Need to free a Transmission is locked / rusted

[arcteryx]

I resurrecting a Bull and the tranny is frozen/rusted together. What would be a good method to free this?

 

[bmaverick]

I resurrecting a Bull and the tranny is frozen/rusted together. What would be a good method to free this?

A cost effective way is drain the current fluid, fill with diesel. Is it possible to work the gears?

 

[arcteryx]

A cost effective way is drain the current fluid, fill with diesel. Is it possible to work the gears?

Not really, that is what I am hoping to fix. There is not much if any fluid in there currently. Would diesel free it up?

 

[Roadworthy]

Is the transmission actually locked or rusted or is it just stuck in gear? I had a D2350 that periodically would stick in second gear. The fix was removing the cover and gearshift. I could then access the gears and pop it free. It then worked well until it decided to stick again. This happened about every other year.

 

[bmaverick]

Not really, that is what I am hoping to fix. There is not much if any fluid in there currently. Would diesel free it up?

For many of the Japan made tractors, yes diesel will free them up.

Also try RoadWorthy's advice, get in there and really see what's going on inside. On another forum, a machine had a lock-nut come loose and jam up the gears. The guy was very lucky, no damage internally to the gears. While he was in there, he did replace a few sloppy common bearings. The nut was an easy find at Menards.

 

[arcteryx]

I removed the top plate previously and it has some surface rust, so it is probably rusted together and not stuck in gear. I will give the diesel a go and see what happens. Thanks.

 

[bmaverick]

I removed the top plate previously and it has some surface rust, so it is probably rusted together and not stuck in gear. I will give the diesel a go and see what happens. Thanks.

Keep us posted. I've used the diesel flush a few times for old tractors with the white milky fluid (water) in the system. Just pull out the hydraulic filter and only place back the cap. Or on some models, toss on a spin-on cheap filter.

With the diesel inside, you may first need to pull or push the machine slowly to splash it all around to get things loose. Don't shift nor run the engine to put stress on it. The diesel will work as a lube and as a flush the 1st go around. My machine hold 19qts. The Bull is a tad smaller. With the engine off, push in the clutch, see if the shifter will move any. Keep rolling the machine forwards and backwards. Then try the gears again. Just got to free it up before getting the engine purring. Drain over a 5-gallon bucket with a clean white t-shirt. See what came out. Repeat as necessary.

After a drain or two take the top plate off again, look inside, a tactical flash light works great. Look in every tight place and deep place.

Keep us posted on your progress.

 

[CliffordK]

There is stuff that will eat rust.

I'm doing some experiments with Evapo-Rust.

It is supposed to be non toxic. And can be reused for quite some time (although it does chelate the rust, and presumably will eventually get less potent).

If you can wire brush off the heavy stuff, that will make it quicker acting, and potentially make it last longer.

It does leave a bit of a residue, so I'm not sure I'd use it on a completely closed system. Check what materials you have that it will be in contact with.

There are also acid based rust cutters. Many are Phosphoric Acid based that are supposed to create an impassive coating. However, I'm also concerned with loss of material.