pat80flh
New Member
Howdy guys, new member here. I'm a retired auto mechanic who bought 30 acres in the Allegany mountains. I bought a used 850B track loader to clean up the property, junk in far, unreachable corners, trail maintenance, some wood cutting. It's worked well until... I wanted to get to a muddy spot, and waited for a freezing day, got the machine started, won't move, forward or back. Doesn't engage. Tried the hi/low, same. No clunk, no strain, you can hear a slight change in idle, trans pressure is in the green on gauge. Wait until it warms up, fires up and works normally. Trans oil was slightly low, barely touching bottom of stick.
My theory was that water had gotten into the oil and was freezing, blocking a passage or line. I dumped the oil yesterday, got the pressure filter and suction screen out. Fluid was a little cloudy, and filter looks fairly new. The housing for the suction screen had a bit of debris in it, one small piece of what looked like a fiber clutch plate, and also part of what looks like a rubber lip seal, again very small. But enough to introduce a new theory, a clutch piston seal, starting to disintegrate, letting fluid flow by until everything warms up enough to work.
I'll be headed to town today to see if I can track down fluid and filter. See if it helps. I've been doing some heavy reading of shop manual. I spent quite a few years as an automotive transmission rebuilder so I don't think a trans overhaul would be out of my league, removing it might be. I'm 66 and the body is pretty worn.
I'm new to heavy equipment and appreciate any advice or comments.
My theory was that water had gotten into the oil and was freezing, blocking a passage or line. I dumped the oil yesterday, got the pressure filter and suction screen out. Fluid was a little cloudy, and filter looks fairly new. The housing for the suction screen had a bit of debris in it, one small piece of what looked like a fiber clutch plate, and also part of what looks like a rubber lip seal, again very small. But enough to introduce a new theory, a clutch piston seal, starting to disintegrate, letting fluid flow by until everything warms up enough to work.
I'll be headed to town today to see if I can track down fluid and filter. See if it helps. I've been doing some heavy reading of shop manual. I spent quite a few years as an automotive transmission rebuilder so I don't think a trans overhaul would be out of my league, removing it might be. I'm 66 and the body is pretty worn.
I'm new to heavy equipment and appreciate any advice or comments.