Deere 310E with zero transmission hyd pressure. Pump or regulating valve?

JL Sargent · Sep 18, 2018

I suspect that at some point in this tractor's past it sat for a while and a small amount of water collected in trans. Then maybe some algae grew. Once tractor was cranked again the algae was pulled to the screen clogging it. Then some friction material was added to the clog. At some point it started starving the charge pump and that caused the fluid aeration problem. That's when I bought it.

Tags · Sep 18, 2018

JL Sargent said:
I suspect that at some point in this tractor's past it sat for a while and a small amount of water collected in trans. Then maybe some algae grew. Once tractor was cranked again the algae was pulled to the screen clogging it. Then some friction material was added to the clog. At some point it started starving the charge pump and that caused the fluid aeration problem. That's when I bought it.

Lucky you!! Well you're doing a great job getting her back on her feet again, I've been following since you started, seems like you're real close now.

JL Sargent · Sep 18, 2018

Tags said:
Well you're doing a great job getting her back on her feet again, I've been following since you started, seems like you're real close now.

Hey Thanks, It's been quite the adventure so far for sure. I went to John Deere today and ordered the duct plate and control valve gaskets. I showed the head service guy my bore scope photos and he seemed impressed. He said "I bet it works much better". I cleaned on the screen some more today. I found a way to take a picture of the entire screen and it shows there is still some stuff in it. So that first "clean" photo I posted is a little misleading. I may have one more go at it before I say enough. I'm thinking that's about 85% clean?

JL Sargent · Sep 20, 2018

Update: I cleaned on that screen one more time and I have it 90% + clean I'd say. Today I installed the duct plate, the control valve, charge pump and the main hydraulic pump. Tomorrow I finish up a few loose ends such as plumbing the main hydraulic pump and install test port fitting for pressure gauge. Then all that's left is filling the main hydraulic tank and the transmission with J20C spec hyd/Trans fluid. Keep your fingers crossed. Hopefully this has us back up and running.

JL Sargent · Sep 21, 2018

Hallelujah! Not only did I correct for the aeration problem, but It also gave me back the 2wd/mfwd function. Switching to 2wd apparently was a tough load on the previously starving charge pump. All is well now as you can tell by my 250 PSI transmission system pressure. Releasing parking brake only wiggles it about 2 psi and going to 2wd does drop it to 240 psi. MG thanks so much for your help on it. I certainly got to know this transmission on personal basis during this journey.

mg2361 · Sep 23, 2018

Great job JL. I hope you get many years of service out of that backhoe.

JL Sargent · Sep 23, 2018

mg2361 said:
Great job JL. I hope you get many years of service out of that backhoe.

Thanks again! I've been thinking about that squeal I reported hearing after installing the new charge pump (but screen was still clogged at that time). I have a theory about that and wonder what your thoughts might be. I suspect that the squeal I was hearing was air being sucked in around the o-ring face seal of the intake side of the charge pump. I had drained all the oil out of the transmission before and let it drain for a couple of days so feed tube probably was completely dry. It took 5 seconds for pressure to start rising on the gauge with that new pump. I really think it was sucking air around that o-ring. 75hp engine turning a brand new charge pump pulling against an almost completely stopped up pickup screen? I believe it could be the case. Anyway, with the screen cleaned I had some pressure showing in about a second so much quicker. Hope you guys had a great vacation?

mg2361 · Sep 24, 2018

Vacation was great, thanks JL. I assume the squeal is gone now? Your squeal could have also been caused from the pump pulling a hard vacuum against that clogged screen as well. I hope the transmission is working well in all gears. It is hard to tell looking at the picture and without actually seeing it and touching it but that debris looks like clutch material. Hopefully not. Double check transmission performance by performing a converter stall test (third gear Forward, foot on brakes, full throttle) when the transmission is hot (150 +/- 10 deg F). Spec is 2000-2200 rpm w/turbo, 1900-2100 w/o turbo. If in spec your good to go. If it is high then there might be clutch slippage.

JL Sargent · Sep 24, 2018

mg2361 said:
Double check transmission performance by performing a converter stall test

I don't have a tachometer unfortunately. I did put the backhoe against a tree and it spun the tires no problem for maybe 5 seconds before I let off the accelerator. Engine was consistently loaded during that test. The screen debris feels organic. It doesn't feel at all like a clump of sand, which is what I imagine clutch material would be. It squishes between my fingers and I can rub it down to nearly nothing. Only when the mass of it is gone and my fingers are touching, can I feel any grit in it at all.

JL Sargent · Sep 24, 2018

If the clutch material is paper, then yes, this definitely could be that. Now that the diesel has dried from this it is paper light. these are small thin flakes that I can mash and kinda crumble but not really gritty. The lighter colored organic looking "sprouts" that you can see in the photo are now gone.

geminijo · Sep 24, 2018

Jl,Been following your post.Congratulations on the fix way to stick with it.It is such a great feeling to finally call it good and each time a person has to deal with a breakdown he gets that much more familiar with his equipment. May you get many hours of trouble free work out of the 310.

mg2361 · Sep 24, 2018

JL. The clutches are a paper/fibrous material, not a cintered bronze like some engine clutches.

JL Sargent · Sep 24, 2018

MG, thank you. Fortunately it seems to working fine. I need to buy a tachometer. Your avatar, is that in a big Deere tractor?

mg2361 · Sep 24, 2018

You are welcome. It's in a small JD 344K wheel loader.

JL Sargent · Oct 2, 2018

mg2361 said:
but that debris looks like clutch material

So it's been about 10 days and I've had the opportunity to work the backhoe pretty hard. After an hour or so of work using 3rd or 4th gear can cause the transmission clutch to slip. 1st and 2nd seem to be rock solid though. I haven't detected a slip in those at all yet. I'm guessing it's just a matter of time before it starts to slip in those gears as well? So eventually I will be pulling the trans and going through the two clutches at least. I have a question or two about that. Since I just went through the control valve and I have a new charge pump installed, could I pull the trans and split it without even pulling those again? What am I looking at on this job? Thanks!

mg2361 · Oct 2, 2018

No, you do not need to remove those components again. You will need some good pullers to be able to disassemble the clutch packs. A press to go back together.

mg2361 · Oct 2, 2018

And have the trans positioned as shown in the picture when splitting (converter side up).

JL Sargent · Oct 2, 2018

OK, that looks pretty straightforward. I do have a 30 ton press and pullers up to 17 ton. I also have a bearing splitter as shown in those photos.

Everything seems real smooth when operating the tractor. I'm hoping the clutch steels are all still straight and not warped. Of course I will replace any that are damaged. I do not let it slip but for a second or two and shift down. I'm not in a hurry. I wonder how long I can go with it as is if I kept it in 1st or 2nd before I have to do this work? If I'm careful, could it be a year or two? Or is only a month or two more realistic? Just curious, can a good JD tech pull this trans and have it split in 4 hours? Bet it takes me a good 8

mg2361 · Oct 3, 2018

I'm getting too old to even think about doing it in 4 hrs!! I think it will take me that long to stretch out the kinks in my muscles from the day before

JL Sargent · Oct 3, 2018

I know what you mean. I twisted my ankle at work a week ago and I'm still hobbling around.

Deere 310E with zero transmission hyd pressure. Pump or regulating valve?

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