Ford 6000 select o shift

[jtlox]

I need help with my ford 6000 select-o-shift trans. Keep having to add hydraulic fluid and have found my trans will lock between gears. I went to service the trans and clean the screen and found the transmission was 4.5 gallons over full!
After 2-3 hours of use it is over filled again. The front hydraulic tanks hold 3.2 gallons and goes low. What gives. I have the orignal repair manual and it is not helping.
Have looking for any assistance. This was not popular transmission. 10 spd shift on the fly select-o-shift. This a 1966 model 6000 diesel.
Any suggestions?
Jtlox

 

[karmakanic]

I'm not intimately familar with that trans., but I assume it uses some type of hydraulic cylinders to actuate the shift forks to change gears.

It seems pretty clear that you're getting hydraulic fluid leaking into the trans, so I'd be looking at a leak in one of those cylinders.

Does it lock up only when shifting to or from one particular gear, or maybe a couple of gears that are controlled by the same shift fork? If so, that's likely the leaking cylinder.

HTH,
Dave Perry

 

[jinman]

I always used to refer to my Select-O-Speed tranny as a Select-O-Leak./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif Those transmissions are downright a pain in the butt. I think you have a seal or something broken. My manual is too extensive to send you scans, but tomorrow night, I'll check for troubleshooting tips on the symptoms you describe ( I won't be where my manuals are until tomorrow.). Anyhow, for anyone interested, the S-O-S tranny uses bands like an automatic transmission, but it is in no way automatic. All shifting is done with a lever on the center pedestal. 10 fwd, 2 rev, 1 park. Instead of having valves which change gears, you select the gears completely with the shifter. The transmission has all the bad characteristics of burned and slipping bands, and bad gear selector valve bodies of the old automatic transmissions. I've been going downhill and let off the gas only to be surprised by both rear tires locking up and almost throwing me over the steering wheel. I know what jtlox is going through, and about the only good advice I can offer is to get rid of the whole tractor. I sold mine for $1000 and was glad to see it go. Jtlox, good luck, but I'm afraid you are experiencing firsthand exactly why it wasn't a popular transmission. /w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif

 

[djradz]

Jim, I know you experience is pretty typical for the Selecto-O tranny, but on my Dad's Ford 981 we had pretty good luck with it. Used it for almost 10 years with only having to have the shifter adjusted. Quite an engineering marvel for it's day - too bad it was so generally unreliable and troublesome.

 

[Rubintropfen]

Suggest you inquire on the Ford board at www.ytmag.com. Some folks there who have successfully their Select-O-Speed transmissions (and plenty of other who wouldn't touch one with *your* 10 foot pole).

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.ytmag.com/ford/wwwboard1.html>YTMAG Ford Board</A>

 

[jinman]

I checked my manual and it didn't provide any info on hydraulic fluid leaks like you mentioned. Can you be a little more specific about what you are calling the <font color=blue>front hydraulic tank</font color=blue>? My SOS tranny had a filler plug down low on the side of the casing below the foot rests. Is this the one you are calling the "front" reservoir? Is the rear fluid reservoir the one for your hydraulic lift? If so, you may have a leaking seal between the transmission and the rear wheel gear and differential casing. I had an industrial tractor and I had a hydraulic reservoir up in front of the radiator for the loader bucket, but there was no way for that fluid to get to the transmission. /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif

 

[jinman]

Duane, I agree that the SOS tranny was an engineering marvel for its time. I loved the little "inching pedal" instead of a clutch. Also, many of the transmissions monitored the level of the fluid in the tranny and had a warning light (idiot lite?). Unfortunately, like many engineering marvels, the transmission was too complex for most tractor technicians and certainly for most owners if there was a problem. Once you had a problem, it was often too expensive to fix. If you had one that worked for 10 years, you were lucky. Perhaps the definitive question would be, "Would you buy one today?"/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[djradz]

Nope! /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif