jd450 crawler/loader

[pbocco]

I wanted to thank you guys for the advice with my 450 crawler. I am finding out that it is not a fan of "cold weather starting". It fires up great when it's been parked in my shop but when I leave it outside overnight it develops an attitude and I have to give it a shot of starting fluid. And it seems as though the transmission oil needs a few seconds to move. Any suggestions or advice? Also I've been told that I should fire it up and move/steer it so the clutches don't lock. thanks

 

[Willie B]

Heat.
Add a block heater if it doesn't already have one.
Some use a propane, or diesel fueled torpedo heater to warm it up before starting.
Be VERY careful to use very little starting fluid.

 

[DMiller]

As with ALL yellow iron
Get them started when cold
Allow an hour or so at a fast idle to flow all the fluids for warming all the subsystems and then make maneuvering moves
Block heater is best option
Put on a timer or a switched outlet so can cycle the engine warm pretty often and not even start it.

 

[lantraxco]

Those old Deere engines never did like to start cold, a combination of low compression and tired Roosamaster injection pumps, coupled often with less than stellar performance by the battery/cable/starter combination available back then. The only exception in the tired fleet I nursed was the 690B excavators, which oddly enough had a Bosch inline injection pump. They'd moan and groan, but light in a blizzard with good batteries.

 

[petepilot]

Those old Deere engines never did like to start cold, a combination of low compression and tired Roosamaster injection pumps, coupled often with less than stellar performance by the battery/cable/starter combination available back then. The only exception in the tired fleet I nursed was the 690B excavators, which oddly enough had a Bosch inline injection pump. They'd moan and groan, but light in a blizzard with good batteries.

carry all the above advice into the 500 series to if you happen to have one

 

[lantraxco]

carry all the above advice into the 500 series to if you happen to have one

Do I recall a 555 trackloader with a torque converter?

 

[old-iron-habit]

Deleted. Read a question wrong and the answer did not make sense.

 

[lantraxco]

Deleted. Read a question wrong and the answer did not make sense.

Shuttle shift?

 

[Tyler d4c]

Those old Deere engines never did like to start cold, a combination of low compression and tired Roosamaster injection pumps, coupled often with less than stellar performance by the battery/cable/starter combination available back then. The only exception in the tired fleet I nursed was the 690B excavators, which oddly enough had a Bosch inline injection pump. They'd moan and groan, but light in a blizzard with good batteries.

Did the 690b have the wonderful musical of cold weather start advance

 

[lantraxco]

Did the 690b have the wonderful musical of cold weather start advance

That I do not recall.... ancient tech, 4 section stacked gear pumps, two section two speed gear track motors, spur gears feeding planet finals etc. Dinosaur, they moved dirt well, but man did they like fuel, lol.

 

[mg2361]

Those old Deere engines never did like to start cold

IIRC the old Deere's had an issue due to tolerance stack up (not that the factory ever does anything wrong). Wrong way on the stack up and the pistons did not protrude enough giving you lower compression and hard staring. They then came out with "H" pistons (taller). Installing the "H" piston would increase the piston protrusion and therefore the compression. My personal experience is that it worked and solved many a hard start complaint. The downside is you have to check each piston's protrusion and if it is too high then you have to install the old style "B" piston back in. So you could end up with an engine with both pistons in it. The unfortunate thing is the specs are not in the manual. They were only published in a solution (Deere term for service bulletin). Now that solution is too old (been archived) and cannot be viewed any longer. So this ends up being my useless information for the day

 

[pbocco]

what's the best block heater to use?

 

[DMiller]

Found this article on Yesterday's tractors

JD 450C - block heater location - Yesterday's Tractors

 

[oarwhat]

We had a straight 450 dozer many moons ago.

I wanted to thank you guys for the advice with my 450 crawler. I am finding out that it is not a fan of "cold weather starting". It fires up great when it's been parked in my shop but when I leave it outside overnight it develops an attitude and I have to give it a shot of starting fluid. And it seems as though the transmission oil needs a few seconds to move. Any suggestions or advice? Also I've been told that I should fire it up and move/steer it so the clutches don't lock. thanks

We had a straight 450 dozer many moons ago. They have dry clutches that lock up, slip, brake bands break extra. They were also a pain to adjust. Adjust them by the book if they need it other wise you'll have trouble down the road. If they're working well now that's great advice to move it around once and awhile. The other issue was they constantly broke the mounting bolts through the frame to the bellhousing.

 

[lantraxco]

We had a straight 450 dozer many moons ago.


We had a straight 450 dozer many moons ago. They have dry clutches that lock up, slip, brake bands break extra. They were also a pain to adjust. Adjust them by the book if they need it other wise you'll have trouble down the road. If they're working well now that's great advice to move it around once and awhile. The other issue was they constantly broke the mounting bolts through the frame to the bellhousing.

Don't know when they fixed that side frame to main housing issue, maybe when they clean sheeted the "G" series dozers. Outfit I worked for had some 450C's and we had a stack of broken side frames in one corner of the weld shop. Deere made several updates with different gussets and such, and we had oversized the bolts going back into the main gear case, but still they only lasted so long before breaking. Tough little machines, but they had their issues.

 

[pbocco]

I got another question for you guys...those power steering? helper cylinders on each of the steering clutch levers are leaking a lot...can they be rebuilt? replaced?. Are they available to buy?...if so...where?
I've had the crawler parked inside my heated shop so it starts up good and I move it to keep the steering working.
We've replaced ALL the filters . engine oil, trans fluid, totally greased it and it's ready to go in a few months. Some of the guages need replacing but we should be getting that done soon.
Thanks and Happy New Year to all !!!
( as I said...it steers but now I need someone to adjust them EXACTLY according to the book. Anyone in the western NY area (southern tier) that would be willing to do this critical adjustment?)

 

[mg2361]

.those power steering? helper cylinders on each of the steering clutch levers are leaking a lot...can they be rebuilt? replaced?. Are they available to buy?...if so...where?

Seals are still available, kit #AT27076, about $55. Rod, barrel or complete cylinder no longer available. For a complete cylinder Google search the Deere cylinder part number AT21851

 

[pbocco]

I'll check into it...thanks

 

[pbocco]

I ordered the kit...thanks
A separate issue...the HLR creeps a little when going into the neutral position...is this a simple adjustment? How do I do it?
It's a safety concern especially because it's parked in my shop for the winter and it gets started, moved and steered every once in a while
Also I was told to "block" the steering levers back to try and prevent the dry steering clutches from freezing up...good idea?

 

[pbocco]

A separate issue...the HLR creeps a little when going into the neutral position...is this a simple adjustment? How do I do it?
It's a safety concern especially because it's parked in my shop for the winter and it gets started, moved and steered every once in a while
Also I was told to "block" the steering levers back to try and prevent the dry steering clutches from freezing up...good idea?