Chatter Left Steering

cinok · Post by **cinok** » Tue May 10, 2011 8:04 am

Just the 450b back togehter new rad water pump etc. Its been sitting for about 18 months (money issues). Started right up moves forward but when Ipulled on the left steering lever it did not turn and make a chatter/grinding noise. Search the board saw some posts about steering not working but nothing about noise. Right seems to work ok only moved it a few feet. Fiqured I ask before I do any damage. Any help would be appreciated.

Mariner · Post by **Mariner** » Tue May 10, 2011 8:39 am

Check inside the house for the steering clutch - it might be the brake lining worn and the metal band itself, scouring the outside of the clutch housing.
There are small inspection hole on top of the housing about 8" and 5" wide, held on by five bolts IIRC. You will need a flashlight and it will give you somewhere to start looking. An inspection mirror would likelybe handy as well.

Cheers

mariner

tjdub · Post by **tjdub** » Tue May 10, 2011 8:41 am

cinok wrote:Just the 450b back togehter new rad water pump etc. Its been sitting for about 18 months (money issues). Started right up moves forward but when Ipulled on the left steering lever it did not turn and make a chatter/grinding noise. Search the board saw some posts about steering not working but nothing about noise. Right seems to work ok only moved it a few feet. Fiqured I ask before I do any damage. Any help would be appreciated.

If it was steering fine when parked, I would guess that there was some water in the clutch housing and your clutch disks are rusted together. If the sound you hear could be explained by the sound of the brake band grabbing the rusty housing, that would explain it.

I guess the first step is pulling off the inspection plate on top of the left clutch housing to check the linkages and the drain plugs out of the bottom to see what comes out.

cinok · Post by **cinok** » Tue May 10, 2011 12:53 pm

Just got back form running chores. I will take that cover off and look. Thanks I will let you all know what I find

cinok · Post by **cinok** » Thu May 12, 2011 9:27 am

Pulled off the top and side plate Everything looks in like it there but rust is abundunt. In referenc to he drain plug I only see one on the right side. Its towards the back of the machine is that the drain for the finals. Linkage is operating but line if sight is not great. Can these be freed up by drivng straight or can something be sprayed on the bands. I remeber an old hand that had an excavator and had to use Kero to clean up the steering brakes after they got rusted up

Tigerhaze · Post by **Tigerhaze** » Thu May 12, 2011 11:03 am

cinok wrote:Can these be freed up by drivng straight or can something be sprayed on the bands. I remeber an old hand that had an excavator and had to use Kero to clean up the steering brakes after they got rusted up

You can break loose stuck or rusted steering clutches, but it is a hit or miss deal. Simply push into an unmoveable object and then repeatedly work the steering lever for the clutch in question back and forth. If you're lucky, that will break the clutch loose.

Generally it is not wise to spray liquids into the steering clutch housing. Since kerosene is a light oil, that is likely to cause worse problems with slippage of the brake band or fiber discs. If you decide to put anything in the steering clutch housing, you may try a non-petroleum based brake cleaner. I would make sure the steering clutch housing drain is open so you don't accumulate oily liquids in the housing and soaking the brake band that way.

cinok · Post by **cinok** » Thu May 12, 2011 11:14 am

I thought the same thing about the kero. I have a case of pbrake clean here. The only drain I see is on the final (pipe plug) is there another drain plug under each band assembly

Tigerhaze · Post by **Tigerhaze** » Thu May 12, 2011 11:30 am

cinok wrote:The only drain I see is on the final (pipe plug) is there another drain plug under each band assembly

I guess I shouldn't assume there is a drain plug for the steering clutch housings on a 450B (you know what assuming makes of me

). On the 2010s (predecessor to the 450) I believe there is a plug at the bottom of each steering clutch housing.

tjdub · Post by **tjdub** » Thu May 12, 2011 12:32 pm

cinok wrote:I thought the same thing about the kero. I have a case of pbrake clean here. The only drain I see is on the final (pipe plug) is there another drain plug under each band assembly

On my 450 (straight) there are two drain plugs for each clutch housing (4 total). Maybe the 450B changed things, but i doubt it.

I don't have a photo, but they're labeled 18 in this schematic:

You'll probably have to crawl under the machine to see them. The back one is directly below the seat back and goes straight up, the front one is at a 45 degree angle.

You're supposed to take them out regularly to let any water and oil out, but I don't think many people ever did

My 450 came with the front two plugs missing (and several pounds of dirt shoved inside the housing acting as drain plugs. I don't think the back two had ever been taken out., because it took a lot of heat, a drill, and an EZ-out to get one of them out.

cinok · Post by **cinok** » Mon May 16, 2011 10:56 am

So i was finally able to get the brakes ajusted the brkes will stop the left track now but the machine will not move at all I am so confused at point. Never mind wife is asking is it fixed yet.

JWB Contracting · Post by **JWB Contracting** » Mon May 16, 2011 10:58 am

Do you have any free play on the throughout bearing. Reach down and see if you can rotate it by hand.

cinok · Post by **cinok** » Mon May 16, 2011 11:21 am

JWB Contracting wrote:Do you have any free play on the throughout bearing. Reach down and see if you can rotate it by hand.

Left one or right one?

tjdub · Post by **tjdub** » Mon May 16, 2011 1:31 pm

cinok wrote:So i was finally able to get the brakes ajusted the brkes will stop the left track now but the machine will not move at all I am so confused at point. Never mind wife is asking is it fixed yet.

Did you just crank up the brake bands without loosening up the steering clutch linkages first? The procedure is loosen linkages, prop up levers for proper freeplay, tighten brake bands then back them off a certain number of turns, then re-tighten linkages. If you don't do it in the right order, it's pretty hard to get it right.

cinok · Post by **cinok** » Thu May 19, 2011 7:56 am

Update.
I followed the maunal made the adjustments. The good news when I pull the lever no more chatter but now the machine just stops does not move it lugs the engine. So do I need to try to break the clutch loose by pushing on something

tjdub · Post by **tjdub** » Thu May 19, 2011 1:11 pm

Do you mean that both steering levers function now, but when you pull the left one, it works, but lugs the engine? If that's the case, then your clutch is free, but the lugging you are noticing is probably just increased friction in the clutch from rust. I would run it like that for a bit to see if it improves as that rust wears off. If it doesn't you'll probably have to tighten up the clutch linkage on that side a bit more because it must not be disengaging enough.

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