Frozen in neutral?

[bacrow]

FX24D started fine, FEL worked fine, 3pt lifted the carry all fine, but the tractor would not go into gear. I let it run for several minutes...no deal. The shift lever simply would not move. I actuated the FEL several times in cases the fluid was cold? Nothing. I turned the little space heater on in my 30X40 shop and used my green lawn tractor and trailer instead. When I was almost done with the work I checked the Yanmar again, and it went into gear like nothing was wrong.

Has anyone had anything like this happen? Do you think it was frozen? It was cold Saturday? Is there anything I should be worried about or check?

 

[grainger12002]

lots of ways for moisture to cause symptoms as you describe,could spray wd40 on the top case where the lever enters, move the shift lever thur the gears and back to neutral..work the wd into the base of the lever.....may need to drain and refill hyd oild when weather warms up

 

[Thomas]

Grainger given good advice.
If I,I start tractor let fluid warm than drain it than add new,also filter if there one.

Tractor sent pre warning,last thing you need leaking gasket.

 

[bacrow]

I have less than 8 hours on a fresh trans/hydraulic fluid and filter change. The fluid is still clean and up to full on the dipstick. There were a lot of little bubbles on the oil on the dipstick.

It worked fine after I got it in gear. It felt more mechanical than chemical. The shift lever just wouldn't move.

 

[careyo63]

I know I've hit my High low Shift lever And knocked it out of gear quite a few times. Never jumped out just my big feet hitting it. I know what it is if it's in gear and I let the clutch out and don't move. Every Time

 

[Thomas]

Any signs of milky color tranny fluid?

 

[bacrow]

I checked all of the other levers. I moved from low through neutral and high. I took it out 4X4 and back in. I pressed on the differential lock and released several times. I even shifted through the PTO speeds just to make me feel like I was doing something.

The fluid looks good. The tractor hasn't seen a drop of rain or snowflake since I bought it and changed all of the fluids, so I think water is unlikely unless it was in there before. I wouldn't think there would be enough left to make a difference.

 

[winston1]

Not sure whether you are talking about the range shift or power shift? Doesn't really matter, sounds like something frozen to me. I do know from my little experience on the FX24D that lubing the shift linkage on the power shift certainly helps for a smoother shift.

 

[normde2001]

Bubbles and freeing up when heated sure sounds like water.

 

[grsthegreat]

yup...i have had my manual transmission car freeze in neutral before when living in Montana (-60F) during the night. A torpedo heater solved the issue. It was just too dang cold.