Just got a Nortrac 35XTD.. need some help!

[Texan4Life]

So i took delivery of a Nortrac 35 XTD (with laidong 4L22-TA engine)

i have been going over it and been doing some putting around getting use to it since this is my first dozer.

I have some questions I'm hoping some other nortrac/yuchai owners can help me with before I get upset with northern tool.

Overall I'm impressed with the dozer but I feel dealer prep work is lacking. Fluids all looked changed and were full.

when i was doing a bit of work or when turning sharply i would notice both tracks would sometimes stop without loading the engine down.. as if the engine clutch was slipping. i tried pushing on a small tree to test this in Low 2 and the engine didn't load down at all it just stopped forward movement and didn't spin the tracks.

i hadn't done much in High range yet so i just took it for a stroll on our gravel road and that's when i found out the engine doesn't have enough power to drive in High 4th. High 3 it runs fine, but H4, and then engine smokes (black/gray ) and bogs down and will die. this is starting from a stop with engine at full throttle.

I had zero clutch pedal free play, so per the manual i adjusted the shackle for the clutch pedal, i now have about 1 inch of free play.


So I'm thinking the engine clutch is okay since it will stall the engine in H4. What about the the left and right clutches for the tracks? my understanding were these were just dry brakes that would stop one track or the other. or is there an actual wet clutch pack that could be slipping when under load?

do to EPA regs timing of chinese diesels seem all over the place. maybe the timing is off and its not making the power it should?


Thanks!

 

[Texan4Life]

update: I realized my break pedal also have zero free play. They rest against the floorboard like the clutch did. So I'm working on adjusting those when i realized the operating rods are hooked up backwards *facepalm* the book shows the brake rod going to the lower hole and the clutch rod going to the upper hole. and they are reversed on my machine. also one pedal has proper free play but only the with floor board removed. I'm going to go through the adjustment procedure and hope this fixes my slippage in lower gears.





its hard to tell from the pics because i couldnt get the hydraulic hoses out of the way. a few are even stretched tight with no room to move them around.

im getting more and more annoyed. i really dont want to ship it back and get a new unit... can i ask for anything like discount or free parts?

 

[Bob Rooks]

You need to fabricate a jig for adjusting the steering clutches/brakes to the proper sequence, and engine clutch as well. Dimensions are taken from the two floorboard bolt holes and the floorboard stops.
Check your final drives for the proper gear oil - they should have SAE 140 gear oil and not the "mystery paste" that comes from China. Check your fuel injection pump/governor assembly for the correct oil level - use the same 15w/40 oil that you use in the engine. Also check your air intake system for restrictions - these are the only bulldozers in the world that allows the radiator fan to blow crap directly into the air cleaner.

 

[Texan4Life]

fantastic idea for a jig to adjust the brakes! and thanks for the pictures. yeah i have done a bunch of research about chinese tractors and the dozers. so I'm not freaking out but i did send an email to my sales person letting them know what issues i have found so far and that they need to talk to their technical/prep ppl cuz this is unacceptable. I honestly don't want to have the hassle of sending it back and getting another one. I'm hoping they can work with me, give me some free parts and/or give me the extended warrenty for free. the sale is done so to speak so i dunno if asking for a discount now is doable. but we will see.

Overall im happy with the machine. it just needs to be setup properly.

You need to fabricate a jig for adjusting the steering clutches/brakes to the proper sequence, and engine clutch as well. Dimensions are taken from the two floorboard bolt holes and the floorboard stops.
Check your final drives for the proper gear oil - they should have SAE 140 gear oil and not the "mystery paste" that comes from China. Check your fuel injection pump/governor assembly for the correct oil level - use the same 15w/40 oil that you use in the engine. Also check your air intake system for restrictions - these are the only bulldozers in the world that allows the radiator fan to blow crap directly into the air cleaner.

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[Bob Rooks]

It took me a little while to work the bugs out of mine, and since I spec'd it myself and "self imported" I did all the prep work myself. I'm an experienced Cat mechanic so I pretty much knew what to expect. I've made numerous mods to compensate for the dozer's shortcomings too, one being the problematic sequential steering clutch/brake system. Seems that the only way to get it to work properly is to ignore the instructions somewhat and "preload" the brake bands so they drag (premature wear expected). I actually challenge anyone at Northern to set up the steering clutches using the instructions and have them operate correctly. I engineered a system that works perfectly, and requires much less pedal effort, but it would void any warranty. I have over 700 hours on mine and am very pleased with it. I have several You Tube videos of it in action.

 

[Texan4Life]

just wanted to give an update... so i checked my timing and it was way off. Not sure how far since I don't have a scale on the crank pulley. It just has a punch mark for TDC and then two other punch marks close to each other. and when i spill timed it, it was way ahead of the the marks. So adjusted it. Seems to run smoother now and has a tad bit more power. This also seems to have fixed my overheating issue.

northern tool/Nortrac have been great and had a mobile mechanic ready to come work on the dozer. Honestly it seems like a lot of people don't know how to work on these machines so I'd rather do that work myself.

all in all after some hiccups Im confident this is going to be a happy little machine. I already have some improvement/mods planned that i will chronicle in separate threads.

 

[Bob Rooks]

Great news. Yes, especially with these small Chinese dozers there is the demographic to consider along with the relatively low investment. These are great machines as long as you understand their limitations.