JD 310B Hydraulic Issues and Metal In Transmission Screen

Longtime lurker first time poster.

[b:b1b5bfc749]Some Background[/b:b1b5bfc749]:
Had machine approx. 2 years, changed hydraulic filters when first purchased, machine was at about 3500 hours and I have put approx. 300 hours on it. Replaced pressure control valve o-rings about 30 hours ago.

[b:b1b5bfc749]Problem[/b:b1b5bfc749]:
Hydraulics began to be slow recently, and jerky. Steering doesn't seem to have full power and when starting actually turns itself with weight off front axle. Forward and reverse work fine, but I did notice when climbing a pile of dirt while piling more up it would sometimes (not often) sort of stop pulling and not stall.

[b:b1b5bfc749]Work/Troubleshooting so far[/b:b1b5bfc749]:
I had someone check pressures and operated machine and he said the main hydraulic pump was bad. Took pump off and sent to rebuild shop to find out the pump was not the problem, however, they recommended a rebuild kit be installed and said it would be at 95% when done. The pump has been into before as someone numbered the 8 or so large nuts.

After sending out the pump, I removed the transmission screen and found metal shavings of all types and one washer, see pictures. All were removed with a magnet, some have a copper/bronze look. The smaller flakes in the row total about 6"x1"x1/8". Since I didn't clean trans. screen when I got it, I don't know if the debris may have been from a previous failure/repair.

[b:b1b5bfc749]My plan at this point[/b:b1b5bfc749]:
Final clean debris out of transmission, maybe flush with diesel or blow out with air. Put on new filters/fluid, put pump on and operate a little and change fluid and filters and clean screen and see if I get more debris and of course check operation. Repeat as necessary.

[b:b1b5bfc749]Questions[/b:b1b5bfc749]:
>Is flushing or blowing out a good idea?
>Am I on the right track? Or what other troubleshooting might I try?
>Where is the charge pump? I cannot find it by that name in my parts book or online, a picture and/link/part number would be appreciated.
>Are there any links, pictures or videos on how to split a machine?
>I guess if I split the machine, it probably a good time to inspect/change the clutch brakes? Any other things?
>What do the metal shavings look like they are from? The slotted washer?

Deere tractors with closed-center hydraulics just about always have "junk" in that screen. That's the down-side to having a common-sump tractor where your hydraulic oil is exposed to any debris from your brake linings, cylinder packings, transmission gears, etc.

The number one culprit is the brake system. They can be worn down to nothing and still work well - thus no warning except the brass shavings plugging your pump intake screen.

I suggest you pull a rear final drive off and inspect your brakes before you ruin something.

By the way, the eight big hex-plugs on your pump the piston covers and spring holders. Whenever a pump is pulled apart, they are supposed to be numbered and set aside along with the piston they held. This so partially worn pistons go back in the bores they came out of. If your pump was resealed properly, each cap should have remnants of a teflon sheaf hanging out of it.

The "charge pump" is the transmission pump. It is a little gear pump down in your transmission. It is there for several reasons.

1. Your eight-cylinder piston pump up front cannot draw oil to itself. To work, it must be fed oil. That is the job of the transmission pump. No pressure required; just flow.

2. The transmission pump makes moderately low-pressure oil to run you reverser or hi-low, or independent PTO on some tractors.

LJD thanks for the reply.

Some of the debris did have a brass/copper tone but very little compared to the rest.

Does the final drive have another name? I can't seem to find it in the manual?

Yes, the plugs did have a white tape sticking out.

Does the trans. pump go by another name? I can't find it either.

Thanks.

John Deere has done an absolutely horrible job of naming items in their parts catalogs. I've got 50 years experience working on Deere and get more confused all the time.

In the JD parts catalog . . .

For final drive - go to - Section Index, 201 Axles and Suspension Systems 2, #1 Rear Axle Housing (housing for the rear final drives) Housing part # is AT40757 (early) or AT74432 (late).

For brakes - go to - Section Index, 1011 Service Brakes 10, #1 Brake Disk Assembly (shows the disk that wears as part # AT315888

For transmission pump - go to - Section 350 Transmission 3, 4 Reverser Brake Housing and Piston, shows trans pump as item #5 (housing AR39182)) and item #15 (gear set AR39180). Later model 310 gets an "oil pump" #RE13915

By the way, I've got a complete Deere service manual in a .PDF file for a 300B is you want it. Much on the 300B is the same as on the 310B.

The info was very helpful. Your right, the diagrams are hard to read, especially for a 'know just enough to be dangerous' person like me. It would be nice to have a complete exploded view to show a continuation, like the brakes and housing.

Does the brake material always show in transmission? I guess if it doesnt break off in chunks it would grind up fine and go unnoticed. I did get some bronze/copper looking material out.

So removing the final drive is how I would check/change brakes?

You know, I saw the 'housing' before but missed the 'pump' reference.

The pdf of the service manual would be greatly appreciated. I will try to pm you.

LJD, I think I have enabled email, so you can email the service manual pdf.

Thanks.

LJD, I don"t know if you have tried to send me the service manual but if you did, I haven"t received it.

I am thinking about re-intalling the radiator/hyd. cooler and some other things before my hydraulic pump comes back in a few days.
I am especially curious how JD says to remove/install the hyd. pump. Also, how to replace the fan belt.
It worked out good for me I guess, cause I had a couple of other things to take care of; like replacing the fan belt and the radiator neck/overflow repair. Removing the rad./hyd. cooler helped but may not be necessary.

Thanks.

Today I removed the top cover of the transmission, removed more of the same type of metal shavings and flushed trans. with diesel in a pump up sprayer, followed by compressed air. Removed all of the plugs and collected the waste and strained it to see what I got out. I didn't see anything that looked broken or damaged.

I also removed the vertical hyd. filter and installed a new one. The old filter had some of the finer shavings on the outside and a little of a silver paste. I'll cut it open tomorrow.

Tried to install the transmission screen (metal) and had difficulty getting it seated. I could only get it a little more than flush with the outside and not just enough to get a thread or two but I didn't want to 'press' it in with the fitting.

[b:d845468a22]Questions[/b:d845468a22]:

>Should the trans. screen seat far enough to get the fitting mostly started?

>Is there a special tool to help with installation of the trans. screen? I have some old wooden pool cues that I was thinking of making something out of.

>I am still trying to understand the flow; does the short hose between the horizontal filter and the trans. screen fitting have pressure or suction?
I ask cause the old hose seem a little collapsed making it look like it may have suction.

Update:
There was more debris in trans. case, (blocking screen from being installed) flushed with diesel many times and vacuumed debris out and used magnet, put pump back on and filled pump first then trans.

Hydraulics operate better than before but the [u:cc45df0164]steering[/u:cc45df0164] still has resistance and will continue on it's own once I start turning in either direction. Also [u:cc45df0164]cycle times[/u:cc45df0164] on backhoe bucket curl (only one I memorized, but I will check others) are about half of what the operator' manual says they should be. It seems like the bucket dump has more power and speed than the bucket curl.

Other than bent lines; what else should I look for?