Ford 3000 PTO will not turn

[Soundguy]

dang... I'd call YT and see if they will do anything.

 

[Browntroutman]

The PTO now works!. We installed the new clutch assembly and buttoned her back up. Both the PTO and the transmission clutches engage nicely, and all of that seems to be good. We also did the rear main seal while it was open. I did however get lazy and did not follow the solid advise of Soundguy, by not changing the transmission seals as I did not see anything obviously leaking. Big mistake. After I run it for a couple of minutes and shut it down, I get a small puddle ( a tablespoon) of what appears to be transmission oil underneath that drain hole that has the cotter pin in it. I understand that the purpose of the hole/pin is to allow the drainage of any oil in the bellhousing. So here is my dumb question: If that oil drain hole is left clean and open, will it be ok to leave alone, or am I going to destroy my nice new clutches if I do this? (In other words, do I have to split this darn thing again and find/fix the oil leak, or can I live with it????). I am embarrassed beyond words.....

 

[Soundguy]

the hole is meant to drain the dry sump from leaked oil. if the leak becomes excessive, you might get an oil clutch.. but a weep / slow / limited dripping leak should continue to just drain out and rust proof your driveway...


PS..

, told ya so.

couldn't resist.

 

[Browntroutman]

I had that coming!!!! I split the tractor today. I can now do it by myself in 4 hours, which is not bad for a guy who has never owned a tractor before! Here is what I found: The leak is coming from the area where the clutch release bearing support goes into the big round front support plate. I suspect that there may not even have been a leak if we'd installed things correctly. I took a peek down the clutch assembly towards the engine and could see the destroyed remains of the pilot bearing! During our previous reassembly, we had been having a horrible time trying to mate the engine and clutch together, so we aligned them and tightened them together by going round and round, using a caliper to continually measure the gap to ensure things were straight. We were very careful, and always kept the gap even all around the bellhousing, but obviously we had caught the end of the transmission input shaft on the face of the pilot bearing. This explains the sudden banging sound and the 2 halves suddenly going together real easy! We will now replace the pilot bearing and also do the seals, as I truly do not want to split this thing a third time. The factory manual and the I&T shop manual both talk about splitting the transmission/rear end cases when servicing the Input Shaft/Clutch Release Bearing Support/Front Support Plate, but threads on this and other tractor sites suggest that I can simply remove the 5 bolts around the clutch release bearing support and service the seals this way. Can anyone confirm this?

 

[Soundguy]

Yeah, input shaft comes off.

Ps never pull a tractor together by its bolts

 

[zombie]

I hate that feeling when you put something together and it just doesn't seem quite right for some reason. I learned that if something doesn't seem right, it probably isn't. But hey, at least you looked in there this fine around and found it.

 

[Browntroutman]

Success at last! I split it again, and changed the pilot bearing and those seals on the transmission side. Reassembly went smoothly, and we had it joined together in no time. There were 2 things we did differently (well actually 3 things if you count “not drawing it together by the bolts” as one!). When we installed the clutch alignment tool, we were super careful to continually ensure it was perfectly centred as we tightened up the bolts on the clutch assembly, in order to be sure that it remained 100% straight. We also tried test fitting the pilot bearing on the transmission shaft, and we discovered that we were unable to press it on. A few seconds with some emery cloth removed whatever was making it too tight, and a 2nd test fit showed that we could squeeze it on. These 2 steps seemed to make all the difference, as the 2 halves joined together easily. We test-ran it in the shop for a minute and all seemed well, but we had to wait till yesterday to go outside as there was another piece of equipment between us and the shop door for the past couple of weeks. We hooked up a flail mower and it all went perfectly. The new clutch engages beautifully, the PTO works like a charm, and NO DRIPS! We also had a nice call from the folks at YT about the damaged goods, and they took care of us. Once again I’d like to thank you guys for the assistance, as without it I’m sure this would not have gone so well.