TC35D 4WD Noise

[RDrancher]

I'm hearing a light clunking sound when going from forward to reverse in 4wd. Sometimes the clunk stays around if I back up quite a bit. Messing around with it this morning it did do a pretty loud bang one time then went away. If I take it out of 4wd the clunk goes away. A near as I can tell the noise is coming from mid tractor, not the front. I was hoping that it was one of the pins or couplings on the driveshaft, but I took the cover off and everything looks fine. The driveshaft splines look fine too. Any ideas?

Update...Another large bang and now 4wd is gone. The shifter and shaft on the trans move freely but it stays in 2wd.

 

[jinman]

RD, my guess is the front differential, especially with problems noted here in the past. I think the reason the noise seemed to come from the mid-area is that it transmits down the driveshaft. I'd bet you will find your ring gear is toast. Normally the bolts loosen on the ring gear end plate and allow bad stuff to happen. Sorry, it just doesn't sound good. If you want to just run in 2wd, I'd sure go into the differential and remove the guts. Letting things work around in there is a sure way to get more damage.

Edit: With the problems you had with the seals/bearings in the drop boxes, you probably aren't really thrilled to have to go back into the front axle. I sure wouldn't be happy.

 

[RDrancher]

Thanks for the reply Jim. I was looking more toward the drop box on the trans, but the pto works. Bearing is a little noisy but it works. I'll look towards the front end and see if I can locate any noise.

Maybe its time to move up to that 210LE.

I'm starting a job tomorrow with the Kubota SVL75. I guess now is the time to tear into the old girl.

 

[RobertN]

This happened to my tractor(TC40D) before I bought it. Had actually been test driving, and wondered why 4wd did not work. No work, no buy. It was consighnment with low ours at local tractor shop I use, and had low hours.

They pulled it apart; bolts on ring gear... I think it got new ring gear and pinion, but diff was ok.

Has worked fine since.

 

[RDrancher]

I shifted into 4wd, then took the driveshaft cover off. The driveshaft is locked up nice and tight at the drop box end. It slips at will at the front and noisy as well when turning either axle. I think you're right, but I won't know until I get in there whether its just the r&p or the diff gears got munched too. Too bad nobody makes a Detroit Locker for this thing. I could really break some stuff then!

Yeah, I'm not looking forward to taking BOTH final drives apart. At least I'll be updating the final drive bearings on the other side, but Thank God I don't have to split the tractor! Thanks for the redirection Jim!

 

[RDrancher]

They pulled it apart; bolts on ring gear... I think it got new ring gear and pinion, but diff was ok.

Thanks Robert. That helps narrow it down.

 

[RobertN]

Mine was not noisy when we test drove it. Saw it while torn apart; sorry but the drop gear boxes had to come off...

I am not sure, how hard it was to set up the ring/pinion. I did not see or ask about that. I know for a car/truck you have to get the diff side thrust set, and the pinion depth set; not sure on tractor.

 

[RDrancher]

Robert, mine wasn't noisy after it broke. With the tractor shut off and when spinning the tires you can hear it though.

It looks like the driver side housing unbolts from the center section to access the differential, bearings and thrust washers. R&P's are sold as a set so obviously the pinion gear would have to be set as well. The set is $650 from Messicks...WOW!

I've had one final drive apart from #1 in the link photo on down. It doesn't look like both sides need to be dropped, but I've been wrong before. I think I'm going to give it a shot. I've set up R&P's on Dana 60's and Toyota LC diffs. Hey, how bad could it be?



Edit: Ah...there's c-clips on the outer ends of the axles. Finals have to come off.

 

[RobertN]

There's always the Lincoln Locker

Too bad nobody makes a Detroit Locker for this thing. I could really break some stuff then!!

 

[RDrancher]

There's always the Lincoln Locker

HaHa...Ready for the Little Sluice!

I'm mulling over the diagrams on Messicks and I was wrong about the c-clips. Think I'll try to yank her apart. Maybe one more cold one first.

 

[RobertN]

Would be kinda fun to go play. Wonder how far a TC40 could make it with no attachments and the loader off... SuperSteer might help, but lack of flex and suspension might make things difficult.

HaHa...Ready for the Little Sluice!

 

[RobertN]

Sorry, can't help more; I saw mine apart while waiting for parts but did not see the work being done.

Once the final drives are off, it looks to be like any other diff. It should not bee too bad, since you have expierience with building an axle setup.

I'm mulling over the diagrams on Messicks and I was wrong about the c-clips. Think I'll try to yank her apart. Maybe one more cold one first.

 

[RDrancher]

Wow did I luck out!

I weighed my time lost working versus getting the tractor repaired and decided to take it to the dealer to determine what had broken. Turns out that it WAS a spun front coupling that connects the driveshaft from the drop box to the front pinion. I just didn't investigate far enough. The bang I heard was most likely the pin breaking that holds it in place. Since I noticed that something was wrong right away, very little damage was done to the splines. The service manager said that the new coupling went on nice and tight. Total cost of the repair $183.99, and $105 of that was labor. And to think...I was going to start by dropping the final drives. Now THAT would have been a major mistake!

Edit: Just for future reference, it was #39.1 and the associated pin on the diagram.

 

[jinman]

Woohoo! This time you got the bear.:thumbsup:

 

[Hooked_on_HP]

I realy hope this solves your problem. However I have a bad feeling that you have somthing else wrong and that it locked up and caused the coupler to break. I hope I am wrong.
Bill

 

[RDrancher]

Here's an update to this topic.

After a year of hard work on the coupler fix, it has happened again. Now that I know what the sound of a spinning coupler is, I ordered another coupler and and pin, so I could repair it myself.

I took it out of 4wd immediately after hearing the sound, so I was pretty surprised to see that the splines on the pinion are almost non-existent. The splines on the inside of the coupler were worn down, apparently to the point that they couldn't hold onto what was left of the pinion splines. The pin was still in place, but had split into two pieces lengthwise. After actually working on this myself, I can see that the pin is not a shear pin at all. The pin is driven in the space between the end of the pinion and driveline shafts to keep the coupler from sliding up on the driveline splines and disconnecting from the pinion splines.

We'll see how long the repair lasts this time around, but I'll obviously need a new pinion in the future. Since tractors are driven at such low speeds, I'm hoping that it's not a requirement to purchase the pinion gear along with a matching ring gear. We shall see.