1520 dual clutch slipping

   / 1520 dual clutch slipping #1  

Lance Donaldson

New member
Joined
Jun 28, 2010
Messages
3
Tractor
ford 1520 4wd
Hi All, I bought my Ford 1520 from a friend who had a dealer install a new clutch at about 520 hrs. I now have 670 hours and the transmission clutch is slipping already. I try to use the lowest gear and drive stick shifts mostly. Was this me? Or can it be something else that I need to take care of while i'm inside the clutch. Any way around the $970 cost? GEEZ! Getting ready to break it apart (something new to me) and found this cool site. Is there anything I should be on the lookout for not mentioned in the IT manual? Thanks Lance
 
   / 1520 dual clutch slipping #2  
Hi All, I bought my Ford 1520 from a friend who had a dealer install a new clutch at about 520 hrs. I now have 670 hours and the transmission clutch is slipping already. I try to use the lowest gear and drive stick shifts mostly. Was this me? Or can it be something else that I need to take care of while i'm inside the clutch. Any way around the $970 cost? GEEZ! Getting ready to break it apart (something new to me) and found this cool site. Is there anything I should be on the lookout for not mentioned in the IT manual? Thanks Lance

Lance,

You might have a situation where you do not have enough clutch free play ( release bearing is constantly touching the pressure plate fingers) causing the first clutch slippage. I can't see the clutch is shot in 150 hrs of use. Is your pto slipping also?

JC,

ps. Welcome to TBN blue:)
 
   / 1520 dual clutch slipping
  • Thread Starter
#3  
Thanks for the reply. No the PTO is doing okay. I split some really big logs with a unicorn today to check it and it didn't stall the engine but it slowed it down without slippage. I checked the adjustment bolts between the PTO and transmission clutch and they were at .038 Inches which is within spec. The petal has around an inch and a half freeplay which is a bit much but beats being too tight. Maybe I was lied to about the replacement. I hope not, he was my friend.
 
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   / 1520 dual clutch slipping #4  
Thanks for the reply. No the PTO is doing okay. I split some really big logs with a unicorn today to check it and it didn't stall the engine but it slowed it down without slippage. I checked the adjustment bolts between the PTO and transmission clutch and they were at .038 Inches which is within spec. The petal has around an inch and a half freeplay which is a bit much but beats being too tight. Maybe I was lied to about the replacement. I hope not, he was my friend.

If you have more than adequate free play then it leads toward bad clutch for the transmission. I had a situation with a reman clutch pressure plate many years ago that caused the same slippage ( The pressure plate apparently was resurfaced beyond the thickness required, hence not grabbing when all put together). Do you know if your friend used reman dual clutch plate or brand new one? it might have been a faulty rebuild job on reman clutch pack.. who knows.

1520 is light @ 2000 lbs and easy to raise the rear axle. I'd try this if I were you. I'd suggest that you put the tractor on two wheel drive if yours is 4 WD, raise the axle where the tires are couple inches above grade, secure the axle using two jack stands, choke the front wheels. You'd then want to clutch, put the gear in high, let go off clutch and try to turn the rear wheels by hand, if it is easy to turn then your clutch disk is slipping (of course , we know that already). Obviously I'm suggesting this with the engine turned off. At that point you'd want to increase your free play to see if it helps.

I was hoping that you were riding your clutch because of incorrect adjustment causing the slippage. The cure for that would be simple. Post back what you find out.

JC,
 
   / 1520 dual clutch slipping
  • Thread Starter
#5  
Jc the first thing I looked at was the linkage and I could see play throughout the components. meaning that nothing is holding the clutch in at least until it gets inside the bell housing. Time I guess for the split. I was thinking about trying to resurface the pressure plates and just replace the clutch discs. A lot cheaper but I don't want to get it together and 100 hrs down the road I get to do this again. Can the springs be measured for tension? and can I measure the pressure plates to be sure they're within spec. I can see the clutch plate through the inspection hole and it doesn't look that worn. then again....
 
   / 1520 dual clutch slipping #6  
Jc the first thing I looked at was the linkage and I could see play throughout the components. meaning that nothing is holding the clutch in at least until it gets inside the bell housing. Time I guess for the split. I was thinking about trying to resurface the pressure plates and just replace the clutch discs. A lot cheaper but I don't want to get it together and 100 hrs down the road I get to do this again. Can the springs be measured for tension? and can I measure the pressure plates to be sure they're within spec. I can see the clutch plate through the inspection hole and it doesn't look that worn. then again....

Lance,

When you look at thru the inspection whole what type of pressure plate do you see? I know you said dual clutch, but below I have a link for the single clutch that one can buy for $185 that includes everything such as throwout and pilot bearing , new pressure plate and disk. it is a no brainer for a price like that one would want to replace the whole thing as the split if nothing else take time. pressure plate can be resurfaced but the one we have is not very thick to start with. I have never researched the normal thickness and variance allowed for it but I'm sure can be found. My local Ford Dealer is pretty good and I have no doubt that they show me the OEM pressure plate for me to mic for comparasion sake.

Double clutch system is quite a bit different, they have spring ring of different shape or a series of springs equally spaced to keep the pressure between layers of assembly. I would think they have a jig to assemble or disassemble layers without warping the spring rings and such. Spring compression (K Factor) can be measured but again it need special tools and factory data that might be hard to come by. Places that reman clutches are equipped to do it. I have not done it myself but I think a guy probably can use combination of C clamps, chunks of wood to safely disassemble or reassemble the clutch pack.

Can you tell from the inspection hole if the throwout bearing is touching the pressure plate fingers?

JC,


Single clutch

Ford tc25 tc27 1715 1725 1520 1600 1520 tractor clutch - eBay (item 190411902693 end time Jul-07-10 07:03:33 PDT)

Dual clutch 1510 is listed only.

1310, 1510, 1710 Ford dual stage tractor clutch - eBay (item 190412015308 end time Jul-07-10 11:53:36 PDT)
 
 
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