is warming up, transmission is in neutral and reverser is in neutral, the winch shaft is spinning. Is this normal? I would think not since there shouldn't be any connection from the engine to the winch shaft with everything in neutral. Maybe a clutch in the reverser is sticking? Once the machine is warmed up and the fluids are hot the winch shaft doesn't spin anymore with the dozer in neutral.

3. The forward to reverse and reverse to forward seem to be pretty snappy. I have the regulating screw on the valve body screwed all the way in, minus a 1/4 turn. And it seems to snap from forward to reverse more than I would expect. I get some driveline noise from all the backlash being taken up so quickly. As I'm new to this I'm thinking it should be a bit softer to prevent un-necessary wear or damage. I have not tried backing the screw out. Maybe that is the next step to see if anything changes. I do get oil slowly dripping from the port when I remove the pipe plug, so maybe the o-ring is bad? Als0, could the bypass valve be sticking and not allowing pressure to bleed down?

4. When going in reverse, transmission in 1st and reverser in reverse, there is a very distinct sound difference from going forward. There's more of a high pitched wine in reverse. Maybe gear noise? Hydraulic flow?

5. Not reverser related but I have not been able to get the transmission into 4th gear, which I think it has, maybe? It does have 1st, 2nd, 3rd and reverse which all work well. Just no 4th. I will remove the shifter plate and see if maybe that is blocking the shift lever from moving to the correct position for forth gear. And, just as an FYI, I'm assuming there's a forth because the shift knob shows a 4th gear and the shifter/guide plate has a slot in the center towards the seat that should be 4th...but maybe there's no actual 4th?
1978 350CE Dozer, 6-way blade

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