970 clutch

MidTNDawg · Aug 31, 2011

My clutch appears to be "stuck" to the pressure plate, flywheel, or both. Cannot get it to break free. I was told by a JD tech to fill the bell housing up to the inspection hole with coca cola. Anybody heard of this? Tried this?

zzvyb6 · Aug 31, 2011

My 1070 did this once after being in a humid barn for a month. Hooked it up to a field mower (something that takes a lot of torque) and after a minute or two of running through thick grass, it was just fine. No problems since.

MidTNDawg · Aug 31, 2011

Thanks. I left out part of the tech's suggestion. After allowing the coke to sit in the housing for 2-3 hours, I was to pull the tractor, in gear, to break it loose. Seems the acid in the coke does something. Thanks for the response.

TedLaRue · Aug 31, 2011

On the right side of the tractor there is a small vent covered by a fine screen. It is covered by the piece of plastic that wraps around below the steering column. You can see the bottom of the screen just above the loader support.

That vent is in line with the clutch disk. Remove the plastic cover, then remove the two bolts that hold the screen on. Then take a long thin butcher knife, put the point between the clutch plate and the pressure plate, and give the handle a bump with your hand while someone (or a 2x4) is holding the clutch pedal down.

It worked for me. I had tried jarring it loose by running into a dirt pile, etc., but I couldn't believe how easily it came free with the knife blade.

MidTNDawg · Aug 31, 2011

Well, thanks. I will try this idea first.

MidTNDawg · Sep 2, 2011

TedLaRue said:
On the right side of the tractor there is a small vent covered by a fine screen. It is covered by the piece of plastic that wraps around below the steering column. You can see the bottom of the screen just above the loader support.

That vent is in line with the clutch disk. Remove the plastic cover, then remove the two bolts that hold the screen on. Then take a long thin butcher knife, put the point between the clutch plate and the pressure plate, and give the handle a bump with your hand while someone (or a 2x4) is holding the clutch pedal down.

It worked for me. I had tried jarring it loose by running into a dirt pile, etc., but I couldn't believe how easily it came free with the knife blade.

TedLaRue - GREAT INFO - On my 970 the hole is larger, 4 bolts hold the screen on, and it took almost nothing to break it loose. I did not "drive" anything in. Rather I used a screwdriver and it took maybe 6 oz. of pressure to unstick the clutch. Amazing when you consoder the way I jerked the trator by sudden acceleration and jamming the brakes on yesterday. BTW, I git it into gear by starting the engine and rolling downhill while "jamming" it into gear. Anyway, great help. Thank you.