Tshubert
New member
I am rebuilding my 318 where did u get your split yoke for rear drive shaft on 318? JD says they no longer make them.
Hello 318 Owner's
If your like me, you are Obsessed with your 318, and Really Care about Keeping it Performing Great, or are Not thinking of Replacing it in the future, then Read on, as most of us that Own Them have a Very Deep passion for them. Let's Face it, The 318 Built John Deere's Stellar Reputation and continues to hold That Honor 30 Past when it was fist Offered. :fing32: But Like anything else, There are a few thing's we 318 Owner's can do to Keep Our Classic 318's alive and well. While recently doing a complete restoration on my 318 It was my Desire to Improve it's Long Haul of extended service. I had a couple of Sage John Deere 318 Owner's help me through the process of refurbishing my Tractor, so it made thing's a Lot Easier, so I would Like to share this experience with Other 318 Owner's.
The First thing I want to mention here is The Importance of the Fire Wall Insulation. Originally John Deere Placed Insulation on the fire wall of these Tractor's before they left the Factory. Mine was Missing all of it's fire wall Insulation when I got it and all that was left behind was The glue strips of the Two sided tape that John Deere used. The Good New's is that a Member of The John Deere forum Named John Lang has come up with a Fire wall Kit for our Tractor's and Other's that had them and it is Far Cheaper than what John Deere Offer's it for !
I Ordered The Kit from John and it was very reasonable at around $27.00. It comes to you with a Good set of Install Instructions and it is Larger than what you need so that you can cut and shape it to fit your Tractor. It cut's easy with a good set of Shears. Upon Installing it on my firewall, I decided to Not go with The Two sided Tape Idea that John Deere used, as it was evident to me it did Not hold the Insulation In Place worth a Hoot ! I used some 3-M Super weather strip adhesive. It is Yellow in color and super Tacky. I just smeared some on the face of my Fire wall and Put the new Insulation up against the Fire Wall Tin. I then used some Masking Tape to hold it firmly In Place and let it set over night
I did mine when my engine was Out of the Tractor so it was not a hard Install. If you desire to Place this Kit and do Not have your engine out of the Tractor, it is not all that Much work for what you get with Mass Air flow Improvement afterwards. You will have to Pull your floor Pan first. Then Un-hook Your Hydro Transmission drive shaft and just let it sit there. Then Un-bolt your Four engine block bolts. You can Then slide your engine far enough forward to Place the Insulation package. When The adhesive dries fully simply Bolt everything back in place.
Keep In Mind since these Onan's are Air Cooled, it is Crucial to have a Good firewall seal which this Kit provides. Once it is installed you will Notice a Ton of new Massive air flow out of your Grill with The tractor running. This In Turn Keep's The Hot under hood air out of Your engine compartment, which allows a much cooler engine extending it's Life span Much more. I would suggest while you have your drive shaft Un-hooked that you check the rear coupler. The early one's did Not bolt up to The stub shaft of The Hydro Pump. This style can wear and make the coupler sloppy on the splined shaft, which in Turn will wear your Hydro Pump spline. The new Improved Version is much more Heavy duty in design as I have shown below and Once it is Placed it should not ever wear out again.
I can save you some Time and Frustration here, by sharing with you what Works. I tried very way to get that **** shaft out of my machine and there is No short cut, it is like they Molded The Machine around it. I Cussed and fought with it for a Long time before I figured out how to make this Process a Lot less Misserable.To Pull The drive shaft out of your 318 You will have to Take a couple of The Transmission Lines loose, so that the front coupler will pass through The frame and tower area. You won't loose much Hydro fluid while the lines are un-hooked so don't worry about it, But this is the Only Way to get the drive shaft out of your 318, and you may have to Take out The Four engine Mounting Base bolt's which are located under the engine front frame area. That in Turn will allow the engine to slide forward enough to give you enough clearance to remove the drive shaft, as this are is a Very Cramped & Tight area of the machine to begin with.
Once the drive shaft is out of your 318The rear coupler U-Joint will have to be separated. There are two method's for this. One is by using a Press to Push the U-Joint Cap's out of the drive shaft Yoke. This can be done "After" You remove the U-Joint Cap cir clip's that are on the back side of the U-Joint Bearing Cap's. For those of you without the Luxury of owing a bench or floor Mounted press, you can get it apart by using a Large Hammer, and Placing it in the new coupler with a bench Vice. Once your Cir clip's have been removed simply Place an Under sized shallow socket on the U-Joint Cap Placing it downward on your Bench top. Then use the hammer on the welded Portion of your drive shaft striking it until the force moves the U-Joint Cap out of your drive shaft. Never beat on the drive shaft coupler Yoke Portion of your drive shaft as this will destroy The Yoke and you will Then have to replace the entire drive shaft, Instead use the hammer back on the welded area where the Yoke meet's the solid drive shaft, as this is it's Most durable area. On re-assembly, simply place the U-Joint inside the Yoke without it's Bearing Caps. Take one bearing cap and start it into The Yoke from the outside of the Yoke. Place the yoke Portion of your drive shaft in the vice and slowly Crank it down to seat the U-Joint bearing cap. Once it is close to being Level with The Outer Portion of your Yoke use an Under sized socket to Seat it deeper to allow the cir clip to be placed back into it's Groove in the Bearing Cap. Now Spin the shaft over and Press in the Other Bearing cap by slowly cranking down on the vice handle. Once it is flush use the same undersized socket to set it deep enough to get the Cir-clip back in place. Grease the U-Joint's fully and if they are sloppy at all replace them, Now as who want's to do this Job Over ? :banghead3.
Fish the completed drive shaft back down into your machine. Once it is close to where it belong's this is the time to Place the Hydraulic lines back where they were un-hooked from "Before" Bolting the shaft to the Crankshaft or sliding the rear onto The splined stub shaft. make sure they are tight or they can and will leak. You can then place the new Yoke of your drive shaft on The Hydro Pump stub shaft. Take it in as deep as you can , seating it fully to allow the front of the drive shaft to be bolted back up to The engine Crankshaft. If you have not all ready done this to make the job easier Remove both spark plugs so that the engine turn's over easy and Turn the drive shaft as you Place and Torque the flywheel bolts, with a Large screw driver through the rear Yoke area, Be Sure to NOT Puncture or Molest any of the Hydraulic lines that are under the rear coupler. The easiest way to Tourque the crankshaft bolt's back up is to use an Air Ratchet 3/8" in size to Torque the bolt's Tightly. if you don't have an air Operated ratchet a hand Operated socket and Ratchet can be used to do this, But watch them Knuckles when doing so.raying:
On The Early 318's they had a Two Bolt method used on the front of The Hydro Transmission cross Member. John Deere Learned that some early 318's were breaking the Transmission case or fracturing the case around the bolt holes as The Frame Flex's when using Implements causing this. The Fix is simple. It will Take The newer style shoulder bolt that John Deere Offer's now, at a cost of $3.75. Place the new revised shoulder bolt on the right hand side of Your Transmission cross member Mounting hole and Torque it up. Simply Leave the left hand side bolt out of your cross Member when you are done to eliminate this Transmission breaking issue
Here is what the Insulation Package Look's Like installed on your 318. You leave the top and sides a little Over sized so that they make a perfect seal when your hood is lowered. I hope this Important Up-Grades are of use to you, I know after spending $1475.00 for a new Onan I sure want it to last as long as it can. If anyone else reading this know's of other enhancement's we can do to Keep Our 318's Running better or alive, Please feel free to share them here....:fing32:Here is John Lang's E-mail. he will Provide you the Much Needed firewall Insulation Package. Once you Inquire about it, he will send you Pictures and Instruction's of how it is to be placed. I Highly suggest you do this for the Long Haul of your 318.
jlang@traer.net
