Traction Massey Ferguson 135 Clutch Problem

[Lenoir135]

Hi everyone! Im new to this forum and have come in search of help!

I bought a Massey 135 which had been fitted with a new engine, however had not been treat nicely by its previous owner and it has since been treated to many repairs to the rest of the tractor.

One thing that baffled us was despite the new engine the clutch did not operate effectively (it was adjusted correctly on the shaft by loosening the bolts, taking up the slack and leaving the suggested gap from the pedal stop) as it took a lot of pressure to stop the drive, however it was just about impossible to adjust enough to make the clutch stop the PTO on the so called 'second clutch' at the end of the pedal travel. By pressing hard enough to almost disengage the PTO, the pedal was actually slipping on the shaft resulting in more slack than needed.

The tractor was split to investigate further. We found the thrust bearing and carrier in need of replacement (the carrier had been ground/abused at some stage so replacement was thought best) so as the tractor was this far down I decided that replacing the clutch would be wise as I wanted to reassemble it without the need to split again. Or so I hoped!

The new clutch was installed as per the guidance and I borrowed the correct tools (alignment tool, finger setting bar for height of adjustment screws, and feeler gauge at 0.080" for the pressure plate). All adjustments were made and the tractor reassembled for the big start up!

We started the tractor, and tried the clutch, but we still struggled to disengage the PTO fully. As such, we then sought advice by the internet, and were advised to readjust the pressure plate gap to 0.050" which we did. We started the tractor this time, however when the clutch was depressed the engine laboured and sounded like it wanted to stall. We stopped the engine, and inspected to see if something was causing this. We then attempted to start the tractor again, and it was reluctant to turn over. We turned the flywheel through the inspection cover, but by the starter it was again reluctant to turn over easily.

Is this due to clutch adjustment, as it has never struggled to turn before?? It is a new engine? Good battery, starter has been great upto now. Only seem to endure problems after clutch change/adjustment.

If anyone has any ideas they would be greatly welcome as we are baffled at the moment!!

Cheers everyone!!

 

[Kenneth S]

Adjusting the clutch shouldn't cause the problem you are having. Here's what I suggest, without pushing on the clutch pedal go to the front of the engine, and see if you can push the pulley on the crankshaft back toward the engine block. If it won't move back, and the if the pulley on the crankshaft is aligned with the other pulleys have someone push on the clutch pedal while watching the pulley on front of the crankshaft to see if the pulley moves forward or not (the engine doesn't need to be running). If the crankshaft pulley moves forward when you press the clutch chances are the thrust bearings for the crankshaft fell out letting the crankshaft rub on the engine block, that will make the engine labor when you depress the clutch. Since the thrust bearings on the crankshaft are separate from the main bearings it is possible for the thrust bearings to fall out, and into the oil pan. I've seen that a couple of times.