JD 1050 Clutch noise

[Conservation]

Last night I hopped on my 1050 to do some mowing, and while hooking up the 3 pt mower, I noticed whenever the 3 pt arms were up, there was a noise when I would press on the clutch. Sounded like something small knocking around in there. If the 3 point was down, no noise. Weird. I also noticed that it was nearly impossible to completely disengage the PTO. I have noticed this being the case more and more lately, as it would grind when engaging it. The travel at the top of the pedal seems appropriate...good freeplay.
I remember once I had a roll pin shear that holds the clutch pedal assembly onto the clutch throwout if I remember correctly. It eventually ended up with the pedal not being able to disengage the clutch at all. So we split the tractor to find a good looking clutch and scratching out heads until we found the sheared roll pin. Could this be it again? Is this possible to fix without splitting again? Any other possibilities?

 

[Conservation]

Additional information: I use this almost weekly in the summer. Last week it didn't make the noise. The clutch was replaced about 600 hours ago. I always keep an eye on the air gap, and it hasn't changed. I don't know what the three point being up could possibly have to do with clutch noise.

 

[Egon]

Throwout bearing?

 

[Conservation]

I am wondering about that. Easy way to check?

 

[Harry in Ky]

Don't mean to scare you, but here's something to consider - I recently split an 850 for a similar problem. Noise in clutch, trans and pto hard to shift into gear. Can't say about the three point, as his hydraulic pump was toast at the time, and lift wasn't working. Didn't see anything that really looked bad enough in the clutch or release bearing to justfy the symptoms, but a new clutch, etc, was installed. Before I rolled it together, while checking the clutch bolt torque and release lever adjustment, I noticed an unusual amount of movement in the flywheel/clutch assembly. It turns out the crankshaft endplay was so great the front face of the flywheel was rubbing against the block when the clutch pedal was depressed causing the noise. You might want to take a prybar to the front crankshaft pulley and do a quick check for endplay. If the thrust flanges are in good shape the endplay should be about .008 to .010 I would think.

 

[Conservation]

That's a good thing to check. I imagine the thrust bearings can be rolled into place while in the tractor like a small block chevy, so even that isn't that big of a deal. When a load is put on the engine from the hydraulic pump, it could move the crank forward. It's plausible.

 

[Harry in Ky]

Bad news on that front. Yanmars are built like small Kubotas, where the main bearings are in a main bearing support that surrounds the crank journals. The entire engine has to come down and the crank along with center and rear supports come out the back of the block. Major teardown.Better hope that's not your problem.

 

[Conservation]

No kidding? That makes a rebuild in tractor more difficult for sure. Let's hope.

 

[Conservation]

OK. So I have the tractor split. I was convinced it was the throwout. It turns by hand smoothly. The PTO adjustment on the clutch is spot on. There is virtually no clutch material or dust in the housing and no clutch smell. What am I missing here? This is a problem that seemed to happen overnight. The return springs appear in good condition. There is a little wear on the adjustment fingers where they contact the throwout bearing.

 

[Conservation]

I did find that the bushing that rides on the pto shaft is loose and out of spec by about .005. Not sure if this could cause the noise I was hearing. Nor am I sure that it would cause the pto issue.